Coronavirus Update - 17th March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers,

I wanted to write to you and inform you of the latest Coronavirus update and the measures we are taking in school to manage this.  At present we are being told to stay open as normal and we have put a plan in place to protect all members of our school community as well as we can.  

 If you or someone in your home has been told to self-isolate by a medical professional then you all need to stay at home for 14 days.  If your child has any symptoms of a dry cough, wheeziness or temperature then you will also need to keep them at home.  Please ring school and keep us updated if your child is unwell or going to be absent from school.  Do not hesitate to ring us if you need to discuss a particular situation in more detail and remember that you can always get the latest advice on https://phw.nhs.wales/ if you want to access further information.

We are taking a number of precautions in school which I would like to tell you about so we can reassure you that children are as safe or safer in school than elsewhere in the community.  

• Regular hand-washing throughout the school day.
• Regular cleaning of all hard surfaces in school throughout the school day.
• Resources will be disinfected regularly after use.
• Additional cleaning of all hard surfaces using bleach based products at the end of every day.
• After school clubs have been suspended until further notice.
• Children who bring packed lunches will be eating them in class so that the dinner hall does not become too congested.  
• Children who have school dinners will be spread out further around the hall than usual as we will have more space.  
• All meetings and classes for parents will be cancelled until further notice.
• Year 6 visit to Storey Arms has been cancelled.
• We will have some extended playtimes so that children are out in the fresh air as much as possible.
• School assemblies and class assemblies for parents will be suspended until further notice.
• Teachers will be talking to the children about the virus at an age appropriate level and reassuring them as much as possible.  It would be helpful for the children if you can limit your conversations about the virus when they are around as they are obviously very concerned about the situation and there is a lot of very unhelpful information around on social media.
• Given the current situation our Estyn Inspection that was scheduled for next week has also been suspended.

 I realise that it is a very worrying time for you and that you are anxious about your children’s safety.  I can assure you that I share all your concerns on a personal level too.  We are following all the advice from Public Health and are receiving daily updates from the Local Authority which we will be acting upon immediately.  For the time being, the advice out there is that children are as safe in school as anywhere else and we will be remaining open until we are told to do otherwise.  It is likely that school closures will happen at some point and we are busy preparing resources so that you will be able to work with your children at home when the time comes. There will be a School Closure Policy shared through Schoop and the School website to explain this further. 

 In the meantime we are doing everything we can to keep your children and our community safe and I would like to thank you for your continued support. We will aim to update you as regularly as possible.  

 
Yours sincerely,

 Wil Howlett – Headteacher