COVID-19 information for schools
Dear Parent/Carer
COVID-19 information for schools
As you are no doubt aware, North Tyneside like all other areas across the North East has seen significantly increasing rates of infection over the last few weeks and there is now widespread community transmission of the virus.
New York Primary School is working closely with North Tyneside Council and Public Health England. We continue to ensure that we operate safely, to minimise the spread of the virus. This includes maintaining high standards of hygiene inside and outside classroom settings, grouping children in ‘bubbles’ and maintaining social distancing wherever possible.
I would like to thank all parents and carers who have supported our endeavours since ‘whole school return’ by arriving and picking up your child on time, maintaining social distance outside school (using dots and lines as a guide) and responding positively to school communication. To help control the virus, please, please continue to do this and ensure that these standards are maintained out of school including good, regular hand hygiene.
I would like to clarify when to keep your child at home:
Keep your child at home if
- anyone else in the household is suspected of having or has had a positive test for COVID-19
- if your child has any of the following symptoms of Covid-19:
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- A fever – this means hot to the touch on the chest or back
- A continuous cough – a dry cough and coughing a lot for over an hour with more than 3 episodes per day
- Loss or change of taste and smell – this means no smell or taste, or things smell or taste different to normal
If someone has these symptoms it is important that the whole household self isolates until anyone in the household with symptoms gets tested. Testing should be done as soon as any symptoms start to occur. This can be arranged by contacting www.nhs.uk/coronavirus or calling 119.
Only people with symptoms should get tested.
If the test is positive, that person will need self-isolate for 10 days and the rest of the household would need to isolate for 14 days.
If a member of staff or pupil in school has a positive test result for COVID-19 the following procedures are followed by Public Health England Protection Team (PHEPT) with school;
- As soon as school are informed of the positive test result, a risk assessment will be carried out with Public Health colleagues to identify any other children or staff who may have been a close contact with the confirmed case.
- If your child is not identified as a close contact of the confirmed case we will contact you to tell you that you do not need to make any change to your usual routine and that it is safe for your child to continue to attend school.
- If your child is identified as having been in close contact with the confirmed case we will contact you and ask you to keep your child at home to self-isolate for 14 days, in line with government guidance.
- Your child DOES NOT need to be tested. Other members of your household or contacts of your child DO NOT need to self isolate and can continue normal activities.
- If your child does develop symptoms while self isolating then the household should self isolate and the child should get a test.
The evidence from the Chief Medical Officer is very clear that the balance of risk is strongly in favour of children attending school and that serious illness or deaths in children and teenagers from Covid-19 are extremely rare. Therefore, it is really important that all children continue to attend school (unless asked to self-isolate) for their educational progress, for their wellbeing and for their wider development.
Mrs J Shaw
Headteacher