Brinsley Primary & Nursery School

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Coronavirus - Covid 19


16.09.2022

Advice and update about Covid-19 at Brinsley School

Please note this advice from the Department for Education:

Regular asymptomatic testing in mainstream settings hasn’t been recommended since February. From Friday 1 April we stopped recommending regular asymptomatic testing in SEND, Alternative Provision and Children Social Care Settings. In the event of an outbreak, a local health protection team may advise some targeted outbreak testing in residential SEND settings.

 

Why do you no longer recommend Covid testing in schools, colleges or other education settings?

Following expert advice, we now know that Covid presents a low risk of serious illness to most children and young people, and most of those who are fully vaccinated.

Due to high immunity in society, a greater understanding of the virus and improved access to treatments, we can now focus on how we live with COVID-19.

That means we don’t expect pupils or staff in education settings to routinely test themselves for COVID-19.

Outbreak testing will be available in residential SEND settings where it is advised by the local health protection team, especially to counteract the risk of closure due to staff absence

We continue to encourage young people to get vaccinated. If your child has not been vaccinated, you can read more about the vaccine programme here.

 

Should my child still go to their childcare or education setting if they test positive for Covid?

No. Anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result is advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for five days, which is when they are most infectious. For children and young people aged 18 and under, the advice is three days.

 

Will my child’s school or college still be taking measures to prevent Covid?

All settings should have in place baseline infection prevention and control measures that will help to manage the spread of infection:

  • Ensuring all eligible groups are enabled and supported to take up the offer of national vaccination programmes including COVID-19 and flu.
  • Ensuring occupied spaces are well-ventilated and let fresh air in.
  • Reinforcing good hygiene practices such as hand washing and cleaning.

 

Can my child still get a Covid-19 vaccine?

Healthy 5- to 11-year-olds have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine since the beginning of April.

Vaccinations are taking place outside of school, in vaccination centres, pharmacies, GP surgeries and walk-in centres. Parents of 5- to 11-year-olds will receive a letter from the NHS with further information on the vaccine.

For 5- to 11-year-olds and 12- to 15-year old vaccinations, parents can book COVID-19 vaccination appointments online, at a vaccination centre or pharmacy, or find a walk-in COVID-19 vaccination site without needing an appointment.

Appointments and walk-ins can be accessed for 12- to 15-year-olds, and bookings have been available for 5- to 11-year-olds since the beginning of April.

 

 

18.01.2022

Advice and update about Covid-19 at Brinsley School

Dear Parents/Carers

Since our return from the Christmas holiday there has been a significant increase in positive Covid-19 cases in school both amongst children and staff. Fortunately I have not had any reports of anyone getting very ill, or being hospitalized. While there have been positive cases across school there have been multiple cases in Year 1, Year 3 and Year 5.

With this in mind it is prudent to reinforce the rules about isolation, which have changed on a number of occasions. These new rules apply to all people, including those who were isolating before they came into effect. Please refer to this diagram for and explanation: 

The important thing to note is that children can return on Day 6, assuming they have had 2 consecutive negative results on a lateral flow test. If the result of either test is positive, they should continue to isolate until they get negative results from two LFD tests on consecutive days or until they have completed 10 full days of isolation, whichever is earliest.

Because of the large number of cases in school we are temporarily:

  • Separating some classes at lunchtime, particularly indoors
  • Separating groups in the use of toilets
  • Minimising adult movement across year groups
  • Cancelling some clubs, visits and visitors
  • As well as all the normal Covid procedures we have in place regarding: hands, face, space.

Finally school will be communicating with parents of children who are not in school due to Covid with regard to remote learning. Please note that if a child is ill, there is no expectation for them to be doing school work. If you feel your child would benefit from the use of a school laptop while isolating please fill out this form. Please note we have limited numbers and will be prioritizing children who are free school meals, etc.

 

Yours sincerely 

J Osprey

 

14.01.2022

Latest Covid information

Dear Parents and Carers

Just to update you again on the changes to self-isolation which begin on Monday 17th January 2022.

If your child tests positive on a Lateral Flow Test ( LFT) they begin their self-isolation straight away without having to go for a PCR test. They can now return to school on day 6 of self-isolation if they have had a negative LFT on day 5 and 6 taken 24 hours apart. Your child can only return to school with two negative LFTs providing they have no temperature and are well in themselves.

If their LFT results are still positive they cannot return to school until they have either isolated for 10 days or had two consecutive LFTs.

If your child returns to school before day 10 of self-isolation you should continue to do daily LFTs until day 10. Should one of these be positive they must stay at home until they have self-isolated for 10 days.

All the LFT results should be reported using the following link https://www.gov.uk/reportcovid19-result

If your child shows symptoms of Covid (temperature, cough, loss of taste or smell) they should be taken for a PCR and not be tested on an LFT. This is to help identify the illness your child is suffering with if it is not Covid.

If you are not sure whether your child should be in school please contact the office and we will do our best to help.

Have a good weekend.

MR J OSPREY Head Teacher

 

4.01.2022

Update on school procedures – Coronavirus – January 2022

Dear Parents and Carers,

Happy New Year.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the Christmas holidays and have had a well-deserved break. Like me, I am sure many of you have been following the news and considering how all of the information about Covid-19 rates should influence what we do personally. As a result I wanted to share what is happening in school at the moment, although as things change locally and nationally this may change what we do in school.

Assemblies - From our return on Tuesday 4th January 2022, our school assemblies will take place virtually.    We will review this weekly.

If individual classes show spikes of the virus, we will proportionately increase measures to contain the spread of the virus and obviously we will let you know what these measures are. We will of course, continue with hand sanitising/washing, enhanced cleaning, ventilation and monitoring of levels of carbon dioxide in classrooms.

Staff will wear masks in communal areas to try and reduce the spread of the virus. Larger meetings of staff will also happen virtually. We would also ask that parents wear masks if they are visiting the school office or coming into school buildings for any reason.

Recently we have received updated guidance on isolation and testing - it is summarised below:

  • If your child is unwell (high temperature, cough, loss of taste or smell) take them for a PCR test and let us know the result as soon as possible please.
  • If they test positive, they must self-isolate for 10 days unless on day 6 and 7 they test negative on 2 Lateral Flow Tests (LFTs) taken 24 hours apart. If they have negative LFTs on day 6 and 7 they may return to school on day eight so long as they are feeling well and do not have a temperature. This applies to all children, including those under 5.
  • If your child does not have negative LFTs then they should continue to self-isolate until they get 2 consecutive LFTs that are negative (separated by 24hrs). There is no need to do LFTs after day 10 of isolation. If they are well, they can return to school after 10 days of self-isolation.
  • If a household member tests positive for Covid but your child is showing no symptoms, then they may come to school but LFTs should be taken daily for 7 days. If they start to show symptoms of being unwell or have a positive LFT then they should stop attending school and have a PCR. It is advised that your child should also have PCR if a household member has tested positive, if your child has no symptoms, they may attend school whilst waiting for the result of the PCR and taking LFTs. The daily testing does not apply to children under 5, however the children should be kept away from the household member testing positive as much as possible and taken for a PCR if they show signs of being unwell.

I hope the above guidance is clear. Please don’t hesitate to contact school if you are unsure of whether your child should be attending school and we will do our best to work this through with you.

Kind regards,

J Osprey (Head Teacher)

 

30.08.2021

Update on school procedures - Coronavirus - September 2021

Dear Parents and Carers,

I hope you have all enjoyed the summer break and that you are looking forward to the children returning to school on Thursday 2 September. We hope the children are feeling well-rested and excited about coming back to school. I said I would update you at the end of the holidays regarding the management of Coronavirus in school. Changes which impact most directly on school are detailed below and are based on the government guidance and the current national picture. Obviously as this changes so too will our procedures, but we will always keep you updated as soon as these changes happen.

The start and end of the school day.

There are no staggered starts or ends to the school day. This means from September the children will begin school at 8.45am (apart from Nursery/FS1 morning sessions that start at 8:30am) and finish the day at 3.15pm. We would still ask that we spread our entry and exit to the school across our different gates – this helps with congestion. So whenever possible we would ask:

  • FS1 & FS2 enter by the staff carpark
  • Year 1 & 2 enter by the school office
  • Year 5 & 6 enter by the playground – Moor Road
  • Year 3 & 4 enter by the gate on The Moor

With most children arriving at the same time we anticipate traffic will increase. Please help us, stay healthy and enjoy the warmer weather by walking/scooting/riding to school whenever possible.

It helped with congestion in school with KS2 parents waiting on the other side of the fence for their children. Although for the first few weeks we would understand if our new Year 3 parents would like to bring their children on site.

Masks and face coverings

At this point in time there is no requirement for staff, children or visitors to wear masks or face coverings. This may change should there be a local outbreak however. Similarly if people feel more comfortable wearing a face covering when in and around school, please feel free to.

Health and Safety routines that will continue in September

We will be continuing with handwashing and sanitising regimes, enhanced cleaning and ventilation. Adults in school will continue to take twice weekly lateral flow tests.

Contacting the school office and class teachers

Even when parents and carers are back on site, please could people try to email or ring the office if they have queries rather than physically coming to the office. The spaces for people to stand are very tight. Everyone has got used to contacting the school offices in different ways and this is really helpful. Similarly if you would like to contact or talk to your class teacher or staff, please:

  • Send them a message on ClassDojo
  • Catch them briefly at the beginning/end of the day when they are welcoming/dismissing the class outside
  • Send them a message through the school office 01773 783898 or office19@brinsley.notts.sch.uk
  • At this point in time we would prefer to limit people inside classroom spaces and buildings to staff and children, therefore minimising congestion.

Internal school procedures

There are a range of different things that happen during the course of the school day that will change back to the way they were, or may well remain the same of the coming weeks. We will notify parents as these changes happen. For example:

  • Assemblies – We will gradually build back to having whole school assemblies and inviting parents in for the Friday celebration assembly.
  • Lunchtimes – We will move towards having school dinners back in the school hall and not in classrooms.
  • PE days - We will continue to ask for children to attend school in their PE kit on their PE days. We found this saved a lot of time. Teachers will let you know what days these are.

What will happen if a child or family member tests positive for Coronavirus?

Schools are no longer responsible for identifying close contacts of children who have tested positive - this is the sole responsibility of NHS Test and Trace. From the 16th August all children under the age of 18 do not have to isolate if they have been a close contact of someone who has tested positive and can continue coming into school. We will let families know if there has been a case in their child’s class so that you can closely monitor your child for any signs of Coronavirus or choose to take them for a test to make sure that they are negative. The only person who has to isolate for 10 days is the person who has tested positive (plus any adults in the household who have not had both vaccines). The child isolating may return to school after 10 days so long as they are feeling well and have no temperature.

If a member of your household tests positive, children in that household may come into school. They do not need to self- isolate. However we would encourage, as will NHS Test and Trace, that all members of the household get a PCR test to ensure that any child returning to school is not carrying the virus.

We are hoping everyone settles back into school life positively and quickly. We will of course keep you updated of any changes to Coronavirus measures in schools as we know about them. We are hoping to see parents and carers much more this year as volunteers or at events. We will let you know event by event whether we can invite parents into school.

I hope you all enjoy the last few days of the holidays and look forward to seeing you on Thursday 2nd September.

Kind regards

Jason Osprey Head Teacher

 

Please keep looking at our website, our Facebook page, our emails/texts, Class Dojo, etc.

 

For information on the government's coronavirus action plan, please follow this link.

For information on what to do should you need to self-isolate, please follow this link.

For the latest information and updates on coronavirus, please follow this link.

 

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

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Please follow the above link for all previous Covid-19 information


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