Kia ora koutou,

I have been receiving regular updates and situation analysis from our staff on the ground, as well as emergency management operations across the motu. It is clear that we are facing a severe and widespread event, with heavy rain warnings, associated flooding, high winds and power outages.  I know you will have been following reports, including the need for people to avoid unnecessary travel and shelter in place if possible.  I am also aware that you have had the opportunity to plan for the cyclone.

Given this, Boards and Principals are in the best position to decide when it is safe for on-site teaching and learning and to communicate that with your community.

The most recent advice (9:00 am Sunday 12 February) we have received from NEMA (in full) is to:

• prepare for road closures in impacted areas
• prepare for power outages in impacted areas
• do not wait for an evacuation order to move to safety
• secure any loose items
• clear stormwater drains
• avoid unnecessary travel.

Please continue to consult your emergency management plans and keep up to date with weather and emergency management updates, via your local Civil Defence updates, the emergency management web pages listed below, or through regular media updates.

If you require support, or want to talk about your situation, please don’t hesitate to contact your local Te Mahau office:

Local Te Mahau offices – Ministry of Education

Under Section 659 of the Education and Training Act 2020, schools that are closed for instruction due to an emergency do not need to make up the days they are closed. School boards may decrease their minimum half-day opening requirement for 2023 by up to 10 half-days, depending on which day they were due to start Term 1. We also expect that there will be flexibility and discretion regarding the scheduling and timing of teacher only days

If you have any further questions around the half-days, please contact: school.support@education.govt.nz or your local Te Mahau office: Local Te Mahau offices – Ministry of Education

We have included some useful links, emergency and Ministry of Social Development contact details for you and your community on the evolving situation, and what you can do to stay safe, please see below.

Finally, it was hugely frustrating that a number of you did not receive Friday’s bulletin directly at the first time of sending. We experienced another (unrelated to the previous) technical glitch.  This time a third-party provider’s spam filter at schools incorrectly blocked the bulletin. I am very sorry and thank you to those who checked in with us which meant we were able to rectify the problem quickly.

All the bulletins are posted on-line so you can check in for updates or search previous advice:

Bulletins | Ngā Pānui – Ministry of Education

The School Bulletin goes out to over 6,800 people, and we review our distribution list weekly. We know for each bulletin around half of the recipients access it pretty much straight away, climbing to over 70 percent over the following days. It is an important channel for us all.

A belts and braces approach today – the bulletin is being distributed through our regular channels, as well as directly from our Directors of Education. This means that you may receive it twice, but I did want to make sure that you heard from me directly.

Stay safe, kia kaha

Iona