Email about the cancellation of Camp:
Nau mai haere mai,
It is with a heavy heart that I, in consultation with the Management Team, the Staff and the Board of Trustees have made the very difficult decision to cancel the school camps for our akonga. These were set to start on Monday.
I have been seeking advice from several sources, including the Ministry of Education, other Principals who are working through contact tracing of positive cases at their schools and public health advice from Dr Julie Bennett, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Otago and draw on all of this information in making this decision.
There is a very real risk that our camps will become a super spreader event and this is not a risk that I wish to take with our students and staff.
We have also considered the increase in social interactions that students will have together at these camps and the impact the sleeping arrangements may have on infection rates.
The additional disruption to parents possibly having to come to collect students who might become unwell, and the need for parents to be informed of a possible illness/covid case is also a consideration for me. These circumstances would cause a significant level of disruption to the camps.
This decision has not been taken lightly but was made to ensure the health and safety of our students, our staff, their whanau and our whole community.
Please help us explain to your children that this difficult decision has been made with their best interest in mind.
Many of you have already paid for the school camp and we will begin the process of refunding your money to you. Please be patient as we undertake these steps - we will do this as quickly as possible.
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