There have so far been no cases of coronavirus infection of any staff or pupils in school. We did prevent a member of staff from coming into school last Thursday and Friday as a precaution because her brother had symptoms. It turned out that he was not infected and there was no risk.
We are continuing with our hand-washing, cleaning and all the measures as specified by the health authorities.
We have been informed by nurses that children with a dry cough and/or temperature in school must go home and will need to be collected by parents.
15 parents have informed school today they have taken the decision not to send their children into school because they are concerned about the virus in relation to their child’s underlying health issues. We are looking at ways we will be able to keep in touch with children who are off school.
The NHS has stopped testing people with any symptoms of Coronavirus and is now telling them to self-isolate. This includes people with colds and sore throats, we have two members of staff who are currently off school for this reason.
The Government, as you will be aware is considering measures including isolating the elderly and vulnerable, this may include consideration of the need to do this for children who have medical issues and who might be at significant risk if they were to be infected. We will have to wait and see what happens and what decisions are taken. In the event of a school closure we will be providing work to be completed at home and are considering what we will do if any closure may be long-term.
We will be producing work packs for students to take home as well as using the internet and emails. This may involve parents having to support us in helping students to access resources. We will send instructions if this is needed.
There may be disruptions to summer examinations, there have been no details as yet as to how this might be managed.
We have taken the decision to cancel our after school swimming and clubs to limit the amount of visitors into school. Swimming in school time will continue as it does not present any increased risks. We are also restricting visitors into school to a minimum and will be increasingly using conference calling for meetings.