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.
Information is changing daily and 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:
The helpline is open from 8am until 6pm Monday to Friday.
Home testing kits for households
Households and families with school-aged children can access COVID-19 home testing kits. Testing kits are to be used twice weekly, meaning people can self-isolate faster if they test positive.
The quickest and easiest way in which to get testing kits is to collect them from your local pharmacy. Alternatively, they can be collected from a local community collection point or ordered 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:
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:
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:
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:
Should I send my child to School?
As we approach the winter months, with common colds and other winter illnesses prevalent, the following flowchart provides clarification on the symptoms and conditions to look out for before deciding whether or not to send your child into school: