5th January 2022
Dear Parents and Carers
We hope enjoyed the Christmas Holidays and had some lovely quality family time. We are pleased this week to welcome back all of our children and we wish you all the very best for 2022. I am just writing to send out a reminder of practices in place to mitigate as much as possible against COVID and to update you on slight changes.
Further Preventative Measures
The school continues to maintain an enhanced cleaning regime and to ensure ventilation of indoor spaces alongside a comfortable learning environment. Frequent and regular hand cleaning continues to be regular practice in school. Children shall have their hands sanitised by staff members upon entering the school and at regular times during the day.
Children with Symptoms
If a child develops COVID-19 symptoms, they should not come into school and should self-isolate. They should get a PCR test to check if they have COVID as soon as possible.
A negative result means it is likely they are not infectious, and they no longer need to self-isolate. If they still feel unwell after a negative test, they should stay at home until they are feeling better. Contact 111 or your GP if symptoms get worse or do not go away. If they develop COVID symptoms after the test, they need to be tested again.
A positive result means they should continue to self-isolate. See below.
Children who Test Positive
If a child tests positive, they should not come into school and should self-isolate. If the positive test is via a LFD, they should seek a confirmatory PCR test.
The self-isolation period includes the day symptoms started (or the day of the test if they have no symptoms) and the next 10 full days. If they develop symptoms while self-isolating, the 10 days restart from the day after the symptoms started.
They can stop self-isolating after 7 days if they do a rapid lateral flow test on days 6 and 7 of the self- isolation period and:
- both tests are negative
- they did both tests at least 24 hours apart
- they do not have a high temperature
If either test is positive, they should continue to isolate for the full 10 days. They can stop self-isolating after the 10 days if either:
- they have no symptoms
- they just have a cough or changes to their sense of smell or taste – these can last for weeks after the infection has gone
If they have a high temperature after the 10 days, or are feeling unwell, they should keep self-isolating and seek medical advice.
Close Contacts
If a child lives with or is a close contact of someone with COVID, they do not need to self-isolate if any of the following apply:
- they are fully vaccinated – i.e. 14 days have passed since their final dose of an approved COVID-19 vaccine.
- they are under 18 years and 6 months old.
- they are not able to be vaccinated for medical reasons.
- they are taking part or have taken part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial.
However, even if they do not have symptoms, they are still advised to do daily lateral flow tests (1 a day for 7 days) to protect themselves and others from COVID.
If the above conditions do not apply, they should follow the following self-isolation guidance:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/
Thank you in advance for your continued vigilance. We hope that by following the above measures we can ensure the best continuity for our children’s’ education while also keeping everyone safe.
Yours sincerely
Donna Lee
Head Teacher
