Coronavirus Update-The Delay Phase

13th March 2020

Coronavirus Update: The Delay Phase.

Dear Parents/Carers,

As you may have seen yesterday evening, the Prime Minister has announced that new measures are now being taken as part of the government’s plan to delay the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

We have now moved to what the government describes as the Delay Phase. New guidance has also been provided from Public Health England which state that you should stay at home for 7 days if you have either:

● a high temperature;

● a new continuous cough

This will help to protect others in our community while you are infectious. Public Health England advise you not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home and the NHS will not be testing those self-isolating with mild symptoms.

The government has decided not to close schools at this time and school will continue to remain open until advised otherwise. To date we have had no confirmed cases of coronavirus amongst our children or staff.

If the school does, at a later point, need to close, we will let you know as soon as we can. We have made arrangements for this and will provide learning & activities for all pupils via our website.

We are also looking into offering access to online learning should schools be closed for a long period of time. More information will be shared with you if this becomes necessary.

If your child is unable to access the internet at home, please contact me confidentially in writing and the school will arrange support in the event of a school closure.

Please be assured that we will stay up to date on the latest guidance from the government, and will continue to follow all advice we receive from Public Health England (PHE).

In return we ask our parents and carers to please let the school know if you or members of your family have been advised to self-isolate, or if you have a confirmed case of coronavirus within your household.

If you choose to self-isolate your child, and your child and/or immediate family members within your household are not displaying the two bullet points above, please note your child’s absence will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. In this situation, your child’s teacher will not be expected to send home learning tasks as you have chosen independently to keep your child away from school.

We are currently promoting hand washing and good hygiene with all the children in school and we will be closely monitoring the children’s health. If any child presents in school with a high temperature and/or continuous cough, we will ask you to come and collect them from school immediately.

We will send out an update regarding parents’ evening arrangements on Monday.

This is an exceptional situation and our priority is to do what we can to help keep our children and our wider community safe. We are extremely grateful to you for all your support and for working with us.

Yours sincerely

Anita Saville