Health Advice

UPDATE 17/03/2020

The NEW key government measures to delay the spread of coronavirus includes the advice:

- If one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever (High temperature), everyone living there must stay at home for 14 days.

 

If your child was not in school yesterday due to these symptoms we will be expecting you to follow the government advice for the household to stay at home - in practice this means we will be asking for parents/carers and siblings living with a poorly child to stay at home. If you, your child (or anyone living in the same household) develops new symptoms from today, this advice will also apply to EVERYONE in the house.

 

Thank you for supporting this significant advice for the benefit of our school community and the good health of our wider locality.

 

Learning at home:

Please be aware that although I am not currently directing teachers to set additional learning at home, Class Pages are beginning to be populated with some guidance for tasks pupils can do at home. Our key request is that your child reads - please make this part of any daily routine you decide to put in place.

Mr Hewitt

 

 

Recording school pupil absences

 

Where a pupil is in self-isolation, in accordance with latest information and advice from Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England, the pupil should be recorded as unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances in the attendance register. Code Y (Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances) should be used in this instance.

 

If a pupil does not attend school, despite the school operating as usual and the pupil is not self-isolating, they should be marked as absent.

 

Where a pupil cannot attend school due to illness, as normally would happen, the pupil should be recorded as absent in the attendance register and the school will authorise the absence. Code I (Illness) should be used in this instance.

The DfE have launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:

• Phone: 0800 046 8687
• Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
• Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)

 

The DfE is that no school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless directed to do so by Public Health England.

Personal hygiene is the most important way to tackle COVID-19. Please sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages. Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials. Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.

 

Useful links:

• The Government's central coronavirus information page is available to read online.
• The latest advice from Public Health England can be found here. This advice is currently being updated daily. If you click ‘see all updates’ at the top of the page, it will tell you what has been updated that day.
• The most recent Department for Education (DfE)/Public Health England advice for education providers can be read here.
• The Government has travel advice for those travelling and living overseas.

To support the growing number of pupils in school with severe allergies we ask parents and carers preparing packed lunches to avoid sending in nut containing products (e.g. snacks containing nuts or peanut butter in sandwiches) and egg (e.g. a boiled egg as a snack or egg in sandwiches). Thank you for your support with this.