Staff

Increased Measures from Monday 1 November (Secondary Academies)

You will be aware from the Prime Minister’s announcement on Wednesday evening that Covid rates across the country are rising. This is particularly the case in the South West of England, where there has been a rapid rise in recent weeks.

As a result, when we return to school after the half term break, our local Director of Public Health has requested that we increase our measures to curb the spread of infection.

What we will be doing as a school

  1. We will not be holding large gatherings with mixed age groups for at least two weeks after the half term break.
  2. We will continue to enhance our cleaning routines.
  3. We will keep spaces well ventilated; this may occasionally mean that your child will be invited to wear their coat indoors.
  4. We will continue to support the wider vaccination programme and share any information that is passed to us about how those who are not yet vaccinated may access this service.

What we need our families to do

  1. Your child should come to school with a face covering from Monday 1st November. They should expect to wear this throughout the day. With the exception of those who are exempt from wearing a face covering for health reasons, students who do not bring a face covering to school will either have the option to purchase one on site, or they will be requested to return home to collect one. It would be sensible to ensure that your child has spares in their coat and blazer pockets and in their bag.
  2. Students should take a test using the lateral flow devices provided before returning to school on Monday 1st November, and then continue to test at home twice weekly for the coming weeks.
  3. Please ensure that your child stays at home if they are unwell with Covid symptoms. They must continue to stay at home until 24 hours after the fever passes. They should do so even if they have tested negative for Covid 19.
  4. If someone in your household tests positive, all household members are encouraged to have a PCR test. Your child may still come to school until their own PCR test result comes through if they take a lateral flow test each day and continue to receive a negative result.

As a reminder, the main symptoms of coronavirus are:

  • A high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
  • A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
  • A loss or change to your sense of smell and taste – this means you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms.

Thank you for your considerable support throughout this period, and for your flexibility in working with these new, revised arrangements. We will be sure to contact you with any other changes as we are asked to make them in the interests of public health.