Keep up to date with all the latest news happening in school at the moment.
Update for Parents
Following a change in government guidance, if any member of your household have the symptoms of Coronavirus, as defined by the Department of Health England as:
All members of the household are to adopt isolation.
School
This means that no child should be coming to school if any of the family are in isolation/showing symptoms, even where the child does not present symptoms
This is an alteration to government guidance given prior to 16th March 2020.
Important: Non attendance at school in these circumstances is not an ‘opt in opt out’ practice.
If your child is absent or if any of your family displays these symptoms they will not be allowed into school until 14 days after their first absence.
This is non negotiable and parents who return their child before the 14 days are up will be called to collect the child. This is for the safety of all.
If your child does present the symptoms as described during the school day, parents will be called to collect immediately. The school will then not accept re admission until the 14 day period has ended.
Note: This is a directive from the Department of Education, not the school. Please understand that staff contacting you and or informing you of this information are doing so at my personal direction, and I am enforcing the requirements of the government departments of Health England and the Department for Education.
In this afternoon's briefing from the Prime Minister (5pm) , it was announced that "should any member of the household present with symptoms of Coronavirus, all those living in the house should be placed in isolation".
This is a change to guidance give by the Department of Education as late as 2:35pm today
AS OF NOW AND UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE:
If any person living in your house presents with the symptoms of Coronavirus, all that household should follow isolation procedures set out by the Department for Health - including 14 days isolation.
How does this change guidance already shared by the school?
If any member of the household is in isolation CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT TO SCHOOL FOR 14 DAYS.
You must contact us if your household goes into isolation in order to have the absence authorised. Once you are stating 'isolation status', this will be recorded on the school register and your child/ren will not regain access to school until 14 days have passed. No exceptions.
This absence will be authorised.
Ashgate Primary School
Information for Parents – Coronavirus and Educational Settings
March 15 update – including common questions section.
Dear all
Clearly, there have been several developments in the Covid-19 Coronavirus status since I wrote to you all last. As before, my aim here is to seek to clarify the position at the school and provide answers to common questions I am being asked. I do so very mindful of the fact that the position changes daily across the UK and that it is likely that there will be changes even within hours or days of this being printed.
The Government / Department of Education Department for Health guidance remains similar
Headteachers are still instructed not to close schools unless directed to do so by Government or by an individual risk assessment completed by the Department for Health. A ‘hotline’ has been set up for headteachers and I continue to receive a daily brief from the Department of Education.
I maintain the view that, owing to the wider impact closing schools would have on the ability of families to attend work/function and the impact on the economy, schools are unlikely to be directed to close unless as a last resort. However, I am setting up a series of contingency actions to support children and families if this is to be imposed soon. This will include access to work online, agreed communication protocols and methods for updating families.
We continue to be pragmatic
We have, for the last couple of weeks now, been reinforcing routines with children to secure good hygiene practices.
There is in reality little that can be done to amend further what we do in school if we are to maintain a functional educational setting. There are however some steps I will be putting in place as of this week. These will not completely remove risk, but are sensible practices to reduce it where possible:
PARENTS EVENING FOR THIS TERM HAS BEEN POSTPONED
What we ask of parents in the short term.
You too can help.
I appreciate that there are many unknowns. Ashgate Primary School will not over react, but I want to do all that is sensible and reasonable and act in a measured way to reduce the risk of infection spreading. I believe the above represents this.
Common questions /anticipated questions
REMEMBER – if your child does not attend school for any reason, you must contact the school office and speak to a staff member or leave a message on the answer machine. 01332 343928. Please be aware that the office lines may become busy. All messages will be picked up.
What do I do if my child or I are ill?
Follow the advice of the NHS. Currently, you should self-isolate if an individual has:
Nor my staff or I can guide you on this; this is your decision. Please do not ring school and present symptoms to us and ask us ‘what do you think?’.
If you are unsure you should consult health care guidance. If the conditions worsen, or last more than 7 days, contact NHS 111. As always, in an emergency you should call 999 – but 999 should not be used for mild symptoms or general queries.
The school does not have the medical experience or systems by which we can individually monitor the temperatures and condition of over 300 children for you. We will of course inform you to collect if we had concerns.
If my child doesn’t come to school because they are ill or are showing symptoms of Covid 19 - Coronavirus, will this this be authorised?
If your child is ill or showing symptoms as described then this will be authorised as normal and you should follow NHS guidance.
If I send my child in, will you check on them for me, take their temperature and call me back (or similar)?
We cannot be responsible for taking the temperatures etc for children in school. It is neither practical or realistic. We will let you know if we suspect your child should come home, but please do not ask my staff to be checking temperatures and ringing you back. This is unrealistic.
What if I or another household member are showing symptoms or in self isolation?
However, this may not always be practical for single parents or where there are multiple isolations in one household:
Note: Clearly, if this is abused and you or your child are seen or believed not to be legitimately isolated or not following isolation guidance, the absence will be unauthorised. As an example, you call the school to inform us you are ill and cannot get your child to school, but are subsequently seen visiting friends, in a restaurant or clothes shopping, or alternatively your child is seen out playing at a park or similar– this would lead to authorisation being removed.
What if we are not showing symptoms but I do not want my child to come to school? Isn’t this my choice?
It is your choice of course, but this could will not be authorised – even if I am sympathetic to your reasoning. Regardless of your personal views, this is against the guidance issued by the Department of Education. They are clear that there is no need to self isolate/stay off school unless symptoms are present. This even extends to keeping school open to all even in the case where staff or pupils are self-isolating or diagnosed. ‘Absence under election’ (choosing to do so contrary to the guidance) will not be authorised. This is not my protocol, but that of government.
I have read schools will be sending activities for children who are off school. Is this true?
This will be the case if schools are closed centrally by government. We are, as we speak, looking at a practicable and accessible way of providing online learning. However, the school will not be providing individual learning packs or packages for children who do not come to school when the school is open. This is in line with normal sickness practices.
What will the headteacher do if staff are ill – where do you draw the line?
Staff may show symptoms and then need to self isolate themselves – this is a reality. This would result in fewer staff, which in turn may lead to increased class sizes, amalgamation of groups or a change to the curriculum to meet cross age teaching. It is hoped that this will not be necessary.
If staffing reached such a point that I felt that it was impracticable or unsafe, I would contact the Department of Education for guidance. They in turn would make an assessment. Any decision to keep the school open or closed lies with them, not myself. As I have already stated, this power has been removed from me.
What about SAT exams?
As with all education settings, we are directed to continue as normal and anticipate that the exams go ahead. Clearly, any possible decision to close schools in the future would impact on this. Gut feeling (and it is nothing more than that), is that if the exams did not go ahead, staff would be likely to submit a ‘teacher assessment’ in reading and mathematics, as is already the case in writing and at Key Stage 1.
I have heard that…. Is this true?
Please do not read online blogs that make all sorts of predictions; they are not based around fact. Avoid responding to speculation and gossip, especially on social media. It is unchecked and frankly laughable in cases. I will update you with everything I know as soon as it is available. If anyone tells you that ‘school have said’, ‘have you heard’ etc, please check the school website; if I have said it, it will be on the Noticeboard.
What if I disagree with the guidance?
The guidance is for all and set against government directives. Some may believe it is too stringent, others may believe the opposite. Our school will continue to act in line with guidance and act responsibly and reasonably to what is a daily changing situation. Objections to Department of Education or Government direction should be taken up with them. If you feel that any actions undertaken by the school contravenes government guidance should direct this to myself. I will be happy to cross-reference actions with that recommended or common-sense.
Information is accurate at the point of issue and derived from guidance issued by the Department of Health England and the Department of Education. If you have any medical concerns, these should be addressed and checked through the NHS.
Actions:
Parents are reminded that official guidance on Coronavirus actions are available on NHS.gov.uk. Key to the advice is a reminder to wash hands thoroughly and seek medical advice by calling the NHS if you are concerned you or a member of your family have symptoms.
School:
Headteachers are currently receiving daily updates from the DfE and Department for Health re Coronavirus.
Whilst there is widespread speculation in the press that schools may at some point be closed, I should let you know that there is no indication of this in the official updates at this time and the senior scientific advisor for government has made reference that closing schools will have negligible impact medically.
Notice today has been given that planning and preparation for exams at GCSE and A level should continue and last week heads were given a clear directive that closure of schools, even if cases of coronavirus among staff and pupils are confirmed, will only occur at the direction of the Health Department.
I will keep you updated if I hear otherwise, for now, the message is clear: schools continue as normal.