Covid-19 – Guidance on Dealing with a Suspected Case (September 2020)

Staff are aware of the symptoms of COVID-19.  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 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.

You must Self-isolate if you have been in close contact with someone who develops coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms or someone who tests positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).

If anyone in the school becomes unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of, or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), they are sent home and advised to follow ‘stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection’, which sets out that they must self-isolate for at 10 days and should arrange to have a test to see if they have coronavirus (COVID-19).

• Other members of their household (including any siblings) should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms.
• The school understands the NHS Test and Trace process and are aware of how to contact their local Public Health England health protection team.
• The school have advised staff and parents/carers that they will need to be ready and willing to Book a test if they are displaying symptoms.
• Staff and pupils DO NOT come into the school if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and WILL BE sent home to self-isolate if they develop them in school.
• The school are aware that all children can be tested, including children under 5, but children aged 11 and under will need to be helped by their parents/carers if using a home testing kit. You can arrange a test through: https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or you can call 119 and book over the phone.  

Where a possible case has been identified in school the following procedures must be followed:

• If a pupil/member of staff are awaiting collection, they should be moved, if possible, to a room where they can be isolated behind a closed door, depending on the age and needs of the pupil, with appropriate adult supervision if required. Windows are opened for ventilation.
• Where it is not possible to isolate staff/pupils, they are to be moved to an area which is at least 2 metres away from pupils and staff.
• Where staff /pupils need to use toilet facilities a separate toilet is to be accessed if possible.
• Following access to the toilet area, the area is cleaned and disinfected using standard cleaning products before being used by anyone else.
• Staff who have helped a pupil/staff member presenting COVID-19 symptoms and any pupils who have been in close contact with them DO NOT need to go home to self-isolate.
• Parents/carers and staff to inform school immediately of the results of a test.

The Department for Education states that staff are not required to wear PPE unless they are working with children and cannot maintain social distancing.  We have PPE equipment in school for all staff who would require it.

We continue to have our trained first aid staff in school.  We will keep a small supply of wipes and plasters in classes for very minor issues that can be safely dealt with within the classroom area.

If a child needs more immediate first aid then our usual procedures apply where an adult with PPE would support the child, communication with parents (via First Aid Slip home or telephone call by office staff).

We have continued to carry out extensive cleaning of the school whilst being open to key worker children which includes:

• soap for sinks, and where there is no sink nearby, hand sanitiser in rooms/learning environments
• disposable paper towels
• cleaning products
• sanitising wipes for wiping some equipment
• additional emptying of bins
• cordoning off areas and marking floors
• In addition, we encourage consistency on hygiene and children keeping to their own group and regular handwashing.

We would politely request that no items are brought to school and office staff have been instructed to only accept items that are essential (e.g. medicines that cannot be taken at home).

For pupils with education health and care (EHC) plans, it may not be possible to provide the full range of provision set out in the plan, and it may be necessary to make different arrangements to support children.  We can work with external agencies to support pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Parents are politely requested to only contact school via the telephone on or via our website ‘Contact Us’ section. If it is essential that you come to the office then please use the 2 metre markings as your safety guide.  Only one person will be allowed in the office foyer at a time and we politely ask you to respect our 2 metres distance rule.

We have ordered additional stationary and equipment so each child can have their own personal items to use e.g. pencil, pen etc.  No items can be brought in from home, except a named water bottle, to ensure that each child only uses the school’s equipment to reduce infection.

 

We will follow our usual attendance procedures from September.  If you need any support with attendance then our Parent Support Advisor is available to offer help and guidance.

Our focus remains on quality first teaching with a greater emphasis on assessment (both formal and informal) to ensure that our timetabling, intervention programmes, use of resources and delivery of learning are having a positive impact.

Baseline information, such as reading ages, will be used to find out what children know when they return after such a long absence.  This allows teaching and assessment to be clearly focused on the current needs of children to ensure we offer a broad and ambitious curriculum.