If changes are made that impact on the information provided, we’ll notify you immediately.

Requirements at Alert Level 3  – Ministry of Health

We’ve also drafted a letter template for you (the principal or board chair) to send to your school community if you wish.

Letter template for school community [DOCX, 19 KB]

Alert Level 3 in brief:

• At Alert Level 3, there is a medium risk of community transmission and active but managed clusters.
• All schools must open for any children who need to attend.
• More businesses and services are open at Alert Level 3, not just essential services, and therefore more parents and caregivers need to leave home to go to work.
• If there is no suitable carer in the home, children need to be able to go to school to learn.
• Distance learning will need to be provided for all students who are off site, including those required to self-isolate and those individuals who health authorities have asked to stay away while waiting for a test result.
• Students in Year 11 to 13 must remain learning from home. However, there is a possibility for an exemption for some Year 12 and 13 students in limited circumstances, to attend on site (see item further below).

• Bubbles of no more than 10 students will need to be formed with staff additional to that number.
• Bubbles need to keep at least two metres’ distance from other bubbles.
• Staff should not move across different bubbles if at all possible.
• Staff at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 (for example, older people and those with underlying medical conditions, especially if not well-controlled) are able to work but should take additional precautions when leaving home (and have a discussion with their employer).

• Schools will close for cleaning and contact tracing if there is a confirmed case who was infectious when at school.
• Your Director of Education will work closely with you and health authorities should this occur.
• Please contact your regional office if you hear of a confirmed case in your school community but haven’t been advised about it by health officials.

Dealing with a confirmed case – Ministry of Education

• At all alert levels there are a range of public health measures to follow including:
  • staying away if unwell and seeking advice about getting tested
  • mandatory displaying of QR codes
  • having a contact tracing system in place (for example, an attendance register, visitors register, timetable).
  • good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette
  • regularly cleaning high-touch surfaces.
• Physical distancing is one metre inside where practicable, particularly by adults, and two metres outside for everyone.
• Keep rooms well ventilated (see information on school property below).
• Face coverings are not mandatory in school settings and remain an individual choice. However, the Director General of Health has strongly recommended they are worn by students in secondary settings (see item below and also go to our face coverings guidance for more information).
• No singing should take place inside – it is recommended that participants are outside and two metres apart from each other. 

Contact tracing – Ministry of Education

Face covering guidance – Ministry of Education

School hostels can continue to operate with those boarders and staff currently on site, but otherwise should not be adding new boarders to their premises at Alert Level 3.

Travel across the Auckland regional boundary will remain very tight.

When the Health Order is confirmed we will know what permissions exist within the order, and what exemptions may be approved through the Director General of Health. We will provide an update at that time.

The health order allows people to go into a workplace to prepare the premises for opening (and to meet public health guidance).

This means, with an alert level change announced, as long as you follow public health guidance some staff and contractors can access your school to prepare for returning to work. This might include general cleaning, configuring classrooms, and reactivating processes to ensure compliance with public health requirements at the new alert level.

Preparing for opening at Alert Level 3 – Ministry of Education

The number of people on site should remain small while at Alert Level 4. We recommend you provide your staff with a letter from the principal or board chair that they can take with them explaining why they are going to their place of work.

We’ve translated some key messaging for families and whānau regarding Alert Level 3 in schools.

You should be able to cut and paste the relevant text into your own communications as needed. You can see we’ve also added links to some relevant translated information on the Unite Against COVID-19 website.

There is also a range of alternate format content on their website including New Zealand Sign Language and easy read.

Translated guidance for Alert Level 3 in schools – Ministry of Education

Links to translated information – Unite Against COVID-19

Alternate formats for disabled people with communication needs – Unite Against COVID-19

At Alert Level 3, it is not mandatory to wear face coverings in schools.

However, the Director General of Health has strongly recommended that students in secondary settings do wear face coverings.

At this point in time, the Ministry of Health does not recommend the wearing of face coverings for children under 12 years as it is difficult for them to use them correctly. Incorrect use of face coverings erodes their efficacy against transmission.

In schools and early learning services, there is an extensive range of mitigating measures that will help to prevent spread of illness, including COVID-19.

Measures to stop spread of illness – Unite Against COVID-19

These include:

• staying home if you are unwell and seeking advice about getting tested
• maintaining good hand hygiene and cough and sneeze etiquette
• keeping groups very small (no more than 10 children in a bubble), and well separated from other groups
• keeping physically distanced as much as practicable
• keeping classrooms well ventilated
• maintaining a two-metre distance from others when outside
• well-established record keeping.

Importantly, at Alert Level 3 there is a lower risk that COVID-19 is in the community than at Alert Level 4.

None of this, however, prevents anyone from choosing to wear a face covering. If someone does want to wear a face covering, including in their school bubble, we encourage you to read the guidance about how to use a face mask safely on the Ministry of Health website.

How to use a face mask safely – Ministry of Health

“We continue to look at the evolving evidence around the transmission of COVID-19 in different settings, including educational settings, particularly in light of the new variants to inform the public health advice about face coverings (including masks) for children and young people at school and early learning services.

The two key public health principles that support Alert Level 3 are first to minimise the risk that someone gets infected in the first place, and second to limit the number of possible contacts people have if they do get infected to make it easier to rapidly stop further spread.

When reviewing the evidence for children and young people, we have considered the potential benefits of the role face coverings play in reducing the spread of the virus and any potential harms or risks.

The Alert Level 3 approach in a school environment is designed to limit the number of people that children have contact with based on these principles. Taking into account the other mitigating measures in schools, it is possible to lower the risk of COVID-19 transmission in these settings. Because it is possible to ensure that children are within the same group each day with no mixing between groups, it is acceptable from a public health perspective to have a group of children learning together. Our advice is to limit this to 10 children in each group.

Schools reinforcing good hygiene practices are undertaking regular cleaning and having staff, children and young people staying away if they are sick. At Alert Level 3, where practicable, physical distancing is in place, particularly between adults.

Overall, we think it is important not to interfere with learning as much as possible, so it's about balancing up the benefits against the potential harms.

Compared to other places, schools and early learning services are not environments where we have seen significant spread of COVID-19. Household members and work colleagues who are in close contact with people with COVID-19 are the most common sources of transmission.

Based on what we know about face coverings and transmission in children, we are taking this balanced approach at this time. If new evidence emerges, this guidance will be revised.

It is also important that parents fully support this approach by doing their bit – keeping children home if they are unwell and seeking medical advice about whether a child may need to be tested, strictly maintaining their family 'bubble' outside the school environment and ensuring great hygiene practices at all times.”

Please consider the following as you plan for your school or kura to open for limited onsite instruction at Alert Level 3.

Schools between Years 1 to 10 can safely open but will have limited capacity and students should learn from home if possible. When learning onsite, ‘school bubbles’ of no more than 10 children are to be formed.

Teachers are to stay with the same school bubble of students. In practice, this will mean that you will need to have a designated relief or backup teacher identified for each school bubble.

You can ask your teachers and support staff to work on site when this is required to support the learning of children who attend in person. This should be the minimum number of employees required with the remainder continuing to deliver education remotely.

However, any staff member must stay at home if:

• they are sick or generally unwell
• they need to self-isolate, as per Ministry of Health guidelines
• they are caring for dependents who need to self-isolate, as per Ministry of Health guidelines.

In addition, they should stay home if they are at a higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and they are not yet fully vaccinated.

If you are facing challenges in having sufficient staff to operate at Alert Level 3, please contact your local Ministry office so that we can arrange assistance for you.

In Alert Level 3, teacher aides can go into homes to support learners with additional needs by mutual agreement between the family, the teacher aide, the principal and the school board. For some students, face-to-face support from a teacher aide while learning from home could be of significant benefit to their learning and engagement with education.

Arrangements should involve a single teacher aide going into a single household to provide learning support for a learner. The teacher aide effectively becomes part of the household’s family bubble (a slightly enlarged bubble). It means they cannot join any other school bubble. The teacher aide must be in the Alert Level 3 area. That is, they should not travel from an Alert Level 4 area to visit a household which is now at Alert Level 3.

If the teacher aide would usually work with more than one household, they can be provided with alternate duties including working from home (where appropriate). Staff members should not be put on a leave of absence, stood down or have their hours of employment reduced due to the need to work with only one household at Alert Level 3.

At Alert Level 3, staff members (including both teachers and support staff) do not need to be fully vaccinated to work on site. Staff members who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should be fully vaccinated before working on site. You can find information about who is at most risk here.

People at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 – Unite Against COVID-19

Generally, people are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after they have received the second of the two doses of the vaccine. However, staff should work with their GP or specialist if they need help understanding their own level of risk and how best to stay healthy. Further information is available from the Ministry of Health here. 

How COVID-19 vaccines work – Ministry of Health

Many people who are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 will already be fully vaccinated. However, where a person cannot work on site because they are at higher risk and not yet fully vaccinated, they should provide you with appropriate medical evidence to support this (such as a medical certificate obtained at the employer’s cost if required within the first three days after a request to return to work on site, and at the employee’s cost after that). Staff at higher risk who are not fully vaccinated should work from home. If work is not available at home, they should be provided with discretionary paid leave.

Information for people considered at higher risk from the effects of COVID-19 can be found on the Ministry of Health website.

Higher risk people – Ministry of Health

Ministry of Health advice is for everyone to get vaccinated, however you cannot make it a requirement that anyone get vaccinated. 

You can ask a staff member whether they have been vaccinated, but they do not have to disclose their vaccination status. If they choose not to disclose their vaccination status, you may assume that they are unvaccinated but should inform the staff member of this assumption.  

Personal information about vaccine status must be protected and cannot be shared without the staff member’s consent. 

When New Zealand previously entered Alert Level 3, schools rostered staff into bubbles.

There have been some questions about how a roster of teachers to a bubble can work to ensure it aligns with the public health measures. The overarching aim of Alert Level 3 is to limit the number of additional people (outside the individual’s immediate household) you come into close contact with, so in the unlikely event of a case of COVID-19 close contacts can be quickly identified and the number required to undertake 14 days of self-isolation is limited. 

Adults and children are not to move between bubbles. Staff will need cover for a break and potentially for sick or other leave. In practice, this will mean that you will need to have a designated relief or backup teacher identified for each school bubble.

If staff meetings are required, these should be held online. If a meeting in person cannot be avoided, then physical distancing between employees should be maintained. Relief teachers and casual staff who usually work with several schools should work with one school during Alert Level 3.

For more information on how COVID-19 is spread go to the Ministry of Health website. It still may be possible for this type of spread to occur and good hygiene is key to preventing this.

How COVID-19 spreads – Ministry of Health

When opening school facilities, the public health requirements must be adhered to so that COVID-19 is prevented from spreading within the school community.

Most importantly, by following the public health requirements and guidance for operating under the different alert levels, you will meet your obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act. The advice from WorkSafe on our website also expands on this.

Managing health and safety: COVID-19 – WorkSafe

Schools should take a health and safety risk-based approach to understand and investigate the concerns of their employees in good faith. You will need to determine an appropriate response in line with employer and employee duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and advice from the Ministry of Health. Work with your staff when developing and reviewing your health and safety plan, including with your elected health and safety representatives.

WorkSafe notes that before reopening, the persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) should self-assess their ability to operate safely at Alert Level 3. This includes thinking about how you are going to manage risks and protect staff, students and whānau under Alert Level 3.

PCBUs need to document their thinking in a COVID-19 safety plan and share that plan with their staff. More information about what’s needed in the plan, including a plan template, is available on WorkSafe’s COVID-19 safety plan page.

The emergency payment scheme under Alert Level 4 has been extended for staff who usually work in the Auckland region.

The next emergency payment will be made on 21 September to cover the period of 8 September to 20 September.

Payments will continue to be processed automatically by Education Payroll (EPL) to all eligible staff who have worked in the Auckland region on at least one occasion during the period from 10 March to 17 August at a state or state-integrated school.

If you do not use EPL for payroll, we encourage you to put in place the same financial support for eligible staff. We will reimburse non-EPL schools and kura the cost of these emergency payments.

Emergency payments – Ministry of Education

At Alert Level 2, support is available to casual schooling workers by application. 

Apply for support for casual schooling workers – Ministry of Education

At Alert Level 3, the governing bodies of schools may have the option of bringing some of their Year 12 and 13 students back to school for face-to-face learning.

Planning and preparation for the return of any students is very important and you should take the time needed to do this if you are going to use this flexibility. Once an alert level change is announced, we’ll send out process and supporting documents in a bulletin.

It goes without saying that there are added health risks in having more children travelling to and attending school, so meeting health requirements is essential in planning for the return of more students.

Please contact your property advisor if you need further advice on property matters.

It’s important to ensure your site is safe before all students return to school.

We have compiled a property checklist to help you complete all the necessary actions. The checklist prioritises those health and safety activities that must be completed before students and staff return.

Property maintenance – Ministry of Education

As your staff and ākonga start returning to the classroom, it’s important you consider how you ventilate your teaching spaces.

The fastest and easiest way to ventilate is by opening the windows, doors, and any vents. It’s good practice to fully open all windows during breaks and after school for as long as possible.

You can find further advice, including how to best ventilate using mechanical or passive ventilation, on our website.

Ventilation in schools – Ministry of Education

In Alert Level 3, all school construction projects can continue as long as the health and safety protocols are adhered to.

If your school board is leading a building project, they are required to ensure:

• contractors are following Ministry of Health guidelines and the New Zealand COVID-19 Construction Protocols
• they have received a copy of the contractor’s COVID-19 plan and completed COVID-19 checklist before work restarts.

COVID-19 and working in alert levels – CHASNZ

Operating school construction projects safely within alert levels – Ministry of Education

If the Ministry is leading the building project, your delivery manager will ensure that these protocols are being followed and that the checklist is in place.

If you have any questions, please contact your school property advisor or delivery manager.

For those schools who advise that they are open, all Ministry-operated school bus services will initially operate on the existing timetables. Continuation of Ministry services will depend on demand – if no eligible students are using a bus service then it will be discontinued for the remainder of Alert Level 3.

Schools that have SESTA students should contact their transport providers to notify them if they are intending to open under Alert Level 3. Transport providers who take SESTA students to school will then be in contact with the families to check whether their children are attending school.

All schools must maintain up-to-date bus lists for school bus services (this includes both Ministry and regional council-operated services) to enable contact tracing to take place if required.

This includes charter buses hired by the school to transport students and staff.

Anyone who chooses to wear a face covering in any setting should be supported to do so. Face coverings are not required on school buses because schools know who is on school transport and have good systems in place to identify potential close contacts.

Students are required to wear masks on public transport if they are aged 12 and over. Providing face masks/coverings is the responsibility of individuals and caregivers.

Any student who is unwell should not travel on a school or public bus.

In Alert Level 3, most children should continue to learn at home unless there is no appropriate adult at home to care for them, because they need to work.

Whenever possible children at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 should stay home and children who are unwell must not attend school.

Residential Specialist Schools and Day Specialist Schools will not resume in the early stages of Alert Level 3 for children to physically attend. Teaching staff can return to the school premises and support parents and children at home. They will develop plans for children to return to physical attendance if public health measures can be managed later in the Alert Level 3 period.

Provided public health measures can be managed, students enrolled at a Day Special School, but attending a satellite unit in a local school, may be considered for onsite attendance as part of the host school’s roll build up over time. Most other students with learning support needs can attend school safely during Alert Level 3 if this is needed by their parents.

For students who require nappy changing and close personal care at school, this should be provided by one consistent staff member who is in the bubble with the student.

Local travel to attend school is permitted under Alert Level 3. Schools should contact their provider to arrange travel to school for children who need it and already receive SESTA transport. 

Under Alert Level 3, teacher aides may be able to go into homes to support learners with additional learning needs, by mutual agreement between the family, the teacher aide, the principal and the school board. This would involve a single teacher aide going into a single household to provide learning support for a learner. The teacher aide effectively becomes part of the household’s family bubble (a slightly enlarged bubble). It means they cannot join any other bubble.

There is no obligation for you to provide an in-home teacher aide. Talk to your regional office if you would think this would be helpful for a family at your school. They will work with you to find appropriate solutions where parents ask for their child to attend school on-site, and the school is unsure whether or how the student’s needs can be safely met within the resources available.
 

Students participating in secondary-tertiary and workplace-based learning courses such as Trades Academies or Secondary-Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR) funded courses, may be able to attend onsite with these providers.

You can work with the partner provider to plan for distance learning and/or confirm if there is any onsite learning. Providers may be a tertiary education organisation, Trades Academy Lead Provider or an employer.

Under Alert Level 3:

• all decisions about staff and students’ attendance on site must be in line with public health requirements
• no secondary-tertiary or workplace-based learning activities can be undertaken on the school site (no exceptions)
• in tertiary education, all teaching should be delivered remotely, wherever possible. Some facilities may open for limited activities involving small groups (up to 10 people including tutor) where it is not possible to deliver teaching remotely
• this means some limited secondary-tertiary learning may be able to occur at the tertiary delivery site subject to Ministry of Health guidelines, in particular with regards to physical distancing and hygiene
• decisions on whether specific secondary-tertiary learning arrangements may be able to take place at a tertiary delivery site will be made on a case-by-case basis by each TEO in consultation with school partners
• if a tertiary delivery site is open, then students/staff may travel locally or to a neighbouring region to attend classes
• gateway-funded structured workplace-based learning cannot commence under Alert Level 3
• student attendance at any available tertiary-based onsite learning will be at the students, parents/whānau and school discretion. More detailed tertiary guidelines are available on our website
• contact details for Trades Academy Lead Providers and TEOs delivering foundation qualifications can be found on the Youth Guarantee website
• further information can also be found on our Youth Guarantee website.

Tertiary education in Alert Level 3 – Ministry of Education

Youth Guarantee-funded training providers – Youth Guarantee

NCEA tertiary training for Kiwi youth – Youth Guarantee

Thank you for your interest in the EOTC Alert Level 2 Q&A Zoom hui yesterday (Monday 13 September).

The hui proved very popular, and a number of people were unable to get in. For those of you who missed out, you’ll find a recording of this meeting here.

Alert Level 2 hui – Education Outdoors New Zealand

Education Outdoors New Zealand developed EOTC and OE at Alert Level 2 Guidance document that covers key considerations, such as working with external providers and provides links to other useful information and FAQs. 

EOTC and outdoor education at Alert Level 2 [PDF, 274 KB]

After working with secondary schools in COVID-19 priority regions, we now have approval to extend our proactive connectivity project to all schools/kura nationwide.

We’re now able to order more free connections for ākonga of any year level who are without a current home internet connection. New and existing connections have been extended until the end of December.

If you still have ākonga who could benefit from this programme, contact your regional office and email the Equitable Digital Access team at EDA@education.govt.nz as soon as possible.

Because schools outside of Tāmaki Makaurau are now operating under Alert Level 2 and have full access to their own learning resources, we are suspending the delivery of NCEA hard-copy packs. If you still require assistance, we encourage you to contact your regional office.

Current orders of NCEA hard-copy packs for Tāmaki Makaurau and Tai Tokerau will continue to be delivered as planned.