Winter Illnesses
WINTER ILLNESSES
Kia ora Whanau
I wanted to let you know about the impact that winter illness are having on our kura in recent weeks. At the moment we are seeing lots of different bugs around - from Covid, to strep throat, to winter flu and more. We are seeing staff members getting sick and the reality is there are almost no relievers who are available to come in on the day. This week, for example, we have had three days where 2 teachers have been sick. I wanted you to know the processes we follow so you understand the ‘why'.
If we are unable to find a reliever, the first step is to see if we have any teachers who are on release that day and do an internal juggle. This is also less than ideal as the reason teachers are released is because there are a lot of jobs that they need to do on top of being in the classroom (and this is one of the main points of negotiation with the government - to provide enough time for this).
If we can't do that, we will split classes. This is where we will put a few children from the class that does not have a teacher that day into other classes. They will be given some work and complete that in a different classroom, with a different teacher.
Our last resort will be to close school for the day. This is absolutely the last thing we will do, but I need you to know now that this could become a reality.
This is not just a Linton Camp School problem - this is going on daily across the city and around the country. Only a few years ago there was an abundance of teachers in the Manawatū, but no longer. It is a crisis - there are just not enough teachers in our rohe! At least one school I know had to close for a day last week simply because there were not enough teachers healthy and available to be at school.
Lastly, you'll see from the above why it is important that if you have a sick child, we ask you to keep them at home. If they have a positive Covid result, they need to isolate at home for 7 days as per regulations. We do not want bugs spreading between children, and we really need our teachers healthy!
Matt Costley
Principal
