At times some members of our community have raised concerns about the School being used as a site for vaccinations of students by the Ministry of Health.
Our Board of Trustees believes it has an obligation to support parental choices for the health and wellbeing of their students, and also to ensure equity of access to vaccination services for all students in the kura.
The key objectives from the Ministry of Health on this issue are;
- To ensure the equitable delivery of an on-going safe and effective vaccination programme to all eligible students in school years 7 and 8.
- To have a clear focus on achieving equity in order to enable Māori and Pacific people to have equal opportunity to benefit from the programme as other New Zealanders.
The Board is clear in its support of parental choice in the matter of vaccinations and do consider that parents must have access to a wide range of resources to inform choice.
The board has requested the Ministry of Health review their parent information strategy to ensure adequate opportunity and access to information is provided for all parents. The Ministry of Health will provide information sessions for parents considering vaccination prior to both education for students. Subject to parental approval, students can either attend the information sessions or opt out.
Concerns raised by parents about coercive messaging in Ministry of Health led student only information sessions have been addressed and students can opt out of these sessions.
Ministry and School policy dictates that parental approval by signature must be given for each child to receive each vaccination to ensure parents have the final choice in the matter.
The Board does not provide any statement for or against vaccination but continues to support the Ministry of Health in providing equitable access to health services for all students.
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