In light of current information available about the Coronavirus, our school will continue to monitor and take advice from the guidelines issued by the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, the UK Health Security Agency and the Department for Education. Information about preventative measures and government advice received to date is provided in our weekly Flyer but please be reassured that any changes to the current situation will be sent out as urgent communications via our app/e-mail if and when applicable.

Earlier this year, all testing, both asymptomatic and symptomatic, ended for the general public. Testing is now only available to those individuals who, despite vaccination, are still clinically vulnerable (who will have been identified and written to with specific instructions).

There is new national guidance for people who have symptoms of respiratory infections including COVID-19 and/or a positive test result: People with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). This includes advice for children and young people attending education and childcare settings. The key points are:

• Children with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or mild cough, who are otherwise well, can continue to attend their education or childcare setting.
• Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and where possible avoid contact with other people. They can go back to education or childcare setting when they no longer have a high temperature and they are well enough.
• If a child or young person has a positive COVID-19 test result they should try to stay at home and where possible avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day, they took the test. The risk of passing the infection on to others is much lower after 3 days if they feel well and do not have a high temperature.
• Adults with a positive COVID-19 test result should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 5 days.
• Children and young people who usually go to school, college or childcare and who live with someone who has a positive COVID-19 test result should continue to attend as normal.

For the education and childcare sector, the management of COVID 19 will be in line with how other respiratory viruses such as colds and flu are managed. This means that there will not be any restrictions within the setting and testing for COVID 19 is unlikely to be available for outbreaks.

For the most up-to-date information you can visit: www.gov.uk/coronavirus

You can also contact the Department for Education Coronavirus Helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

• By phone: 0800 046 8687 (please call 111 if you think you or your child might have symptoms of the virus)
• By e-mail: coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk

The helpline is open from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday. 

Home testing kits for households

Coronavirus (COVID-19) tests are no longer free for most people and are only free if you now meet the eligibility criteria (i.e. if you have a certain health condition, going to the hospital or work in the NHS or adult social care services).

If you are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 but are not eligible for a free NHS test, you must pay for a test yourself. You can buy rapid lateral flow tests from some pharmacies and retailers, in person or online.

Full details can be found on the NHS website as follows:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing/regular-rapid-coronavirus-tests-if-you-do-not-have-symptoms.

What is the School doing?

As a school, we are receiving updates from the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, the UK Health Security Agency as well as the Department of Education (DfE), providing both instructions and advice.  We will continue to follow the instructions and carefully monitor the advice from all the relevant authorities, acting on it as and when required and alerting parents when the updates become relevant to our school.

The following risk assessment outlines the processes/procedures being taken to whilst the school is open to all children and staff:

What extra precautions have been put in place?

Taking basic hygiene precautions is the best way to reduce the chances of contracting and/or spreading any virus. Although the high standard of hygiene is continuously maintained around the school, in addition to our usual cleaning routines which takes place every day, including cleaning all hard surfaces in the classrooms, toilets and dining hall, we now also:

•  clean touched objects and surfaces around the school (such as door handles, taps and sinks, keyboards etc) more frequently using antibacterials and disinfectant
• use disposable materials when cleaning
• empty the bins more frequently

We are stressing the importance of hand washing to all members of our school community without wanting to overly worry the children. School staff are continuously reiterating messages about personal hygiene to the children and are:

• increasing the number of times that the children wash their hands when they are in school 
• instructing them to wash their hands frequently and carefully with soap and water (using sanitiser when soap and water is not appropriate)
• catch any coughs and sneezes in a tissue (Catch It, Bin It, Kill It)
• being even more vigilant in watching out for symptoms in pupils and staff
• regularly checking the advice being given to schools from Public Health England and the Department of Education.

What should parents/carers do?

Parents and carers should follow the advice that has been issues by the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, UK Health Security Agency and the NHS, available via the following links: 

www.gov.uk/coronavirus

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-health-improvement-and-disparities

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-health-security-agency

How can we help prevent the spread of infection?

To help prevent the spread of any virus, everyone should be following these general principles:

• Wash your hands more often - with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (or an alcohol based sanitiser if soap and water are not available) 
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
• Avoid close contact with people who are unwell or sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue  and then throw the tissue in the bin
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces in the home
• If you are worried about your symptoms, call NHS 111 - do not go directly to your GP or healthcare provider

Should I send my child to School?

As we approach the winter months, with common colds and other winter illnesses prevalent, the following guidance from the NHS provides clarification on the symptoms and conditions  to look out for before deciding whether or not to send your child into school: