The school has trained first aid personnel to deal with accidents at school. In cases of more serious accidents, parents are always  notified and requested to support the school in dealing with the  accident. In the case of students becoming ill at school parents are asked to collect their children and take them home to recover. 

Earthquake, fire and eruption emergency evacuation  and shut down procedures are practiced each term. The test of the effectiveness of these emergency procedures might be to check that your child knows what to do in case of one of these emergencies. 

 

 

A reminder to parents and caregivers to please check their child’s hair for head lice. Currently head lice are around at most schools in Taupo including our school. You need to treat your child’s hair if you find a LIVE insect or an egg within 1 cm of the scalp. Look all over the scalp for in-sects or eggs, especially around the hairline at the back of the neck, behind the ears and on the crown.  Use a fine-tooth comb on wet hair to find lice. Scratch marks or a rash can be a sign that your child has head lice. Not all children complain of itchy heads.  Eggs found more than 1cm from the scalp are dead. Hair grows about 1cm a month, so empty cases (nits) found 2cm from the scalp are 2 months old are dead.  Speak to your chemist for advice about what treatment to use and how to use it. 

 

How to reduce the spread: 

1. Brushing hair may help kill or injure lice and stop them laying eggs. 

2. Everyone in the family should use their own brush and comb. 

3. If LIVE lice or eggs are found: check everyone in the house, tell friends and other contacts of your child at school.  

Thank you for your help with this. 

 

 

So far this year (2014), New Zealand has had 387 measles cases, which is the highest total since 1997. Most of these have been from the Auckland region (307 cases), and most of the Auckland cases have occurred since the start of the current outbreak on 30 May (278 cases). 

Most cases have occurred in unimmunised people, and immunisation remains the best way to prevent infection and spread within the community. Measles affects both children and adults, and is highly contagious. 

Measles is a highly infectious disease and is more serious than many people realise. Symptoms include fever, cough, red eyes and a runny nose, and then a rash which develops around 3 days after the other symptoms start. Complications can include middle ear infections, pneumonia, and, more rarely, encephalitis or brain inflammation. So far this year more than 70 people with measles have needed hospital treatment (around 1 in 5 cases this year).  The best measles prevention is the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine which is free for all New Zealand children. It is also free for adults who need it (this is if you are born from 1 January 1969 and have not been fully immunised). Prior to 1969, New Zealand did not have a national measles immunisation programme and as measles is so infectious, it is very likely that most people born before 1969 were exposed to the virus and developed immunity. 

 

Any student with measles must stay away from school for five to seven days from the appearance of the rash and until recovery, depending on the advice of the local medical officer of health. Unimmunised students*, or those with no immunity to measles, who have been in close contact with a measles case during the infectious stages should stay away from school for 14 days from their last contact. This requirement is under the Health (Infectious and Notifiable Diseases) Regulations 1966 (Regulation 14). These exclusions also apply to students taking part in interschool sporting and other events. 

* being fully immunised means having the appropriate number of immunisations (1 or 2) depending on age. Adults and children aged 4 and older should have received two MMR doses 

For further health information on measles and measles immunisation please visit the Ministry of Health website http://www.moh.govt.nz/measles or the Immunisation Advisory Centre website http://www.immune.org.nz . You can also call the Immunisation Advisory Centre toll-free on 0800 IMMUNE (0800 466 863) for advice. 

If you think you or someone in your family might have measles, please phone your doctor.

You can also call Healthline 0800 611 116 for advice.

(Healthline is a free service that operates 24 hours every day)