Auckland State of Emergency School Closure
Kia ora nga tumuaki,
As you will have heard and repeated below, the Secretary for Education has sent out a directive for schools and early childhood centres to close for the rest of the week. For some this will be great news and take the pressure off them and their boards in making that decision. For others, this may not be greeted with the same enthusiasm but we all need to play our part to ensure emergency management people can check the infrastructure across the whole of Auckland.
The Ministry has advised APPA that the email to school was bounced back from some schools. They apologise that not all schools received the email and they are working to rectify the problem.
APPA wants to acknowledge Deidre Alderson, Tanya Harvey and their teams for their response over the weekend. They have been working with information coming in from multiple channels and advising principals accordingly. Ngā mihi Deidre and Tanya.
When the Minister and Secretary for Education briefed the executive this afternoon we were informed that schools were to close and of the belief that staff were only to be onsite if it was essential to keep traffic off the roads. In the email that has come out there is some confusion and I have asked Iona Holsted for clarity and I have been advised further clarification is coming tonight.
APPA is here for any principal who needs support. If you need assistance, your colleagues are here to help. The contact details for APPA Executive members are:
Wendy Kofoed | principal@newmarket.school.nz | 0274742185 |
Kyle Brewerton | principal@remint.school.nz | 0212209877 |
Stephen Lethbridge | stephenl@ptchev.school.nz | 021647303 |
Heath McNeil | hmcneil@ormistonprimary.school.nz | 0211285040 |
Stephen King | stevek@rps.school.nz | 0212244058 |
Kevin Bush | kevinb@tehihi.school.nz | 0272927706 |
Nardi Leonard | nardi@jeanbatten.school.nz | |
Saane Faaofo-Oldehaver | sfaaofooldehaver@weymouthprimary.school.nz |
Ngā mihi,
Wendy Kofoed
Kia ora koutou
Earlier today the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) asked us to take action to help minimise traffic movement on Auckland roads while vital infrastructure is urgently repaired.
With the possibility of further weather damage leading to more disruption, the Secretary for Education has directed that schools, kura, early learning services and Tertiary institutions in the Auckland region (Wellsford to Pukekohe) must close for physical attendance and instruction until 7 Feb.
Schools and kura can open or remain open for onsite instruction but need to provide distance learning.
Early Learning Services may allow the physical attendance of any child whose parent needs them to do so, in the same that we did for COVID, but must otherwise be closed.
Principals and education leaders have done a fantastic job of readying their schools for opening, and I know that this decision will be upsetting for some of them and for some parents.
NEMA will shortly be announcing this decision formally.
I know this is a late announcement that will cause disruption and I thank the sector in advance. We need to get Tamaki Makaurau back up and running as quickly as possible.
In terms of payments etc we will use the same approaches as with COVID.
Ngā mihi
Iona Holsted
Te Tumu Whakarae mō te Mātauranga
Secretary for Education