Dear Parents/ Carers
A number of you have asked for more information about procedures in school for those individuals who are showing symptoms of and who subsequently test positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). At the present time, we have had no positive cases in school. We will of course continue to monitor this.
If a child shows symptoms in school, they are immediately isolated using a specific designated room in school. They are then looked after by staff in full PPE until they are collected. Following this, the room is then given a deep clean. The child and their family should ring 111 to get advice from their NHS provider.
Anyone who has helped someone with symptoms and any pupils who have been in close contact with this person do not need to go home to self-isolate, unless they develop symptoms themselves, in which case, they should also arrange a test, or if the symptomatic person subsequently tests positive, or if they have been requested to do so by NHS Test and Trace.
Please be assured that we will take swift action should we become aware that someone who has attended has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). Should this situation arise, we will contact the local Health Protection Team. This team will contact us directly should they become aware that someone who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) attended the school – as identified by NHS Test and Trace. The Health Protection Team will carry out a rapid risk assessment to confirm who has been in close contact with the person during the period that they were infectious, and will ensure that they are asked to self-isolate.
The Health Protection Team will work with us to guide us through the actions we need to take should such a situation occur. Based on the advice from the Health Protection Team, we must send home those individuals who have been in close contact with the person who has tested positive. We will advise these individuals to self-isolate for 14 days from when they were last in close contact with the person who has tested positive and from when they were infectious. Close contact means:
- direct close contacts – face to face contact with an infected individual for any length of time, within 1 metre, including being coughed on, a face to face conversation, or unprotected physical contact (skin-to-skin);
- proximity contacts – extended close contact (within 1 to 2m for more than 15 minutes) with an infected individual;
- travelling in a small vehicle, like a car, with an infected person.
The Health Protection Team will provide definitive advice on who must be sent home. To support them, we will keep a record of pupils and staff in each group, and any close contact that takes place between pupils and staff in different groups – please note that this includes seating plans for each lesson.
We hope that this gives further clarification and assurances that measures are in place to deal with a situation where either a pupil or member of staff tests positive for coronavirus (COVID 19).
Please also see the attached letter from Public Health England regarding procedures for NHS Test and Trace.
Yours faithfully
Emma Jackson
