Autumn and Winter is that time of year where we see coughs, colds, snotty noses and lost voices as the seasons starts to seep in with the most recent germs - especially now that the children are back together again.

We are all at a point where we want a semblance of normality and have totally had enough of Covid-19 however, the current message continues to be very clear.

If your child, or anyone in the household displays any one of the three main COVID-19 symptoms

• high temperature
• new continuous cough
• loss or change to taste and smell

even if they are mild, they must get a PCR test. 

If your child tests positive on a LFT we would recommend a PCR test.

To protect you, your families, my staff team and our community and to mitigate any further spread of the virus, here are the steps we have in our most recent Covid Risk Assessment (based on PHE and DFE guidance) and the process we need to have in place to keep school as Covid free as we can. 

• If your child shows any symptoms (a temperature, new persistent cough, loss of taste/smell) - even if they are mild - keep them off school and you must arrange a PCR test as soon as possible (not a Lateral Flow Test).
• Should anyone in your household have any symptoms of Covid (see above) - even if they are mild - please get a PCR test and keep all children off school until the result is known. 
• If anyone in your family, including your children, have been informed that you've been a close contact, please keep your children off school and arrange for a PCR test. 
• If there is a positive case in the family we ask, to prevent any spread, that children are kept at home for the time advised by the isolation notice and work will be provided via google classrooms - log in details will be in your child's reading records. Thank you to parents who have been supporting us in mitigating any spread by doing this already.
• If a child develops a new and continuous cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), in school we will send them home, with any siblings, to get a test and to isolate until the results are known.

PCR Test Results

• Negative - If your child's test is negative then please send a screen shot to the school office email and send your children in the next day as normal. 

• Positive - If your child's results come back positive, please let the school know as soon as possible with a screen shot of this results so that we can inform both the Local Authority (anonymised information) and you as a parent body. Test and trace will advise you on how long your child needs to remain off school and will issue an isolation notice. We ask that siblings are kept off too during this time - work will be provided for those not ill.

You may be required to contact the Station PTC.

Can I give my child a Lateral Flow Test?

Yes, as there is a rise in cases amongst school aged children, it is now advised to test your children regularly following the instructions in the test kit pack.

As per the current Government guidance, children can return to school should they have two consecutive negative LFTs on both Day 5 and Day 6 or if day 5 is still positive - even if it is a faint line - Day 6 and 7, Day 7 and 8 and so on. The guidance is very clear that the date of the initial PCR/LFT is classed as Day 0 and that there must be at least 24 hours between the two consecutive negative tests. Please send the results into school if they are negative.

Why do siblings go home if one child has symptoms and why does the decision on this change?

We send siblings home so that we can stop any potential outbreak across school and inconvenience parents further, in the worst-case scenario, by having to close a class because we do not have enough adults to safely keep a class open. Some schools have had to do this due to the number of both children and staff with Covid and we are trying to avoid this, where we can, with the measures we have in place on our Risk Assessment.

The decision around sending siblings home is based on our weekly call with the Local Authority which currently indicates that cases in primary schools are increasing - in both staff and pupils. This element may change again if cases significantly drop and may become a flexible part of our Covid Risk Assessment.

Thank you for your understanding with this element - it is showing to stop any spread and helping with keeping classes open and children in school.

Attendance marks and Home Learning

If your child is awaiting a test or is off isolating due to a positive case in the house, they will be marked with an 'X' in the register. This does not affect their attendance score and also triggers our legal requirement to provide work via google classrooms.

If your child 's test result returns as a positive, the register will be marked with an 'I' to show that they are ill. Work is not provided in this situation as we do not expect children who are off with any illness to be doing work just focusing on recovering as we would for any other illness.

If your child is asymptomatic and they would like something to do to support their learning whilst they are off, activities can be accessed via the online learning platforms that school subscribes to. The passwords for these can be found in your child's reading record. In addition to this, the class topic web and knowledge organiser will also give ideas on how to support learning that is taking place in class. These will have been sent home, however copies can also be found on the class web page.

Enhanced Protective Measures in School

From a school perspective, our enhanced protective measures in school will continue to be put in place and this has been updated based on the Government advice to schools and what works for us to keep the virus at bay.

Our current measures include:

• Staff try not to cross class bubbles where possible - or movement is limited to specific areas
• Face coverings to be worn by all essential visitors to school 
• Face coverings to be worn in the hall at lunchtimes and windows opened to provide ventilation
• Main classroom doors to remain open at all times providing ventilation
• Classroom doors and windows to be opened at break and lunchtime to refresh air and then doors closed when children return. Heaters to be switched off at this point but put back on when children return
• Most face to face meetings are suspended and replaced with Zoom meetings
• Staff facilities to be sprayed with detol during break as well as lunch
• Classroom key touch points to be sprayed with detol at break time as well as lunch
• Staff ensure they use antibac on entering the building and each communal area with gel provided outside 
• PE must be outside where possible - equipment thoroughly cleaned 
• Only essential visitors to school who have evidence of negative LFT taken that day

Protective Measures

Measures that we have in place across the school to mitigate the speed of the COVID-19 Virus are:

• Children are in class bubbles and they share resources in that bubble amongst themselves only.
• Children play in their class bubbles in an area designated for their bubble and have equipment that only they use. The children are VERY good at not crossing into another designated area.
• Children have their hands sanitised at many points during the day and wash their hands after visiting the toilet and before they eat.
• An enhanced cleaning schedule for each class has been put in place which includes tables and chairs being wiped during the school day
• Staggered starts and finishes to the school day as well as staggered lunch and playtimes
• Children eat in the hall with 2 other bubbles but they are not in close contact as each bubble is 2m away from another with tables and benches thoroughly cleaned before the next group comes in
• Parents and non-regular visitors must wear masks when entering the school building