‘Calm before the storm’
Teachers starting to feel pressure as cases in schools and early learning sites tops 100
School communities and early childhood services are trying to adapt to disruptions brought by more than 100 Covid-19 cases popping up in their communities.
Covid-19 cases have been identified at schools from Northland to Wellington, with more reported almost every day.
The Ministry of Education said there were 98 Covid-19 cases in schools and 19 at early childhood services.
President of the Secondary Principals’ Association (SPANZ), Vaughan Couillault, said there was almost a feeling of the “calm before the storm” among members as more families reported Covid-19 cases associated to schools.
“We are aware this is about to hit us. You’re sort of watching a big wave come onto shore and you realise it’s going to break in a minute.”
Most of the Covid-19 cases in schools were in Waikato (42) and in Auckland (36).
Waikato schools that have cases in their communities included Hamilton Boys’ High School, which had three cases as of yesterday afternoon, and Hamilton Christian School, Melville Intermediate and Rototuna Junior School.
Hamilton Boys’ High School headmaster Susan Hassall said she was proud of students who had been courageous, resilient and optimistic in the face of the challenges presented by Covid-19.
Hassall said the cases had been linked outside of the school and there wasn’t transmission in the school.
More than 50 close contacts had been identified so far and were now learning from home as teachers juggled teaching in class while uploading resources to Google Classroom for those at home.
“As the days go on, there are more students who are unable to attend school because they’ve been identified as close contacts.
“That’s where the pressure is going to start for schools and teachers.
“We’re going to have to start managing the needs of those learners as well as the majority of students who are still at school.” In Auckland, St Thomas’ School in Kohimarama has a Covid19 case in its community. Principal Michael Maher said he was thankful for the “conscientious and prompt responses” of the families who were required to isolate.
Extensive Covid-19 protocols were in place and a management plan was activated once they were notified of the case on Friday, he said.
Day-to-day operations hadn’t been affected and classes continued as normal.
Couillault is also principal of Papatoetoe High School and well versed in managing Covid-19 cases in an education setting after finding his school at the centre of an outbreak in February last year.
Yesterday, there were two cases among the Papatoetoe High School community. Both were in the same class, meaning they had the same close contacts, making the situation “very ring-fenced”, he said.
When Covid-19 crops up in a school, a number of scenarios could play out, Couillault explained.
It depended on how many staff members were impacted and whether there was transmission inside the school, he said, with the options ranging from closing down a single classroom to full school shutdown for example.
There were also five Covid-19 cases at schools in Te Tai Tokerau and six in the Bay of Plenty.