Kia Ora, Parents/Caregivers

Our numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases at the College are growing, so in order to effectively manage these positive cases and the communication to caregivers and parents, we have put together a Covid Response Team.

A central point of contact has been set up for all COVID related communication to and from the College. Please send all emails and queries about COVID-19 matters to covidresponse@lindisfarne.school.nz. This includes emails to the College about when your son is isolating as a positive case, a household contact or when you are keeping him at home as a precautionary measure.

How we will communicate with caregivers of positive cases

When you inform us that your son is a COVID-19 positive case, we will be in phone contact with you to ask questions such as:

• When did he last attend school?
• When did he first develop symptoms?

From this information we will then be able to identify all close contacts connected to the case during the infectious period with the help of the following resources:

• Boarding dorm plans
• Dining rooms plans
• Notes taken during the interview with a positive case/caregiver

How we will communicate with caregivers of boarders who share a room with a positive case

Caregivers of students who live in the same hostel room as a positive case will be telephoned to inform them of this.

From here caregivers have two options:

1.         Student remains on-site and self-monitors for symptoms. He is to report any symptoms to the nurse immediately. This is the recommended advice.

Or

2.         Parents collect their son and monitor for symptoms at home as a precaution. Because close contacts are not required to isolate, they can return to school whenever they wish, as long as they are symptom free and have not tested positive for Covid-19.

If another student tests positive in the same dorm at a later stage, caregivers will be emailed to communicate that another positive case has occurred in that room. We will not make phone calls in this instance as caregivers will already be aware that the room has had a positive case.

Students who live in the same hostel room as a positive case will be advised by staff at school unless they are already isolating at home.

How we will communicate with close contacts and their caregivers

A close contact of a positive case during the infectious period is considered to be a student who:

• Spent extended time socially indoors with the positive case without a mask on (watching television on couch, playing a computer game, working on prep together).
• Shared a dining room table with the positive case without a mask on.

An email will be sent to the caregivers of any close contacts to communicate that their son is a ‘Close Contact’ of a positive case. From here caregivers have the same two options listed above for their son.

You may receive several emails in the coming days and weeks when more cases occur at the College, as close contact is inevitable.

Attached to this email is a useful graphic that explains how the isolation period is calculated for households.

Thank you as always for your support as we work through this challenging time as quickly as possible. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the school at covidresponse@lindisfarne.school.nz

Ngâ mihi

Stuart Hakeney

RECTOR

Article added: Monday 07 March 2022