Latest News | Drapers Mills Primary Academy

ANNOUNCEMENT - School Closure

Wed 18 Mar 2020

Dear Parents,

As I am sure you have been made aware the Government has taken the decision to close schools as from Monday 23rd March to all pupils except the children of "key workers" and vulnerable pupils. Although the Government has not yet produced a list of key worker jobs, they have suggested that it is people who work in the NHS, the emergency services, care / social workers or the supply services such as supermarket delivery drivers.

When we get further details we will let you know.

Class teachers will be sending home work for your children to complete whilst the school is closed and will be in regular contact via text and the school website to see how they are getting on. Please support the school during this difficult period to keep your children active and engaged in their learning.

I thank you all for your ongoing support and will be in touch when I have further information.

Mr J Manclark

Headteacher

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - 16.03.20

Mon 16 Mar 2020

Today, the Department for Education and Public Health England have issued updated guidance for education settings on COVID-19.

What you need to know:

staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal
if staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they will be sent home
regularly touched objects and surfaces will be clean and disinfected more often than usual using standard cleaning products
children will be supervised to ensure they wash their hands for 20 seconds more often than usual with soap and water or hand sanitiser and will be reminded to catch coughs and sneezes in tissues.

The current advice remains in place: no education or children’s social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.

The Chief Medical Officer has advised that the impact of closing schools on both children’s education and on the workforce would be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be. Decisions on future advice to education or children’s social care settings will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE - 13.03.20

Fri 13 Mar 2020

Dear Parents

As you are probably aware the current Government advice is for schools to remain open. Professor Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer has stated that, "there is no scientific evidence yet for closing schools". He went on to reassure parents saying, although young people do get infected, "they seem to have a much milder disease". We currently have no confirmed cases of Coronavirus COVID-19 amongst our pupils, parents or staff so school remains open as normal for all of our pupils. We will inform parents if this situation changes.

However, as a precaution, the Government has said that anyone with a new persistent cough or high temperature is now advised to self-isolate for seven days, this includes pupils and staff. The Government has also banned all trips abroad - we have no trips abroad planned in the near future.

Parents should be reassured that we are planning what we will do in the event of the Government closing the school, this includes learning for pupils that they can do at home.

We are of course being extra vigilant and encouraging pupils, parents and staff to continue taking additional precautions, This includes maintaining high levels of personal hygiene, regularly washing hands and following the Catch it, Bin it, Kill it advice when sneezing or coughing. As you would expect, we already promote these practices at school and we would appreciate your support in continuing to encourage the same at home. If you are worried about your symptoms or those of a child, please call NHS 111. The advice is to not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environments. Please see further information on the Public Health England (PHE) and the National Health Service (NHS) websites.

As an Academy, we take our duty of care extremely seriously and we will keep you updated on any further developments should the need arise. If you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to get in touch via our school office on the email address and numbers above.

As advice from the Government changes, announcements will be made via text, website and social media pages.

Yours faithfully,

Mr J Manclark

Headteacher

Power of Children @ The Turner Contemporary

Wed 04 Mar 2020

Wow! Look at our AMAZING Young Dance Leaders performing their Power Of Children dance! The children spent many hours practicing with specialists Libby Northedge and Lizzie Prince from Creative Voices; resulting in a powerful performance at Turner Contemporary, gaining inspiration from Greta Thunberg.

Photos by Ollie Harrop.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE

Mon 02 Mar 2020

The Department For Education have today 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)

Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19.

• Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze.
• Bin the tissue and, to kill the germs, wash your hands with soap and water, or if that’s not available use a sanitiser gel.

Multi Skills Festival

Mon 02 Mar 2020

A massive well done to our children who took part in the

Thanet PasSport multi sport event at Ramsgate Leisure Centre on Friday!

Our children had a fabulous time.

World Book Day - Thursday 5th March

Sun 01 Mar 2020

We are celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 5th March and would like to encourage both children and staff to dress up as their favourite book character. Please do not feel you have to go out and buy outfits for your children. There are lots of ideas HERE which you could probably put together with things you have at home.