Kia ora e te whānau

What a remarkable response! As COVID-19 has re-emerged in our community, I have been awed by the ‘roll up our sleeves’ attitude.  The good old fashioned belligerent, ‘this thing isn’t going to get the better of us’ mantra echoing around classrooms, staffrooms, playgrounds, school gates, in newsletters home to parents and in principal professional forums. 

As a nation, we felt fortunate to have beaten the virus into submission for the past 100 days. We hold up the enormity of that achievement as a badge of pride. Realistically however, we had been warned this was likely to be a temporary state. The chances of maintaining COVID free status in a world where it continues to run rampant, were always slim.

There has been no bemoaning our current reality, just a stoic digging in to do what must be done. When ‘push comes to shove’, principals are resilient and realistic.

We acknowledge our Auckland colleagues who are currently dealing with level 3 restrictions. Kia kaha, kia manawanui nga tumuaki o Tāmaki Makau Rau. Kia haumaru koutou katoa. You are not alone. Principals country-wide extend our awhi to you knowing that COVID-19 does not discriminate. We all need to be prepared to move at pace should we be required to do so. That may well be the outcome of the Prime Minister’s announcement late this afternoon.

Over the past few months since we have returned to our physical school settings, the Government has responded to the impact of COVID-19 with a range of supports.

I detail these here to ensure you have visibility on the Government’s response and how to access the associated funding for the young people and staff in your care.

• COVID Unbudgeted Costs Fund
  $38million to compensate schools for unbudgeted and additional expense. Examples of these expenses are cleaning costs and hand sanitiser (funding will be allocated to schools based on their proportion of the total number of students enrolled at the July 2020 roll return); U1 and U2 Teaching Principal Support (all 508 U1 and U2 schools will receive an even portion of the funding to assist in the management of COVID-19. This is $16,632 per school); Additional Relief Teacher Fund because of higher than usual staff illness or absence (ARTF reduced from 8 or more days to 4 or more days for term 2 and 3 only-apply now); a wage subsidy for hostel staff (hostels must show they have had at least a 25% reduction in the number of students staying at their hostel since January 2020. The Ministry will contact all 31 hostels to facilitate). Funds will be deposited in the October funding drop.
• COVID Urgent Response Fund
  $50million to help respond to students that require additional support for learning, social, emotional, mental health, or wellbeing needs.This could be more teacher-aide hours to work with students at risk, targeted programmes to address inequity, funding for home-visits including for people with a history of poor attendance, and social workers to work with at-risk young people. Each regional Ministry of Education office will communicate an application and approval process. Contact your regional office immediately to ascertain how to make an application and access these funds.
• COVID International Student Transition Funding
  $20million to provide transitional support to contribute towards staff costs and ensure continuity of education and pastoral care for international students still in New Zealand. This will relieve financial pressure and provide schools more time to transition to a lower future income stream. 
• COVID Workplace Assistance
  $16million to workplace assistance and counselling support services for the education workforce and their families.The Ministry are still working through the details of this fund.
• COVID Curriculum Advisors
  $32.8million for 40 advisors over 3 years to support the Health and Physical Education and Hauora curriculum, including the Relationship and Sexuality Education Guidelines and the Wellbeing and Mental Health Guidelines. This will have a focus on supporting schools to develop curriculum that responds to the mental health and wellbeing of young people.  
• COVID Student Counselling Services
  $75.8million over 4 years for student counselling services made up of $31.8million to increase large secondary schools' guidance staffing entitlement to employ guidance counsellors and other pastoral care staff, and $44million to contract local community organisations to provide guidance counselling to primary and intermediate school students. These services will be available in 2021. 

If you have any questions about accessing these funds, please contact your Ministry of Education School Advisor or Regional Director. They will advise you of the process to use.

Please avail yourself of this assistance. The funds have been provisioned and need to be used.

As this week ends, once again, let us remind each other of our need to be clear-minded and healthy so that we can be effective in our work to lead and respond in these extraordinary times. Dealing with this ongoing COVID-19 crisis in our communities is taxing. We need to acknowledge that and keep our own mental health to the fore. Let us keep making it a practice to find the ‘down time’ and the space to recharge. It has been another week of substantive challenge so do please be proactive about your own mental health plan this weekend.

Thank you for all you do!

Ngā manaakitanga

Perry Rush
perry@nzpf.ac.nz