A Note From Sherryll

As Omicron continues to find its way into our communities, the impact is starting to be felt across the Kindergarten network, and I know things are already becoming harder for you all.

Please know that we are doing all we can at Head Office to support you as you respond to the complexities that COVID brings, and also that we are very mindful of the extra workload it creates. The Kidsfirst COVID Management Team continues to meet regularly, and we are doing what we can to put in place measures designed to minimise the impact on kindergartens.

However, the shift to Phase 3 brings a lot more self-management of COVID in everyday life for whānau and caregivers, and the variation in the rates of community spread mean that there are differing levels of risk across and within our rohe – some regions are seeing larger outbreaks, while others still have only a handful of community cases. As this outbreak grows, our kindergartens are starting to be impacted, just as schools, businesses and workplaces are. If it's not happening for you already, it is inevitable there will be positive cases in your kindergarten community, there will be staff shortages and tamaraki coming and going with people isolating or keeping their tamariki at home.

On our Facebook page, we are encouraging whānau to make a plan so they are ready in the event a kindergarten closes. We are also driving home the message about keeping sick children at home and about tolerance and kindness towards others. This is a stressful time for everybody.

A special thanks to the teaching teams who have taken part in our Kindy Safe videos – it makes such a difference for whānau and caregivers to hear these messages from our Kaiako, and they go a long way towards providing reassurance that kindergarten is a safe place for our tamariki.

Thank you again for all your amazing mahi, ngā mihi maioha ki a koutou katoa.

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