Principal's Page

Kia Ora from Lockdown Again.

Thank you all for your support for your children and their teachers at this time. I have received lots of messages of appreciation from our community. I think our team has done a great job balancing the need to learn with the need to understand the pressures and challenges many parents face in coping with another extended Lockdown.

We are waiting to hear the Prime Minister's announcement on Monday afternoon at 4 pm. This will tell us when we can expect a limited return to onsite teaching under Alert Level 3.

The latest information on this is  not quite as positive as hoped. I share these key points from an article that appeared on Stuff's website for your information:

As the number of daily Covid-19 cases in the community continues to fall – just 11 new cases were announced on Friday – the focus is on when Auckland will move out of alert Level 4 Lockdown.

The outbreak doesn’t have to get to zero cases for it to be under control.

For example, if I test positive for Covid-19, it’s likely I’ll infect others in my household. Their positive test results won’t be concerning to public health officials – provided we’ve all been in isolation while infectious.

 But if someone from across town tests positive, and they haven’t been in contact with anyone from my household, that’s a problem. Contact tracers will try to plot the path of transmission and identify other potential cases along the way.

We’ve heard a bit about so-called mystery cases. These are cases that are yet to be epidemiologically linked to the current outbreak. On Friday, there were 29 such cases still under investigation.

On Sunday, there was a new number given as part of the Ministry of Health’s daily updates: the number of epidemiologically unlinked sub-clusters. There were six of these. By Tuesday, there were nine.

Like the mystery cases, these are groups of people who have tested positive for Covid-19, who haven’t yet been linked to the wider outbreak.

All of the unlinked sub-clusters have contained infectious cases in the last fortnight. In total, there are 101 cases connected to them.

If the virus jumps from one person to another and then another, the strain has more chances to mutate. It’s like gossip – the further the story spreads, the more mistakes creep into the retelling.

 Mathematics professor Michael Plank says the unlinked sub-clusters represent a missing link somewhere in the transmission chain, suggesting there could be cases we haven’t found yet.

“The fact the sub-clusters are small isn’t really reassuring on this point, because it’s the cases that may have been missed that are more concerning than the ones we know about.”

 Unfortunately, unlinked sub-clusters and mystery cases make it hard for the Government to be able to confidently lower alert levels without compromising the goal of eliminating Covid-19 from the community.

Experts agree the missing links could mean the difference between Auckland remaining at level 4 lockdown or shifting to level 3 next week.

University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker, who advises the Government on Covid-19, said there needs to be a number of days with no unlinked cases before the region can leave lockdown.

“As long as there are people out there potentially infecting others, that’s problematic.”

Students Returning Under Alert Level 3 Survey:

We will wait and see what happens, but I share this as we have a survey under way regarding whether your children will return under Alert Level 3.

That survey is very important and we need parents to please complete it as soon as possible.

So far 300 have and 400 have not. Please log in to your Hero as follows:

HERO LOGIN

To access HERO you must follow the steps below.  

• Type in app.linc-ed.com and select 'forgot my password.'
• You will receive an email with a link to reset your password.
• Choose a password that you will remember.
• Close the page down and then re-open and log in.

This also works for first time users. Alternatively, contact Teresa Hannard at teresah@westernheights.school.nz for technical support. 

The survey asks:

COVID-19 ALERT LEVEL 3 Student Registration

When we are at COVID-19 Alert Level 3 Western Heights School is ONLY open for families of essential workers who have no other appropriate child-care available.

Please Be Aware: You can extend your family bubble to include others for the purposes of childcare during Alert Level 3.

Under Alert Level 3 WHS will be operating with the minimum necessary staff.

To help us prepare for Alert Level 3 please complete the survey indicating whether you intend sending your children to school under Alert Level 3.

Please respond as soon as you can so we can be prepared.

Thank you.

The question:

Are you an essential worker with no alternative childcare available, and are sending your child/ren to school onsite under Alert Level 3?

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Reminder - A few parents have emailed me re various issues and this is all good. I am happy to be asked anything. While I can't guarantee I'll have the answers, I will try to find out and get back to you when I do. You can text me on 021779009, or email me via macash@mac.com

On behalf of all our staff we send you our love and best wishes, and our hope that you will all come through this strong and safe.