Good evening,
We hope you and your family have had a peaceful and restful break and we look forward to welcoming your children back to school tomorrow. As I am sure you are aware, the Prime Minister has now set out the next phase of the government’s COVID-19 response and we wanted to share what this means for the Landau community.
The updated guidance for parents and carers can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/step-4-update-what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges
Self-isolation advice
We would ask that our families continue to follow the advice below from the UK Health Security Agency and young people who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not attend school, continuing to take lateral flow device tests from 5 days after symptoms started. We appreciate that this is now advice and no longer a requirement but we feel that if we all follow this advice we will continue to keep levels of COVID-19 low and therefore keep the school safe and open for all students. Throughout the pandemic our families have been incredibly supportive of the school and have always acted in a responsible manner. We are incredibly grateful for this support and we are asking that families continue with this sensible approach.
“Children and young people with COVID-19 should not attend their education setting while they are infectious. They should take a LFD test from 5 days after their symptoms started (or the day their test was taken if they did not have symptoms) followed by another one the next day. If both these test results are negative, they should return to their school, as long as they feel well enough to do so and do not have a temperature. They should follow the guidance for their school”
“Children and young people who attend school and who live with someone who has COVID-19 should continue to attend the setting as normal.”
Wearing of face coverings
Prior to the end of term break cases of COVID-19 in the school community were incredibly low, therefore we will no longer be asking staff or students to wear face coverings in communal areas. Any staff member or student who wishes to continue to wear a face covering will, of course, be able to do so.
Removal of the requirement for asymptomatic testing
From 21 February, staff and students in mainstream secondary schools are no longer expected to continue taking part in regular asymptomatic testing and should follow the guidance regarding asymptomatic testing for the general population. We still have a supply of lateral flow testing kits in school and we will distribute these to students, as we have done previously.
We will continue with our enhanced cleaning regimes, promoting good hand hygiene for everyone and keeping spaces well ventilated. We will also continue to work with Public Health Derby regarding managing confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the school and the local area.
Thank you again for your support throughout what has been an incredibly challenging time for schools. If you do have any questions regarding the information in this email please don’t hesitate to contact me directly via the PA to the Principal, Miss Walendziewski, [email protected]