Dear Families,

Happy New Year!  I hope that you have all enjoyed a festive break with your family.

We are looking forward to welcoming you all back to nursery and school on Wednesday.  You will be aware from the media that the government does not currently plan to impose further COVID-19 restrictions and that they are committed to doing everything possible to keep schools open.  We agree that face-to-face teaching and learning is in the best interests of everyone and will continue to do our very best to provide this in the coming weeks. You will be aware that we have contingency plans in place to address the staff shortages that we may experience and once again thank everyone who has offered to help if we find ourselves understaffed.

The government guidance for primary schools remains largely unchanged so we will continue to operate under our existing risk assessment and protective measures.  We ask that all adults continue to wear face coverings (unless exempt) when dropping off and picking up children at our staggered start and finish times.  Whilst we await further guidance from the local authority and local health protection teams, your children will continue to play and learn in year group bubbles as this will help to contain outbreaks of the more transmissible Omicron variant.

Please help us to keep our school open to all by following the national guidelines:

• Keep your child at home if they are unwell and book a PCR test if they are experiencing any symptoms that could indicate that they have COVID-19.

The government continues to identify that the main symptoms of COVID-19 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 3 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 or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal 

Please be aware that a growing number of studies, and the experience of members of our community, has identified that blocked or runny noses, sore throats, headaches, tiredness and diarrhoea can also be symptoms of COVID-19 infection. 

• Use lateral flow tests to check that you are not unknowingly infectious and unintentionally spreading COVID-19

About 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms but can infect others.  Even if you are vaccinated, you could still catch the virus or pass it on.  Taking rapid tests helps to protect yourself and others and will help to keep our school open.  We would appreciate members of your family taking a lateral flow test prior to the return to school on Wednesday. 

• Use lateral flow tests if anyone in your household has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19

The government advises that people who are fully vaccinated, or children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years and 6 months, identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19, should take an LFD test every day for seven days and continue to attend their setting as normal, unless they have a positive test result or develop symptoms at any time.

Children under 5 are not being advised to take part in daily testing of close contacts. If a child under 5 is a contact of a confirmed case, they are not required to self-isolate and should not start daily testing. If they live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 they should limit their contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19, and arrange to take a PCR test as soon as possible. If the test is positive, they should follow the stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed COVID-19 infection. 

• Follow isolation and testing requirements if you or anyone in your household has COVID-19

Since Wednesday 22 December, the 10 day self-isolation period for people who record a positive PCR test result for COVID-19 has been reduced to 7 days in most circumstances, unless you cannot test for any reason.

Individuals may now take LFD tests on day 6 and day 7 of their self-isolation period. Those who receive two negative test results are no longer required to complete 10 full days of self-isolation. The first test must be taken no earlier than day 6 of the self-isolation period and tests must be taken 24 hours apart. This also applies to children under 5, with LFD testing at parental or guardian discretion. If both these test results are negative, and you do not have a high temperature, you may end your self-isolation after the second negative test result and return to your education setting from day 8.

Please be reassured that for most people, COVID-19 will be a mild illness.  

Please don’t hesitate to contact school if you have any questions or would like any advice - we will do our best to help.  You can email [email protected] or phone us on 01242 512391. 

We will continue to provide remote learning for children who are unable to come into school due to COVID-19 but are well enough to learn.  Please email us as soon as possible to let us know if your child has tested positive during the holiday so that we can facilitate this.

With your continued support and understanding, I am sure that we will be able to successfully navigate the next few weeks together. 

Yours truly,

Alison Godfrey

Headteacher