COVID-19 ANNOUNCEMENT: 20 September 2021

Kia ora SAE students

This afternoon, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that Auckland will move to Alert Level 3 as of midnight, Tuesday 21 Sept. The Alert Level 3 boundary has also been extended to include the Whakatiwai and Miranda area, given the new community cases that recently emerged in the Firth of Thames.

Moving Auckland to Alert Level 3 is great news for SAE Auckland, as it allows a partial reopening of our campus.

Buildings at 10 and 12 Heather St will remain fully closed until Alert Level 2. However, our studio facilities at 18 Heather St will open under reduced hours of 9am-5pm Monday to Sunday and under very strict Level 3 protocols.

 

We need time to set up the campus, so here’s a schedule for the next few days:

  •  Wednesday 22 Sept - Thursday 23 Sept: 18 Heather St will open to Studio Supervisors ONLY. They require 2 days to prepare our campus.

  •  Friday 24 Sept - Sunday 26 Sept: The facilities will be open to Staff ONLY. This allows staff time to prepare urgent materials for classes.

  •  From next Monday 27 Sept: Students will be able to access our studios in a very limited manner, under our Alert Level 3 Studio Protocols.

 

These Alert Level 3 protocols are attached, but may I highlight 3 key points:

  1. All classes will stay online.

  2. Any staff or students who wish to use one of our studios, computers or pick up equipment must first undergo a pre-entry clearance check. You must not simply come to campus. Rather, you must email Head Studio Supervisor Alex Ferrier first, on a.ferrier@sae.edu

  3. While on site, you must abide by the attached protocols. These have been set up to help keep our SAE community safe. If anyone breaks these rules, they will be removed from campus immediately.

I would also like to re-emphasize the importance of testing and vaccinations. If you have any symptoms, or you have visited a location of interest, please self-isolate and contact Healthline to organise a COVID-19 test. A list of Auckland testing sites can be seen here. There are 7 suburbs of particular interest, and the Ministry of Health is encouraging people within these suburbs to be tested, even if asymptomatic. These include Mt Eden, Massey, Māngere, Favona, Papatoetoe, Ōtara and Manurewa. If you live in one of these suburbs, please seek a COVID-19 test to help rule out any undetected community transmission.

I also encourage you to get vaccinated. The more vaccinated staff and students we have, the safer our SAE community will be. To book a vaccine, go to https://bookmyvaccine.nz/

or visit one of the Auckland walk-in vaccination clinics listed here.

These are challenging times, but I have every faith that our community will continue to rise to meet the challenge. To help keep our SAE community safe, please ensure you get tested if required, get vaccinated as soon as you can, and most significantly, follow our Alert Level 3 Studio Protocols if you are visiting campus.

Kia kaha, kia maia kia manawanui – be strong, be brave, be steadfast. By playing your part, you can help keep SAE safe.

As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly via Slack @s.major or email s.major@sae.edu

Ngā mihi nui,

Suzette