Message from Iona Holsted

Kia ora koutou 

The decision about moving between Alert Levels will be announced by the Prime Minister on Monday 11 May. That decision will be based on public health information, in particular low or no community transmission. The decision will be fit for the New Zealand context. I know there is a lot reference to how other countries are responding to COVID-19 but ours has been a unique approach, drawing on the best interventions from around the world and consistent with New Zealand values.

This Bulletin provides you with the detail of Alert Level 2. I know that this has been eagerly awaited. This is what will be expected once the Government has decided to shift to Alert Level 2. Until then, we remain in Alert Level 3.

Thank you to those of you who have sent through your questions and concerns. These are helpful to guide our advice. We will have answered some, but not all of your questions. We will continue to work through these as they arise.  

Alert Level 2 is all about being safe and sensible and that is the approach that goes through the public health and our own guidance for services. There is a lot to work through but you do not have to do this on your own - we are here to help.

Our regional teams will continue to support you to transition through each Alert Level. 

We have made it this far and have a way to go but we’ll get there together.

Below are some key messages from the Prime Minister.

Ngā mihi
Iona

Secretary for Education

In today’s Bulletin:

• Key messages from the Prime Minister 
• Welcoming staff and children back
• Public Health Statement for the Education Sector
• Alert Level 2 for Early Learning Services 
• Funding at Alert Level 2
• Guidance on staff matters
• COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme
• Learning Support

Key messages from the Prime Minister

If you didn’t manage to catch the Prime Minister at 1pm today, here are the key messages for education:

“Early learning services, schools and tertiary education facilities are all open.” 

“Schools and early learning services are safe environments for children, young people and staff. Additional public health control measures are in place to prevent the spread of disease and to support contact tracing.” 

“Schools and early learning services will engage with parents about children returning at Alert level 2.” 

“Distance learning is available for those unable to attend school, for example who are self-isolating.”

“Tertiary education facilities too will maintain the core capability to deliver comprehensive distance learning to students.”

“If a school has a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19, they must close on an individual or group basis for 72 hours, to allow contact tracing, and then potentially for a further 14 days.”

“We also agreed that when we make the decision to move levels, schools won’t open midweek – whenever the decision is made – they will open at the beginning of the following week. So if we make a decision to shift to Alert Level 2 next week, schools and early learning centres will have ten days from now to prepare.”

“The two key public health principles we’re talking to the sector about are one: to reduce the risk of someone getting infected in the first place and two, to ensure we can identify and contact anyone who becomes infected.” 

So keeping kids at home if they’re sick, and good hygiene such as hand washing are so important.” 

“Where possible physical distancing is a good precaution. We do, however, know it is near impossible in an early learning environment and challenging in schools. So good hygiene practices and regular cleaning are even more important here.” 

“In schools, physical distancing means children, young people and staff maintaining enough distance so that they are not breathing on or touching each other. And maintaining good hygiene practices, and regular cleaning. As is regular cleaning of equipment.” 

“And all schools and early learning services will collect information about who’s there, so Public Health can contact people quickly if they need to.”

“We know parents will have lots of questions, but please give schools and early learning centres time to plan and contact you.”

Welcoming all staff and children back to early learning services

When the decision to move to Alert Level 2 is made, we appreciate that welcoming staff and children back, assuring them they are safe and checking on their wellbeing is the first and most important job you’ll do. Once this has happened, everyone will be ready to start focusing on learning. Please remember that your own wellbeing is also important!

Public Health Statement for the Education Sector

Our guidance for returning under Alert Level 2 has been shaped by our wider understanding of COVID-19 in the New Zealand education context. Dr Caroline McElnay, Director, Public Health at the Ministry of Health has provided the following statement:

We have carefully looked at the evidence around COVID-19 and educational settings, and at the experience of other countries in responding to COVID-19 in these settings to inform the public health advice to the education sector in planning for a move to Alert Level 2. 

Our experience in New Zealand and overseas with COVID-19 over the last four months shows that it does not infect or affect children and teens in the same way it does adults.
 
So children and teens have low infection rates, they don't become that unwell if they do get infected, and they don't tend to pass the virus on to adults. 

Quality education is a public health intervention in itself, so I am very aware of the benefits of children and young people attending school and early learning, and the need to support children and young people to do this as quickly as we can.

The two key public health principles that support our approach at Alert Level 2 are first to minimise the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and second to ensure we can identify and contact anyone who has been in close contact with a person, if someone in a school or early learning centre is infected. 

Any children, young people and staff should stay at home if they are sick, or should be sent home immediately if they show any symptoms. 

Physical distancing is a good precaution to prevent the spread of disease. In an Alert Level 2 school environment, this means children, young people, and staff maintaining a physical distance so that they are not breathing on or touching each other, coupled with good hygiene practices (coughing into your elbow, handwashing and drying) and regular cleaning of commonly touched surfaces. There are situations where physical distancing is not possible, such as some sporting activities. In these situations extra emphasis on handwashing and drying (or cleansing with hand sanitiser) before and after activities and regular cleaning of equipment is recommended. 

In an early learning environment, it is not really possible to have a physical distance between children and staff. Young children require a lot of physical support and it is not possible to explain or maintain a physical distance between young children given the age of the children and set up of centres. This means good hygiene practices (coughing into your elbow, regular handwashing, and drying) are even more important.

Schools and early learning services will also maintain registers so that children, young people and staff can immediately be contacted by public health services if there is a probable or confirmed case. 

And it is important that parents fully support this approach by doing their bit - keeping children home if they are unwell and seeking medical advice about whether a child may need to be tested; and ensuring great hygiene practices at all times. 

Alert Level 2 for early learning services

Under Alert Level 2, it is safe for all early learning services, kōhanga reo, playcentres and playgroups to open. Safe and sensible practices for hygiene and contact tracing will be the norm, and all children will be able to return, so long as they remain well.

The Ministry will work with you, your parents and whānau as you work through your plans to shift to Alert Level 2.
 

Key Public Health requirements for early learning services at Alert Level 2

Key public health measures to be undertaken in early learning services and kōhanga reo at Alert Level 2 focus on safe and sensible practice. Because young children require a lot of physical support, good hygiene practices remain central to this. Just as in Alert Level 3, there does not need to be a measurable physical distance between children or between children and staff.  

Other key requirements include:

• Regular washing and drying of hands continues. 
• Disinfect and clean all surfaces daily.
• Indoor temperature must be set at a minimum of 18 degrees Celsius. 
• Indoor and outdoor space requirements return to standard license requirements, ie 2.5m indoors and 5m outdoors.
• Outdoor play areas can be used, including sandpits.
• Children will continue to have their own food containers and need to be watched closely so they do not give and take food to and from each other. 
• Ensure effective contact tracing processes for everyone who visits the service, every day.

Note that personal protective equipment is not required or recommended as necessary in any educational facility by the Public Health officials.

We have prepared detailed guidance at Alert Level 2 below 

Playgroups Alert Level 2 guidance [DOCX, 68KB]
Early learning services Alert Level 2 guidance [DOCX, 85KB]

• Playgroups and playcentres can now meet.
• Services are able to operate to their full license numbers. 
• All children and young people, and staff who are at greater risk of getting a severe illness from COVID-19 may now go to early learning services.    

Funding at Alert Level 2

The Government has committed to continue funding for all services for this funding period (to the end of June 2020). 

We are currently confirming the funding approach for Alert Level 2 which we will communicate to you shortly. We have received questions from the sector regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the upcoming 1 July advance funding payment and will provide detailed responses soon.

Alert Level 2: Guidance for early learning services on staff matters

With the return of all staff under Alert Level 2, the following information will support your staffing arrangements as you adjust to the change in Alert Levels:

• Unless required to self-isolate on public health advice it is expected that all employees are able to return to work on site, but are asked to do so in a safe and conscientious way.
• You should talk to each employee who is vulnerable and agree how they will work safely. Where a person is not able to work as normal due to an underlying health concern, you are entitled to ask them to provide you with appropriate evidence to support this request (such as a medical certificate).
• Where there are genuine limitations to returning at work, employees may require flexible working arrangements to accommodate those limitations such as different start/finish times, working remotely, and/or rotating days both on-site and working from home. 

The State Services Commission (SSC) has COVID-19 Guidance for the State sector. The guidance has a range of information and responses to different scenarios which may also be a useful resource to support you as you plan for the move to a new Alert Level.

COVID-19 State Services Workforce Guidelines - SSC website 


Blanket exemptions for returning to work on-site

Employees must stay home if they are:

• sick with COVID-19 or are unwell generally; or
• caring for a dependent who is sick with COVID-19; or
• casual staff booked to work but are not able to work due to illness or COVID-19; or
• self-isolating, or are caring for a dependant who is self-isolating, on instruction of public health. 

Leave granted to employees who must stay at home under one of these scenarios should be granted in line with their employment agreement and your usual leave policy.

Employees who are self-isolating should work remotely (usually from home) wherever practicable. Where it is not possible for an employee to work remotely, you should consider granting leave in line with their employment agreement and your usual leave policy. 

In determining what leave is appropriate to grant, in discussion with the employee, employers should also consider any relevant Holidays Act provisions or public health advice. 

In line with your leave policy, you may wish to ask staff members to provide evidence of their vulnerability (such as a medical certificate).

Now would be a good time for services to review their leave policy and make sure it is well communicated to all staff. 

COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme

Services may be able to access the COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme, below is a summary of the employer/employee criteria. Full details of the leave support scheme can be found on the Work and Income website.

COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme - Work and Income website 
 
The business must be registered and operating in New Zealand, and have either:

• experienced a minimum 30 per cent decline in actual or predicted revenue over the period of a month when compared to the same month last year, or a reasonably equivalent month for a business operating less than a year, and that revenue loss is attributable to the COVID-19 outbreak; or
• had their ability to support their employee due to the COVID-19 public health restrictions negatively impacted.

The employees must be either:

• at higher risk if they get COVID-19, and Ministry of Health guidelines recommend they stay at home while public health restrictions are in place
• have come into contact with someone who has COVID-19 and must self-isolate for 14 days (as required by Ministry of Health guidelines)
• have tested positive for COVID-19 and are required to remain off work until they've been cleared by a health professional to be released from self-isolation, or
• have household members who are at higher risk if they get COVID-19 and the Ministry of Health recommends the employee also remains at home to reduce the risk to them.

Business that have just hired an employee who hasn't started work yet, and they meet this criteria, can apply for them. 

Learning Support

• Under Alert Level 2 all early learning services are open for onsite attendance for all children. 
• All children including those who receive support from early intervention can attend their early learning service safely during Alert Level 2. If your child’s health requirements can be managed, your child can attend their early learning service. 
• Ministry of Education specialist staff will be able to visit to early learning centres as needed. Education Support Workers will be back at early learning services supporting children with learning support needs. Good hygiene practices and physical distancing consistent with a child’s individual support needs will need to be maintained at all times.
• Where an early learning service is unsure how a child’s needs can be safely met within the resources available, the Ministry’s regional early intervention team will work with parents and the service to find an appropriate solution.

Letter template for your community

It is important that you are able to provide timely information to your parents and community.  We have attached a sample letter you may to share with them on Alert Level 2.

Alert Level 2 Letter Template [DOCX, 17KB]