Kia ora Orātia whānau and families,

Happy New Year to you all. It has been a challenging and scary time for many of us over the past few days.

This afternoon the Secretary for Education issued a directive to all Auckland schools, that they are to stay closed until February 7th.

Earlier today the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) asked us to take action to help minimise traffic movement on Auckland roads while vital infrastructure is urgently repaired.

With the possibility of further weather damage leading to more disruption, the Secretary for Education has directed that schools, kura, early learning services and Tertiary institutions in the Auckland region (Wellsford to Pukekohe) must close for physical attendance and instruction until 7 February.

What this means for Orātia School is that children will not be able to attend school until next Tuesday February 7th. This will be the first day of school and all children are to attend together. Our plan to have our inaugural Meet the whānau/teacher day will have to be cancelled, which we are all very disappointed about. However, we know that this later start to the year will already be impacting parents' leave and childcare arrangements, and we did not want to add to that stress. We will let you know how we will arrange for meeting each other at a later date.

Due to the terrible state of many of our roads around the school we are unsure if bus routes have been impacted, and feel there is a strong possibility that buses may not be able to run as normal. Please consider this if your child usually catches the bus as it may mean that other arrangements to get your child to school will need to be considered. Once we have bus details confirmed by Ritchies we will let families know.

I am sorry to have to send this news to families when I know many of you are looking forward to school starting this week, and to meeting the teachers individually. It is unfortunate, but I think it is wise to try to minimise traffic movement while things are still under repair. I hope that if you have been impacted by the floods and rain that you have friends and family who have gathered round you and supported you. If you think we can be of any support to you here at school, please let me know so we can help.

Warm regards to you all and see you all on Tuesday February 7. School starts at 8.55am.

Take care and stay safe, Ms Linda

Ko Titi-i-te-Rangi te maunga

Ko Waitakere te awa

Ko te Wai o Pareira te whenua haumako

Ko te pae o Hikurangi te rohe

Te Kawerau a Maki te iwi

Ko te kura o Oratia te papakainga