Level 2 rules: Staggered response as schools reopen

<p>Larger schools have been encouraged to stagger Year level returns and parents worried about risk can make transition arrangements with their child&&num;8217&semi;s school to delay their return&comma; Ardern confirmed in her latest address&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; Ardern emphasised that under Level 2&comma; all children should be able to attend school&comma; so any staggered response needs to come into play before May 18 or fall under specific arrangements with particularly concerned parents&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>New Zealand will ease into a wide variety of Level 2 guidelines from Thursday&comma; May 14&period; The Ministry of Education released the following information for schools set to operate under Alert Level 2&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;At Level 2&comma; almost all children and young people will be able to attend early learning services&comma; schools and kura onsite&comma; including students in years 11 to 13&period; The only exceptions are children or young people who are sick have any COVID-19 symptoms&comma; are in isolation&comma; or are awaiting the result of a test&period; Distance learning will still be available for those who need to remain at home&comma; and Ministry staff will continue to support children with learning support needs where they are required to remain at home&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Playground&comma; sports equipment use and sports&comma; including contact sports&comma; can resume at Alert Level 2 under certain conditions&period; School transport services will also return to normal schedules&period; The ongoing safety of drivers and students and the ability to contact trace will be a priority at Alert Level 2&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Residential Special Schools&comma; Day Special Schools and satellite units will all reopen at Alert Level 2&period; Playcentres and playgroups can also meet&comma; provided the public health measures for early learning services are in place&period; School hostels can fully return to occupation at Level 2&comma; and OSCAR&comma; along with other before and after school programmes&comma; can resume&period; The Food in Schools programme will also be fully operational &lpar;with extra health provisions&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>If a school or early learning service has a confirmed or probable case of COVID-19&comma; they must close for 72 hours to allow contact tracing&comma; and then potentially for a further 14 days&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Schools should still prioritise physical distancing measures wherever possible and remain vigilant about hygiene and cleaning&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;