Coronavirus Update 16.3.20

Dear Parents / Carers

Firstly thank you for your support at this difficult time. At this very difficult time you have been very respectful to staff and the community and for that we thank you.

In addition to the information sent out at the weekend, please be aware of this additional information:

• Pupils have been reminded again of the importance of personal hygiene and hand washing, this will continue.
• Preparation of home learning plans are being stepped up (should these be needed). More details will be forthcoming regarding this and will include any work that children can do at home if they are self-isolating.
• IPads etc. are being cleaned regularly
• Trips, sporting fixtures and in-school events (including assemblies) are being reviewed continually by the school’s leadership team

DfE Guidance

Today, the Department for Education and Public Health England have issued updated guidance for education settings on COVID-19. This guidance will assist staff in addressing COVID-19 in educational settings. This includes childcare, schools, further and higher educational institutions.

The current DfE Guidance says:

• staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal
• if staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they should be sent home
• to clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces more often than usual using your standard cleaning products
• to supervise young children to ensure they wash their hands for 20 seconds more often than usual with soap and water or hand sanitiser and catch coughs and sneezes in tissues

The updated guidance can be found following the below link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19#contents

Currently this does not reflect the updated information from Boris Johnson this evening. This is:

• if you live in a household with others and have a high temperature or a new and continuous cough, both yourself and all others in your household should stay isolated together for 14 days

There is limited value in speculating about what might happen in the next few days / weeks but as the situation evolves, we will continue to work closely with the local authority and national bodies who are providing advice to schools about how to respond. As always, we will continue to prioritise the children’s health and well-being at all times and to this end will keep you as updated as possible.

Please can we ask that should your child be self-isolating you alert us a quickly as possible following the normal procedures.

We all acknowledge that this is a difficult time for everyone and we certainly appreciate that you are worried about the impact this might have on our community. As always we thank you for your continued support and please so not hesitate to contact me should you have any questions or wish to discuss this further.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Jo Savidge