COVID19

Staying safe in school - all pupils (September 2021)

As life and school return to the liberties that we are accustomed to, we are aware that the virus is still around and remains a very real danger to those who catch it, so we would encourage everyone who is able to protect themselves by taking the vaccine.

Please see below for an outline of the key points of the risk assessment and outbreak contingency we now have in place, and share the key changes in the Covid 19 legislation that will affect schools.

Firstly, we are no longer required to operate in year group ‘bubbles’ as we were for the majority of the last school year. This means that we will resume activities which see children mixing with a wider range of their peers, such as:

whole school assemblies
sharing the school hall to eat lunch
playing together on the playground
collaborative learning with other year groups or classes
school visits

This also means that we no longer have the need to separate parents at collection and drop off times, so all pupils will enter via the playground gate (with the exception of Nursery who will continue to use the Nursery Entrance.)

We will continue to insist on good hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, and classroom cleanliness as a way to mitigate any potential spread of the virus. This will mean:

asking children to wash or sanitise their hands regularly
opening windows and using ventilation systems to ensure good airflow
cleaning classrooms surfaces and touchpoints twice daily

The biggest risk of an outbreak in school is transmission from a pupil, therefore you must keep your child at home if they are displaying any symptoms.

When should my child self-isolate or miss school?

All children MUST attend school unless they are ill.
From 16^th August 2021, children under 18 (or double-vaccinated adults) do not need to self-isolate or miss school if a member of their household or a contact, has Covid.
Instead, they will need to book a PCR test but can continue coming to school so long as they have no symptoms and the test result is negative.

YES

If your child develops Covid symptoms at home, they should stay at home and should book a PCR test.
If your child develops Covid symptoms at school, they will be sent home and you should book them a PCR test.
If your child tests positive for Covid, they will need to self-isolate. The rest of the household does not need to self-isolate if they are under 18 or fully vaccinated – but instead should book a PCR test.

If we do experience increasing cases of Covid 19 within the school community, the school is no longer required to carry out testing and tracing. This is now carried out exclusively by NHS Track and Trace, who will ask the family to help identify close contacts (though they may also ask the school to support in identifying close contacts.)

The following plans will be enacted in these different scenarios:

Number of Cases:

Description:

Actions:

A single child tests Positive

A single child tests positive for Covid in a class.
There are fewer than 5 cases in the year group.
No other year groups are affected.

The child self-isolates for 10 days. Remote learning will be provided if they are well enough to complete it.
The parents of the child are contacted directly by NHS Track and Trace to establish likely contacts.
Likely contacts will be contacted by NHS Track & Trace and advised to book at PRC Test. The school will contact parents to advise this if close contacts are known.
Children do not need to miss school or self-isolate whilst they wait for the result of the PRC test unless they have Covid Symptoms.

5 children or staff within a year group test positive within 10 days of each other.

3 children or staff in a single Class/ Club

within 10 days.

There have been 5 cases of Covid across a year group within 10 days which could mean that Covid is spreading within that group of children.

As above for each positive case.
The school will discuss the outbreak with Gravesham Public Health and agree strengthening protective measures for 10 school days, including:
- Re-introducing staff face masks for corridors & communal areas.
- Adapting, Limiting or postponing indoor sporting events, trips, open days and performances.
- Reverting to video-link Assemblies in classrooms.
- Reducing the amount of classes staff work across.
- Resuming twice-weekly Staff Lateral flow testing.

Covid cases continue to increase rapidly within a 10 day period.

Despite the measures indicated above, Covid cases within the school continue to rise within a 10 day period with multiple classes and staff affected, suggesting that Covid is spreading widely throughout the school.

Incident Management Team meeting held between the school and Gravesham Public Health to agree further measures, for a further 10 school days, including:
- Re-introducing class bubbles.
- Limiting all non-essential visitors to school.
- Postponing all non-essential events.
- Re-introducing remote learning for individual classes for 10 school days considered.

I hope that this information helps you to understand the precautions that we continue to take. As we come out of this pandemic, we are adhering to all government guidance. We will inform you of any changes to our Covid-19 measures should these be needed at Springhead Park Primary School.

Thank you for your continued support.

Wayne Clayton

Headteacher

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Springhead Park Primary School

COVID19

Staying safe in school - all pupils (September 2021)

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