My Account
There has been a mixed reaction from early childhood centres and kindergartens in the Mahurangi district to the mandatory requirement for teachers and staff to be vaccinated.
Education workers were required to have their first dose by November 15 and will need to have had their second dose by January 1.
Last Monday, most centres were operating on reduced hours with reduced staff numbers, but were feeling confident they had the staff to manage.
None of the centre managers/operators wanted to be identified due to concerns around privacy. As one manager put it, “We are still a small community, and if I identify my centre, people will know who I am talking about.”
A common theme in the responses to questions from Mahurangi Matters was that it had been an emotional ride meeting Government requirements.
“I’m lucky that my staff have been open and honest about how they feel about the vaccinations and although we are all double dosed, it has still been a touchy subject to discuss. I know one centre has lost five staff,” said one.
Another centre owner believed that the majority of staff and teachers at early childhood centres would get their vaccinations to keep their children safe.
“That has certainly been a driving force behind vaccinations in my own centre,” she said.
This is borne out by figures from the Auckland Kindergarten Association, which has more than 160 centres across Tamaki Makaurau.
Figures for the northern region show that 96 per cent of its teaching staff have had their first vaccination and 91 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Association general manager for education and innovation Bram Kukler says since the Public Health Orders came in, the association has followed processes for maintaining vaccination registers and testing of staff.
“We want to make it as safe as possible for tamariki, their whanau and our staff,” he says.
Mr Kukler says along with vaccinations, the association has evolved its practices to ensure a consistent bubble of children and staff, and that parents wear a masks to pick up and drop off their children at the gate.
In addition, the association promotes good ventilation, outdoor play, good hygiene practices and a proactive response to a changing virus.
Nevertheless, more than one centre in the district is facing the reality that it has teachers and relief teachers who won’t get vaccinated.
“We were already down a couple of teachers before the lockdown so we are going to struggle when numbers at the centre return to normal. I’m not sure what the answer is, but we will just have to try to manage the best we can,” the centre manager says.
Another head teacher, who was also losing staff over the mandatory vaccinations, was critical of the way the Education Ministry had communicated the new rules and regulations.
“It’s been confusing, and it feels like schools and early education centres have been thrown under the bus,” she says.
“They have announced mandates, school openings and new rules, but with no follow-up guidance. As a result, schools are scrambling, and it’s been very hard to plan and prepare when things seem to change on a week-to-week basis.”
She was particularly concerned about the impact it would have on children.
“After three months at home, many of our students will be returning to unfamiliar faces at their centres. This will have a huge effect on their feelings of wellbeing and security.”
