Moving back into Alert Level 2

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Kia ora koutou,

Key links and numbers: Healthline: 0800 358 5453 

Ministry of Health site


Our Prime Minister announced last night that Auckland was moving to Alert Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand was moving to Alert Level 2 as of midday on Wednesday 12th of August. This is sad but not entirely unexpected. We currently have four cases (all in one household) of Covid-19 in Auckland that, as of yet, have come from an unknown source. Thankfully, we are taking a cautious approach as a country to this latest development. This level of care and caution worked well for us earlier this year, and will no doubt help again to stamp out the virus.


What this means for Amesbury School is outlined below. Please can all parents ensure that the following information is passed on to all caregivers and whānau who will be picking children up.

  • School is open for all students as usual under Alert Level 2. 

  • Children and adults must stay home if they are unwell. If staff notice children at school who are showing signs of sickness, we will contact parents to have them picked up. Please contact your GP or Healthline if you are worried about any symptoms.

  • If someone is waiting for results of a Covid-19 test, they must stay home until they receive the results.

  • All teams will continue to reinforce regular hand washing and/or sanitising before and after all breaks, before eating food, and before all session changes (when children may mix groups).

  • Teams will be reinforcing with children about not getting into each other’s ‘breathing zone’. 


  • Co-curricular lessons will continue as usual. All students have been sanitising hands upon entering and leaving the sessions, and we will ensure this continues consistently.

  • Lunch orders will continue and staff will wear appropriate protective equipment to ensure a heightened food safety regime.

  • Parents and caregivers will need to sign in if they come onsite. There will be sign in sheets in every hub. If it is necessary to go into a learning space, please ensure you see a teacher in the space to sign in. In order to minimise the need to sign in many parents daily, we ask that parents only come onsite into school if it is really necessary.

  • Below are further detail about drop off and pick up systems in Level 2.

  • Our school playgrounds remain open, and children can use these playgrounds freely. Students will sanitise their hands before going to breaks and after coming back on from breaks. During school hours we will ask students not to use the Wellington Council playground, because we do not operate track and trace registering within the playground, so we cannot be sure who has been there during the day.

  • At this point trips to ASB Centre and swimming will still run as usual, with all precautions taken around hand washing and minimizing contact with people outside of school.

  • We strongly recommend you record your movements using the Ministry Track and Trace app. If you come onsite for any reason, please sign in using the QR code that is displayed at all key entrances to school buildings.

Drop off and pick up systems in Level 2


  • Our onsite boundary will alter slightly from our previous system, in order to avoid students gathering or using the car park for foot traffic. We recognise that this could be confusing for students and could impact their safety as we move between alert levels. As such, our boundary for coming ‘onsite’ will be the far pathway between Romaine Road and Amesbury Drive; the far edge of the netball courts and in front of the council playground; the line running along the edge of the netball courts and along the drop off zone. Please see the attached photo that illustrates this pick up / drop off boundary line. If any parents or caregivers pass over this line to come onsite, you must sign in with a teacher or at the office.

  • This means that the car park will remain open. The drop off zone can be used by all parents and caregivers, but we ask that parents stay inside their cars. Children can hop into the car without parents getting out.

  • Parents and caregivers of Koru children can use available car park bays to park, but you must only come to the edge of the drop off/pick boundary (edge of netball courts) to collect your child/ren.

  • Any parents of Harakeke or Pōhutukawa children should not be using any car park bays in the school car park unless they are also picking up a Koru child.

  • Koru Hub teachers will bring the children out to the courts as usual. They will come to the far edge of the courts (near the car park). We ask that all adults stay off the courts, and gather along the periphery. Teachers will send your children over to you once they know you are there.

  • We ask that all parents and caregivers practice and model physical distancing when waiting at school boundaries - leave a 2 metre space between you and other people.

  • For slightly older children, make a plan for where they will meet you or how they will get home. If they are able to walk by themselves, or walk with younger siblings to meet a caregiver offsite or at the edge of the site, that would be useful.

  • One change will be that this will happen even in poorer weather. In the case of inclement weather Koru students will still need to come out onto the courts to be collected, so please ensure your child has a suitable coat or umbrella.

  • There will be two teachers / leaders out on duty in the morning wearing high visibility vests. One person will be stationed over near the Romaine Road entrance, and the other person will be at the bottom of the steps going into school. Those staff members will be present to greet children and help them come into school independently. Navy will be doing road patrol as usual. After school, all Koru teachers will be out on the courts with their students, and two leaders will be based by the drop off zone and on the walkway through the car park, to ensure students can get offsite safely.

  • As with our previous Level 2 system, we will be asking all students to leave the school site after school to return home or to the home of a caregiver. All children need to have left the school site or have been picked up by 3:15pm, unless otherwise organised directly with the school.

We are well prepared for this move into Level 2, having done this before. Hopefully this will be temporary measure to ensure our ongoing health and safety. Stay safe, stay home if you are unwell, and, as always, horoia ō ringaringa, wash your hands!


Ngā mihi nui,

Urs Cunningham (Acting Principal) and John Bunting (BoT Chairperson) 

By Urs Cunningham


Photo Gallery


Amesbury School Level 2 boundary. Amesbury School Level 2 boundary.  — by Urs Cunningham