<last updated 1 April 2022>
Additional information:
- If you have further questions about our procedures, contact your school directly.
- Question about Support for Families? Visit our Support for Families section.
- Question about the COVID-19 virus or symptoms? Go to the NHS website.
SELF-ISOLATING
From Friday 1 April:
- They should continue to attend school unless they have symptoms.
Anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result will be advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people:
Adults are advised to isolate for five days.
Young people aged 18 and under are advised to isolate for three days.
Absence caused by illness without a positive test will be recorded as sickness absence.
Students and staff can return to school when they feel well enough and no longer have a high temperature.
Yes, only the child who is self-isolating must isolate and not go to school. All other children can go to school unless they have symptoms or a positive test.
If at any point your child needs to stay at home, it is essential that they continue with their learning if they are well enough to do so. Your child’s school will give you learning resources or access to online lessons. These will be confirmed by your school.
SYMPTOMS AND TESTING
If your child has one or more of the following symptoms:
- A high temperature – this means they feel hot to touch on their chest or back
- A new, continuous cough – coughing a lot for over an hour or 3+ coughing episodes in 24hrs
- A loss or change to sense of smell or taste
They should:
- Take a COVID-19 test: Self referral test for coronavirus service.
If the test is negative: they should return to school when they are well enough to do so.
If the test is positive: Staff and students are no longer legally required to self-isolate following a positive test. They advised to stay at home and avoid contact with other people:
- Adults are advised to isolate for five days.
- Young people aged 18 and under are advised to isolate for three days.
Absence caused by illness without a positive test will be recorded as sickness absence.
Students and staff can return to school when they feel well enough and no longer have a high temperature.
You will be contacted and you will need to collect your child from school immediately. Until you can collect your child, they will be looked after in a designated room where they can be kept away from other pupils and staff to minimise any potential spread of the virus. A staff member will stay with them respecting social distancing rules where possible and wearing appropriate PPE if needed.
Yes, unless they have symptoms themselves, or test positive.
If your child tests positive:
- Call your school to tell them.
From 1 April, anyone with a positive COVID-19 test result will be advised to try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people:
Adults are advised to isolate for five days.
Young people aged 18 and under are advised to isolate for three days.
Absence caused by illness without a positive test will be recorded as sickness absence.
Students and staff can return to school when they feel well enough and no longer have a high temperature.
If someone else in the household tests positive:
- Your child must continue to attend school unless they have symptoms themselves, or test positive.
CASES IN ACADEMIES
Your child must attend school unless they show symptoms of COVID-19 or receive a positive test.
Schools will work with the Trust, local authorities and Department for Education to find out the number of people affected by any confirmed cases and the level of closure needed or number of people who need to isolate.
Due to strict hygiene and social distancing measures in place in our schools, it is unlikely that we would need to close a whole school.
We will consider each case separately and take the steps needed to make sure our learners and staff are safe and also enable children’s education to continue.
We are continuing to follow the latest guidance from the DfE after the Prime Minister’s announcement about the removal of COVID measures from Thursday 24 February 2022.
We appreciate that some people may be concerned about the changes however, following the latest public health advice, we know that Omicron presents low risk to most children, young people and fully-vaccinated adults.
As a Trust we understand the need for precautions but also recognise the need to return to normal, as thankfully the severity and spread of the virus now appears to be low and slowing down.
We continue to make sure our schools are well ventilated, following enhanced cleaning routines and that staff and students are practicing good hygiene. We also encourage anyone who is eligible to have their vaccine.
These actions will allow us to adapt to living with COVID whilst minimising potential spread within our schools. We will continue to monitor the situation and adapt our approach accordingly.
Our first concern is always the health, safety and wellbeing of our staff and students and we have a full risk assessment in place to help us consider the best and safest way to run our schools to ensure the best education provision for our students.
Responding to unconfirmed cases is difficult for our schools and presents the possibility of significant and at times unnecessary disruption to our children’s learning, which we will always seek to limit.
We have increased hygiene measures in place to minimise the likelihood of the virus spreading.
We will continue to take advice from Public Health England and make any further changes as swiftly as possible. We will keep families up to date with any further changes via their schools.
We are not taking children’s temperatures at school.
Any child displaying symptoms of COVID-19 must stay at home and not come into school.
If your child becomes unwell whilst at school, you will be contacted, and you will need to collect your child from school immediately. Until you can collect your child, they will be looked after in a designated room where they can be kept away from other pupils and staff to minimise any potential spread of the virus. A staff member will stay with them respecting social distancing rules where possible and wearing appropriate PPE if needed.
