Dear Parents,

COVID-19 Cases in School

I’m writing to let you know that a number of people within our school community have recently tested positive for coronavirus. In line with government guidance, we will take action as a school to address this outbreak.  

We know that you may find this concerning but the actions we will take are intended to help bring the situation under control, by reducing the opportunities for the infection to spread in school. Also, please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a relatively mild illness.

The actions we will take in school are designed to protect face-to-face education, minimise disruption and be proportionate to the risk. Your child should continue to attend school if they remain well, unless you are contacted individually to advise otherwise. This applies to all children, including those with special educational needs.

The latest outbreak happened over the weekend with many children testing positive for the virus.  At present there are 10 positive cases.  Most of these cases are in Class 2, but there are a small number of cases in other classes too.  During the last outbreak, our swift and decisive action stopped the spread quickly so I am hopeful that this will happen again.

If your child is in class 2, and you are concerned about them having been exposed to the virus, you may choose to book them a PCR test.  You may also choose to give them regular LFTs (Lateral Flow Tests) instead.  If anyone tests positive on an LFT, you no longer need to book a confirmatory PCR test.  The person with the positive LFT result should isolate immediately.

Stepping Up Measures

When we had an outbreak before Christmas, we stepped up some of our safety measures in line with our outbreak management plan.  We had begun to ease these restrictions, but this latest outbreak means we need to keep or reinstate these for a while.  Although this may be inconvenient or disruptive, these are temporary restrictions to contain the spread of the virus in school.

Details of these measures are included below:

• Face coverings/masks – We would like all adults who visit the school to wear masks whenever possible. This includes parents picking up and dropping off children at the beginning and end of the day.
• Social distancing – All school staff are making every effort to keep their distance from each other as much as possible. We would also like parents to maintain a two-metre distance on the school site, wherever this is possible.
• Limiting movement around school and the mixing of classes – We are going to reduce the amount of mixing between classes as much as we can. This means some assemblies and clubs will not be able to take place at the moment.  Clubs like French and Magical Maths will be cancelled until the outbreak is under control.  The new Rattle and Roll wraparound provision will remain open, but parents can choose whether to access this or not.  Wednesday’s ‘On the Stage’ club is linked to this provision and will go ahead as planned.

As always, our primary concern has to be containing the outbreak and reducing the spread of the virus.  The sooner we are certain that the outbreak is contained, the sooner we can ease restrictions again.  I am in contact with public health advisors and will take advice about any further actions we may need to take.  Thank you for your understanding.

Yours sincerely

Simon Paramore

Headteacher

Kinoulton Primary School