COVID-19 UPDATE (19 March 2020)

Morena whanau,

I want to update you to the rapidly changing situation we are faced with with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tikipunga High School is business as usual. However, we are monitoring the situation hour by hour and planning ahead. School camps and whole school assemblies have been suspended until further notice.

We are following the information provided by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Should anything change, we will be in touch with our whanau.

National Secondary School Sport and Sport Northland have suspended all events on their respective calendars.  This will be reviewed on April 6th. The Te Tai Tokerau festival, due to be held in Dargaville, has also been cancelled. I understand that this will disappoint some of  our students and whanau. We are disappointed too. These actions are required to protect our community and particularly our elders. The inconvenience of cancelled plans will result in lives saved over the upcoming months. This is the time to think about our community and whanau, not individually.

We are reminding students to keep themselves safe.  Please practise good hygiene; handwashing, safe coughing and sneezing. Students and staff are asked to stay home if they feel unwell. If families decide to keep their tamariki at home please advise us and we will treat the absence as explained. Remember our 0800 437 329.

Healthline is the first point of call for people with symptoms of Covid-19 or people seeking other medical advice, while people registering for self-isolation can now do so online.

But those wanting information on Covid-19 – but not requiring clinical advice – should first access the Ministry of Health’s website or contact a dedicated Government helpline via 0800 779 997 between 8am to 1am seven days a week or by visiting www.govt.nz/covid-19.

We appreciate that this is a rapidly evolving international situation and we continue to monitor it closely.

Te waka eke noa.

Thank you for your understanding.

 

Alec Solomon
Principal/Tumuaki