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