School Closure – Wednesday 15 February 2023

Kia ora e te whānau (parents, caregivers, students)

We hope your family / whānau and your friends are as well as can be expected in these demanding times.

Our thoughts go out to those affected by flooding, slips, power cuts, and the ongoing uncertainty of the situation, both here and the wider area. These are tough times, but we will get through with resilience and support.

After a health and safety assessment, we have made the difficult decision to close the school on Wednesday 15 February 2023.

We want to get back to school, the school site is in good condition, however the biggest issue is the ability and safety of travel to and from school, for both staff and students. For more detail read below.

We will have supervision on site for those who need to send their children to school, please advise office@thameshigh.school.nz

Our main considerations:

1. The latest road information has several routes closed and some roads that are open are for ‘essential travel’ only. There is no clear estimate of when roads may be opened.
2. With the current closures and limitations we will be unable to adequately staff the school.
3. Almost 80 students will be affected by buses not being able to operate on closed routes.
4. There is currently a union ban on teachers being called on to cover classes for absent staff (action due to disputed contract negotiations). The only way we could cope would be to roster home different levels and that is very difficult to manage at short notice.

While the roads may open later tonight, we need to give certainty now. The next time we reassess the situation is tomorrow afternoon.

Looking forward to getting back to school on Thursday. We will repeat our risk assessment tomorrow and advise if the situation changes.

Ngā manaakitanga

Michael Hart
Tumuaki/Principal