Covid-19: All you need to know

This page keeps you up-to-date with changes to learning in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As the national picture changes, so we respond in school with updated measures and precautions designed to help limit and slow the spread of infection at school.

In response to the February 2022 changes we have updated our school risk assessment.

Shoscombe Risk Assessment 28 Feb 2022

Summary of changes:

• If your child has any of the main symptoms of Covid-19 (a recent onset of a new continuous cough; a high temperature; or a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell) you should order a PCR test for them. Your child should stay at home and avoid contact with other people while they wait for the test result.
• If you can, you should let people who your child may have been in close contact with know about the positive test result.
• Children and young people with Covid-19 should not attend school while they are infectious. They should take an LFD test from five days after their symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms) followed by another one the next day. If both these test results are negative they should return to school, as long as they feel well enough to do so and do not have a temperature.
• If you or your child lives with, or have stayed overnight in the household of someone who has Covid-19, you or your child are advised for ten days to:
  – minimise contact with the person who has Covid-19;
  – avoid contact with anyone you or your child knows who is at higher risk of becoming severely unwell
  – limit close contact with other people outside of your household, especially in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces;
  – wear a well-fitting face covering made with multiple layers or a surgical face mask in crowded, enclosed or poorly ventilated spaces and where you or your child are in close contact with other people.
• However, children and young people who live with someone who has Covid-19 should still continue to attend work as normal and abide by the guidance above.

How we will continue to ensure school is safe – our Control Measures

We will continue to:

1. Ensure good hygiene for everyone
2. Maintain appropriate cleaning regimes
3. Keep occupied spaces well ventilated
4. Follow public health advice

How can you help?

Please spend time with your child reminding them how to wash their hands correctly and what to do if they sneeze, cough or blow their nose.

As last year, your child may find that the classroom is colder than normal due to the need for constant ventilation. Whilst we will aim to ensure a sensible balance between the levels of ventilation and room temperature, we recognise that some children will need to bring an additional jumper to school. As far as possible please ensure this is a school jumper, or one that is plain. All clothing must be named. School uniform is required daily.

Outbreak Management Plan

There may be an occasion to step up our response to the virus, in which case we will follow our outbreak management plan. This plan outlines what we would do if 5 pupils or staff test positive for COVID-19 in a 10-day period, and how we would operate if we are advised to take extra measures to help break chains of transmission.

Please be assured that we will endeavour to ensure all measures taken will have the smallest possible detrimental impact on our children’s education and experience in school. We will also ensure that parents are kept informed of any changes we need to make as per our Contingency Plan.

What happens if a child tests positive for COVID-19 or develops symptoms?

Children and young people with Covid-19 should not attend school while they are infectious.

If a child develops symptoms at school, however mild, we will send them home. It remains essential that you have plans in place to collect your child from school at short notice.

The most important symptoms of COVID-19 are recent onset of any of the following:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)

For most people, COVID-19 will be a mild illness. However, if you have any of the symptoms above, even if your symptoms are mild, stay at home and arrange to have a test.

There are several other symptoms linked with COVID-19. These other symptoms may have another cause and are not on their own a reason to have a COVID-19 test. If you are concerned about your symptoms, seek medical advice.

Attendance

Attendance is mandatory and we expect all children to attend as normal from the start of term.

Please understand that if your child has symptoms we will not be able to admit them into school given the potential risk to others. This includes if they have had a temperature and you have administered Calpol at home – please keep your child at home and arrange for them to have a test.

Please ensure that you have contacted the school office, as you would for any illness, before 9am so we can ensure we have a correct attendance register for the day.

Remote Education

If at any point your child is unable to attend school due to COVID-19, we will set remote learning. We expect this to be completed unless of course, your child is unwell with the virus.

Our remote learning will follow a similar format to that used in lockdown and will be sent to you directly by the class teacher. As far as is practical your child will follow the same learning as their classmates in school. For this reason, it may be that some lessons are provided through a live link which will be sent to you by the class teacher.

Remote education provision_ information for parents of Shoscombe Church School

Educational Visits

All Educational Visits within the UK are permitted to go ahead subject to normal Risk Assessments plus a COVID-19 Risk Assessments.

Wrap-Around Care and Extracurricular Activities

Our Breakfast Club and After-School Club will continue to operate as normal. These represent excellent value for money so please try them if you haven’t already! When your child attends, please ensure we have your most up-to-date contact details in case of an emergency.

We will resume our extra curricular activities such as sports clubs and music tuition. Please look out for details in the newsletters. We will ensure that any external providers have considered all relevant guidance and put the appropriate health and safety measures in place.

PE lessons and sport

Indoor sports lessons can go ahead, however we will prioritise outdoor sport when possible. When PE is taken inside, we will ensure we use a large and well-ventilated space. When planning any team sports we will consult this government guidance.

Catching up and moving on

The government is leading a number of initiatives designed to help schools to support children to catch up in their learning. We were very proud of how well our children engaged in remote learning last year and feel confident that every child returned to school in the summer having tried their best to keep up. We have identified some gaps in learning, particularly in writing, that we will address over the coming year.

You can support your child by encouraging them to do their best, reading with them daily and supporting them to talk about their learning. We want children to be able to recall and remember their learning as this will help them with new learning. Talking with you at home will play an important role in helping our children to stick learning to their long term memory.

We will continue to place a strong emphasis on our children’s mental health and wellbeing as we know that when children feel happy, safe and secure they are far better able to learn. Please talk to your child’s class teacher if you have any concerns about how your child is feeling in school as we can and will do all we can to support them.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.