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Parent Information 19.03.20
Under new Guidance school closures will take place from Friday 20th March 2020.
Please be reassured that staff at Byker Primary School staff will keep you as informed as possible of new guidance that emerges throughout the closure period.
Staff will be placing daily work children can complete on their class pages. We will be attaching a video of how to access this, alongside letters on parent mail. We will also be sending home work books to children today (Thursday 19th March) so that all can continue their education whilst at home.
Parent Advice as of 16th March 2020-Covid 19
I would like to take the opportunity to update parents/carers and pupils about Bykers approach towards coronavirus:
General advice
The safety of our pupils and staff across the trust is our number one priority.
Our schools continue to operate normally in line with the current advice published by the Government and Public Health England for schools and education settings. The Department for Education (DfE) has advised that no school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do by Public Health England.
We are monitoring the situation closely and will notify parents/carers of any changes to how we operate. We will continue to provide updates as and when we have them on this page.
Steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus
We have implemented the advice from Public Health England for education settings to prevent the spread of coronavirus including routines around coughs/sneezes and hand washing.
Please encourage your children to wash their hands carefully and regularly for 20 seconds with soapy water and to sneeze or cough into a tissue and dispose of it in the bin.
Staying at home for people with confirmed or possible coronavirus (COVID-19) infection
The most common symptoms of coronavirus are the onset of a new continuous cough and/or high temperature.
If anyone has symptoms of coronavirus infection, however mild, they must stay at home and not leave their house for 7 days from when the symptoms started. You do not need to call NHS 111 to decide to self-isolate.
If this applies to your child, please report their absence to their school in the usual way and ensure you confirm that you are self-isolating your child because they are showing symptoms of coronavirus infection.
While they are at home:
Anyone self-isolating should remain at home until 7 days after the onset of symptoms. After 7 days, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can return to their normal routine and go back to school or work. If they have not shown any signs of improvement and medical advice has not already been sought, you should contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
Please note that a cough may persist for several weeks in some people, despite the coronavirus infection having cleared. A persistent cough alone does not mean a person must continue to self-isolate for more than 7 days.
If your child is confirmed at any stage as having coronavirus following testing, please notify the school. We will follow the advice from Public Health England about tracing contacts and protecting other pupils and staff.
Education helpline
The Department for Education (DfE) has launched a helpline to answer questions about coronavirus (COVID-19) related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)
General health advice
Go to the NHS webpage on the coronavirus for information about the virus and how to protect yourself and your family.
Use NHS 111 online
Call 111 if you need to speak to someone about a health concern. Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
Government Guidance
Updated information: COVID-19: guidance for Educational Settings
This guidance will assist schools and other educational settings in providing advice for pupils, students, staff and parents or carers regarding:
With regards to travel information for specified countries/areas for pupils or students resident or boarding in the UK, we recommend following the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) country advice pages.
A coronavirus is a type of virus. As a group, coronaviruses are common across the world. COVID-19 is a new strain of coronavirus first identified in Wuhan City, China in January 2020.
The incubation period of COVID-19 is between 2 and 14 days. This means that if a person remains well 14 days after contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus, it is unlikely that they have been infected.
The following symptoms may develop in the 14 days after exposure to someone who has COVID-19 infection:
Generally, these infections can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. There is no evidence that children are more affected than other age groups – very few cases have been reported in children.
From what we know about other coronaviruses, spread of COVID-19 is most likely to happen when there is close contact (within 2 metres) with an infected person. It is likely that the risk increases the longer someone has close contact with an infected person.
Droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes (termed respiratory secretions) containing the virus are most likely to be the most important means of transmission.
There are 2 routes by which people could become infected:
There is currently no good evidence that people who do not have symptoms are infectious to others.
There is currently no vaccine to prevent COVID-19. The best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus.
There are general principles anyone can follow to help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses, including:
PHE has a suite of materials that contains public health advice about how you can help stop the spread of viruses, like those that cause COVID-19, by practicing good respiratory and hand hygiene. To access, download and share this information you will need to register for an account which only takes a couple of minutes.
Face masks for the general public, pupils or students, or staff are not recommended to protect from infection, as there is no evidence of benefit from their use outside healthcare environments.
People who have returned from Category 1 specified countries/areas in the last 14 days should self-isolate. This includes avoiding attending an educational setting or work until 14 days after they return.
People who have returned from Category 2 specified countries/areas in the last 14 days, are advised to stay at home if they develop symptoms. All other pupils or students and staff should continue to attend school or university, including their siblings attending the same or a different school (unless advised not to by public health officials).
Following the Government COBRA meeting if you have NEW symptoms (from today) of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home and do not leave your house for seven days from when your symptoms started.
Stay at home for seven days if you have either:
This will help to protect others in your community while you are infectious.
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.
You do not need to contact NHS 111 to tell them you’re staying at home.
We will not be testing those self-isolating with mild symptoms.
We continue to follow the advice of Public Health. The latest information can be found at www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Travelled to the UK from a Specified Country or area:
Call NHS 111, or 999 in an emergency (if they are seriously ill or injured or their life is at risk), and if appropriate, explain which country they have returned from in the last 14 days. You can do this on their behalf if this is easier. People who become unwell should be advised not to go to their GP, pharmacy, urgent care centre or a hospital.
Whilst you wait for advice from NHS 111 or an ambulance to arrive, try to find somewhere safe for the unwell person to sit which is at least 2 metres away from other people. If possible, find a room or area where they can be isolated behind a shut door, such as a staff office or meeting room. If it is possible to open a window, do so for ventilation. They should avoid touching people, surfaces and objects and be advised to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when they cough or sneeze and put the tissue in the bin. If no bin is available, put the tissue in a bag or pocket for disposing in a bin later. If you don’t have any tissues available, they should cough and sneeze into the crook of their elbow. The room will need to be cleaned once they leave.
If they need to go to the bathroom whilst waiting for medical assistance, they should use a separate bathroom if available.
Make sure that children and young people know to tell a member of staff if they feel unwell.
If anyone has been in contact with a suspected case in a childcare or educational setting, no restrictions or special control measures are required while laboratory test results for COVID-19 are awaited. There is no need to close the setting or send other learners or staff home. As a precautionary measure, the NHS are currently testing a very large number of people who have travelled back from affected countries, the vast majority of whom test negative. Therefore, until the outcome of test results is known there is no action that staff members need to take apart from cleaning specific areas (section 13) and disposing of waste (section 14).
Once the results arrive, those who test negative for COVID-19 will be advised individually about returning to education.
The childcare or educational setting will be contacted by the local Public Health England Health Protection Team to discuss the case, identify people who have been in contact with them and advise on any actions or precautions that should be taken. An assessment of each childcare or educational setting will be undertaken by the Health Protection Team with relevant staff. Advice on the management of pupils or students and staff will be based on this assessment.
The Health Protection Team will also be in contact with the patient directly to advise on isolation and identifying other contacts, and will be in touch with any contacts of the patient to provide them with appropriate advice. Advice on cleaning of communal areas such as classrooms, changing rooms and toilets will be given by the Health Protection Team and is outlined later in this document.
If there is a confirmed case, a risk assessment will be undertaken by the educational establishment with advice from the local Health Protection Team. In most cases, closure of the childcare or educational setting will be unnecessary but this will be a local decision based on various factors such as establishment size and pupil mixing.
The definition of a contact includes:
Contacts are not considered cases and if they are well, they are very unlikely to have spread the infection to others, however:
Family and friends who have not had close contact (as listed above) with the original confirmed case do not need to take any precautions or make any changes to their own activities such as attending childcare or educational settings or work, unless they become unwell. If they become unwell, they should call NHS 111 and explain their symptoms and discuss any known contact with the case to consider if they need further assessment.
If a confirmed case occurs in an educational setting the local Health Protection Team will provide you with advice and will work with the headteacher, principal and or management team of that setting. Outside those that are defined as close contacts, the rest of the school does not need to take any precautions or make any changes to their own activities attending educational establishments or work as usual, unless they become unwell. If they become unwell they will be assessed as a suspected case depending on their symptoms. This advice applies to teaching staff and children in the rest of the class who are not in a close friendship group or children undertaking small group work. The decision as to whether pupils, students and staff fall into this contact group or the closer contact group will be made between the Health Protection Team, the educational setting and (if they are old enough) the student. Advice should be given as follows:
If an individual falls into this category, contact NHS 111 for further advice:
If they are currently well:
If they become unwell:
Currently there are minimal cases outside the risk areas and therefore the likelihood of an individual coming into contact with a confirmed case is low.
There is no need to advise any of these pupils, student or staff to avoid normal activities or educational settings unless they have had contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19.
If individuals are aware that they have had close contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 they should contact NHS 111 for further advice.
For the latest country specific information please visit NaTHNac Travel Pro.
There is no need to change how you handle post, packages or food received from the affected regions. The virus does not survive well for long periods outside the body and so it is highly unlikely that COVID-19 can be spread through post or packages. It is highly unlikely that COVID-19 can be spread through food.
Coronavirus symptoms are similar to a flu-like illness and include cough, fever, or shortness of breath. Once symptomatic, all surfaces that the suspected case has come into contact with must be cleaned using disposable cloths and household detergents, according to current recommended workplace legislation and practice.
These include:
Public areas where a symptomatic individual has passed through and spent minimal time in (such as corridors) but which are not visibly contaminated with body fluids do not need to be specially cleaned and disinfected. If a person becomes ill in a shared space, these should be cleaned as detailed above.
All waste that has been in contact with the individual, including used tissues, and masks if used, should be put in a plastic rubbish bag and tied when full. The plastic bag should then be placed in a second bin bag and tied. It should be put in a safe place and marked for storage until the result is available. If the individual tests negative, this can be put in the normal waste.
Should the individual test positive, you will be instructed what to do with the waste.
Use e-Bug resources recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence to teach pupils about hygiene. Key sections that may be useful are: