Dear Parents/Carers,

We are incredibly proud of the way that students, staff and parents have adapted to our reopening plan in school.  Students have settled in well and become used to the new routines and procedures in place to keep everyone safe.  Everything in place has been designed to minimise contact with bubbles and key stages.

As a school, we are issued regular guidance from the Department for Education, Public Health England and Cheshire West and Chester.  I include below the actions we will take if a student or member of staff displays symptoms of coronavirus.

Please find a reminder of the symptoms of coronavirus.  Due to the high demand, it is essential that only people with Covid symptoms book a test:

A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back.

A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than one hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours. (If you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual).

A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you have noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Actions taken if a student or member of staff displays symptoms of Coronavirus during the school day

The student or member of staff will be moved to an isolated, designated room and supervised from a safe distance. (Designated Key Stage 3 and 4 rooms in reception).

Contact will be made with the family who will be asked to collect the student immediately. All members of the household would have to isolate from the first day of the symptoms.  Further guidance on self-isolation can be found here; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

When the student is collected, the parent/carer will be advised to book a test and asked to inform the school of the result as soon as it is received, either by contacting the attendance office or via the Study Bugs app.

All other students and staff within the bubble will be asked to wash/sanitise their hands as part of our routine hygiene procedures and the designated room will be deep cleaned.

If the test result is negative, the student has no further symptoms and is well enough, then we will welcome them back into school.

Actions taken if a student or staff member displays symptoms outside of the school day

If a student shows symptoms outside of school please keep your child off school and inform school of the absence and the reason why. This is the same for staff members.

We will advise the parent/carer to book a test for the child as soon as possible. All members of the household would need to self-isolate for at least 10 days from the onset of symptoms or until a negative test is received.

The areas in school that the child has been in will be deep cleaned as part of our enhanced hygiene and cleaning measures.

If the test result is negative the child is welcome back into school as soon as they are well enough to do so and providing they have not had a fever for 48 hours.

Actions taken if a student or member of staff test positive for coronavirus

We will notify the Department for Education and local Health Protection Team. Together a rapid risk assessment will be carried out with appropriate next steps identified.

Close contacts will be identified using the school’s internal track and trace system.

Contact will be made with the parents/carers of students identified as close contacts of the positive case via email, letter and text, outlining the next steps identified through the Health Protection Team and confirming who needs to self-isolate and for how long.

Students self-isolating will continue with their learning and lessons via Google Classroom to ensure that progress continues.

All parents will be informed by letter, email, text, school website and social media of the situation to reassure and inform of the actions taken to keep students, staff and parents safe and to ensure the school remains open for all other students to continue their learning.

A reminder that all staff and students should now wear a face covering in communal areas. By communal areas, we mean:

Coming into school and leaving school.

During lesson changeover and at any other times on the school corridors.

In the school diner when not eating.

Students are not required to wear a face covering when outside at break and lunch but can do so if they wish.  I ask you to ensure that face coverings are appropriate for school and are ideally plain in colour.  Please also ensure that your child understands how to wear and remove a face covering safely.

Please do check the school website and social media accounts for updates. May I take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support at this time.  If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Rachel Hudson

Headteacher