Confirmed case in Year 3
Monday 7th December 2020
Dear Parents and Carers,
Confirmed case in Year 3
As some of you will know, we have had one confirmed case of Covid-19 in Year 3. All children and staff in this bubble are now self-isolating. Their last day of isolation will be the 15th December. This bubble can return to school after on the 16th December.
We have been in contact with the local authority and Public Health Waltham Forest. We will continue to maintain the guidelines we have outlined in our risk assessment and now offer remote learning for our Year 3 bubble from Tuesday.
School will remain open for all other year groups. The advice from the clinicians is that those children with siblings in Reception should continue to come to school as normal; they do not need to self-isolate. Children will only need to get tests if they present with symptoms. Even if results come back negative, bubbles will need to continue to self-isolate until the end of the self-isolation period.
We fully understand that this news will cause you to feel anxious about sending your child/ren to school. We are doing everything we can to keep children safe and following all the guidelines. This includes children remaining in bubbles, not mixing with children in other bubbles, and washing/sanitising hands regularly throughout the day. Regular and additional cleaning has taken place throughout this time; however, we will now put in additional cleaning of the classrooms and the surrounding areas.
Please remember that even if children do catch the virus, most children have a very mild illness and some are not ill at all.
We have included further information for your reference below.
What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19
If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they should remain at home for at least 10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. All other household members who remain well must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
Household members should not go to work, school or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.
Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
If you are able to, and can, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:
- new continuous cough and/or
- high temperature
- a loss of, or change in, normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.
If your child or anyone in the household does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from NHS 111 at:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/ or by phoning 111.
How to stop COVID-19 spreading
There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19.
Do
- wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
- use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
- wash your hands as soon as you get home
- cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
- put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
Further Information
Further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind everybody that family groups should be maintaining their distance from each other when dropping off and picking up children- this is to prevent community transmission. This is also the case when talking to school staff- there should be a two metre distance from school staff at the gates and at classroom doors.
Thank you for your support during this challenging time. I continue to be impressed with your continued patience and how we have all been working as a team since the start of this, all the way back in March.
Best wishes,
Zakia Khatun