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Coronavirus Update CO-VID19

Coronavirus Update CO-VID19

14th March 2020

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

We are sure that you are all aware the HM Government yesterday announced that we are moving from the contain phase to the delay phase of their strategy. The situation is changing rapidly and we are keeping a close eye on developments. As we said in our last letter we will continue to follow advice from the Department for Education (DFE) and Public Health England (PHE) which can be found online.

This introduces important changes and guidance that parents and school have to follow. These will create some disruption to our normal way of life, however as was outlined yesterday, these measures are important to ensure the safety of our school community and the wider public.

If a pupil has either:
 a high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
 a new continuous cough

then they should stay at home for seven days and avoid all but essential contact with others (self-isolation), to slow the spread of the infection. This means that they should not be out of the house during this period. You do not need to call NHS 111 to go into self-isolation. If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999. Guidance on self-isolation is available online.

Where pupils present with these symptoms during school hours we will make contact with you and they will need to be collected from school quickly, then go into self-isolation for a period of seven days.

If your child is going to be absent from school please contact us as usual to inform us. When leaving a message please be specific about what is wrong with your child and if they are going to be absent for a seven day period (self-isolation) due to the symptoms outlined above. It is vital that you keep us
informed as we prioritise the safety of our pupils.

We will be postponing school sports fixtures for the foreseeable future and taking other measures to reduce the likelihood of infection being brought into school. PE lessons will continue as usual and are an important part of maintaining healthy body and mind. We have been awaiting delivery of hand sanitiser dispensers since last week and hope to be able to install them very soon, for use by all pupils, staff and visitors on entry to school and at lunchtime.

We are updating our school website with work for children to access from home and this content will develop over the coming days. If you find yourself at home with your child without appropriate work to do then we recommend reading a good book – do it together if you have the opportunity. There are proven benefits to reading for pleasure, including accelerated academic progress in all curriculum areas, better mental health, empathy and creativity. There may never be a better reason to curl up with a good book!

Until circumstances change, school remains open and we will strive to provide the highest standards of education and care for your children. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support and ask for your understanding and compliance with the new measures announced yesterday. We recognise that they may cause significant disruption to normal family life, but they are essential.

Finally, as this situation evolves we will continue to follow any updated advice and communicate this to you as soon as possible.

Kind Regards,
Richard Oades
Headteacher