re: Covid-19
Dear Parent/Carer,
re: Covid-19
As you will be aware, the government’s guidance on the coronavirus has changed. At New York Primary School we are following up to date government guidance and want our school, families and community to keep safe and calm. We would like to reassure you that we are taking all necessary steps to protect our school community and are continuing to follow official guidance from the government and Local Authority.
What’s the current situation?
The school currently remains open – this is the current official guidance we’ve been given
Breakfast Club and after school clubs currently continue to run as normal.
Pupils should attend school unless they feel unwell – if your child has any of the following symptoms they should remain at home for 14 days:
a new, continuous cough and/or
a high temperature
If your child is unwell, report this as you would normally by contacting school and reporting the reason for absence.
If anyone in the household has Covid-19 symptoms then all members living in the house must self-isolate for a period of 14 days.
To minimize potential impact we will not take part in any larger scale activity either in or out of school. Easter Assemblies to parents and families will not take place (1,2,3 April).
At this stage we are not aware of any changes to SATS dates for Year 6
We’ll keep you up to date with any changes to the current situation.
What we’re doing to protect and support pupils and staff
In line with Public Health England guidelines we are ensuring that all pupils and staff wash their hands thoroughly and regularly and do not touch their face, mouth or nose.
All pupils wash their hands upon entry to school at the start of the day.
All pupils use hand sanitizer throughout the day.
Cleaning staff and school staff ensure surfaces and equipment is wiped regularly throughout the day.
All pupils receive daily reminders of essential hygiene procedures.
Should a pupil feel ill during school time we will follow normal school protocols to contact parents/carers to collect.
Should a pupil feel ill with symptoms of Coronavirus the pupil will be removed from the classroom and asked to sit in a quiet and comfortable room away from other pupils and staff. A member of staff will supervise the pupil until parents arrive.
What we need you to do
If you’ve recently changed your contact details, please inform the school office as soon as possible.
Talk to your children about the coronavirus. It’s a scary time and we should make sure children feel supported. BBC Newsround has regular updates for younger children and YoungMinds has practical steps older children can take to help with anxiety
Please collect your child straight away, if we ask you to (we’ll contact you if they become ill with either a temperature or a new, continuous cough)
Please ensure that you follow government advice regarding isolation should a member of your household have symptoms
What happens if the school has to close?
At New York we will only close if we’re either officially advised to do so or we don’t have enough staff to run the school.
In either case, we will:
Contact parents by letter, text, twitter and via the school website. This also applies to notification of school re-opening
We will provide parents with a mobile phone number for contact purposes
We will send a separate document detailing how you child can access learning from home. This will include website logins, reading book, project maps and other ideas to support your child. School website and other sites will be updated by New York Teaching staff to provide new and additional learning for pupils.
Please note that we are sending out this information to help the school community prepare. There are currently no plans to close.
If you have any questions please consult the:
School office, if you have any questions about our response to this issue 0191 814 1788
NHS, if you want to know more about the symptoms of coronavirus. If you think you or your child may have the symptoms, use NHS 111 online if at all possible before calling 111
Department for Education’s coronavirus helpline: 0800 046 8687, if you have any questions about the government’s response to coronavirus in relation to schools
It’s a challenging time for staff and families. We know you may be worried about the impact this might have on our community. It’s important we keep each other safe and talk about these events to help with any anxiety.