COVID-19 Information
Latest LCC Risk Assessment: This Risk Assessment has been formulated in line with the Govt's Living with Covid Strategy:
V7.00 - Covid 19 RA 10 March 2022.pdf
Tuesday, 1 March 2022
Please see the following letter from LCC about the new regulations for CV-19:
LCC Covid-19 Letter to parents and carers.pdf
Sunday, 27 February 2022
The guidance around Covid-19 has changed for the whole country and these changes have implications for schools too. The guidance for schools is below:
The headlines are as follows:
- There is no longer an expectation for staff/pupils to do asymptomatic testing (LFD Tests twice a week) [However, we may be advised to reinstate this if there is an outbreak in a school.]
- Face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms or communal areas though we will still be encouraging staff to wear them in communal areas to keep the infection rate under control.
- Contact tracing has now ended
- If your child has symptoms you should keep them off school and have a PCR test and stay at home until the result comes back
- If negative PCR then your child can come back to school as long as they are feeling ok
- If your child is positive (LFD or PCR) then they MUST stay off school and do LFD on days 5/6. If LFD is negative and they are feeling well they can come back to school
- Please follow the advice here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-people-with-covid-19-and-their-contacts/covid-19-people-with-covid-19-and-their-contacts
- Main symptoms still include
- high temperature,
- new, continuous cough,
- loss or change to taste or smell
- but other symptoms linked with COVID-19 include:
- shortness of breath,
- fatigue,
- loss of appetite,
- muscle ache,
- sore throat,
- headache,
- stuffy or runny nose,
- diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.
- Schools are to maintain their strict cleaning regimes
- HAND HYGIENE is to remain in place
- Please make sure you clean your children's hand before they come to school (and wash them when you get home).
- Children will sanitise their hands as they enter and leave the classroom (and on returning from the toilet)
- Children will sanitise their hands before they eat
- We are also to try and keep classrooms well ventilated so windows will remain open.
I do not want to be a Negative Nellie here but I would really urge you to maintain a cautious approach to this virus which has not gone! It is still winter and people who are triple vaccinated are still getting the virus and are still being quite poorly with it. Yes, we need to learn to live alongside the virus but that does not mean 'throwing caution to the wind' (to quote PM Johnson) so please be vigilant and careful, especially in crowded places with people you don't know. The last thing we need is another spike in the virus.
Finally, please keep the people of Ukraine (and the ordinary Russian people) in your prayers. Pope Francis has called all Christians to make Ash Wednesday a day of prayer for peace: https://cafod.org.uk/Pray/Prayer-resources/A-prayer-for-Ukraine
With every good wish,
Mr Hutchinson and Mrs Ryan
Monday, 10 January 2022:
I have updated the RA this morning with some revised information for staff. In this, and future versions, the revised control measures will be written in RED type. I know Mrs Ryan addressed some of these point in her newsletter on Friday but I am including them here for your consideration too:
There are some important new regulations that come into force this week especially around the use of PCR tests to confirm your LFD test if it comes out as positive. From tomorrow, 11 Jan 2022:
- If you, or your child, tests positive on a Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test then you do not need to have a PCR test to confirm it. (This is only a temporary measure to ease the burden on the NHS because of case numbers)
- If you, or your child, test positive then you should begin your period of isolation as before and test yourself with a LFD test on Day 6 and Day 7. (Please look at the flow chart below... it's complicated I know, so if you're not sure speak to someone in school like Mrs Ryan, Mrs Strong or Mrs Gibbons.)
- However, if you test negative on your LFD but still have symptoms, then you should still book in for a PCR test. This has not changed. You should isolate until you have had your PCR test and received the results.
The latest advice from HM Govt about suspending PCR tests is here:
Suspension of PCR Tests Jan 2022
Please look carefully at the flow chart in the PDF below:
Flow Chart for LFD Testing January 2022.pdf
What should I do if I am Covid-19 positive but my child has tested negative? (or vice versa)
If you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, but you are still negative on LFD, you are not legally required to self-isolate if you are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 years and 6 months.
However, you are strongly advised to:
- take an LFD test every day for 7 days, or until 10 days after the household member who has COVID-19 started their self-isolation period if this is earlier;
- take this daily LFD test before you leave your home for the first time that day;
- Report your LFD test results after taking each test. Regular LFD tests are not recommended for children aged under 5.
They should continue to attend school unless they develop symptoms.
If you take an LFD test and the result is positive, you should immediately self-isolate to prevent you from passing the infection on to other people.
From 11 January in England, people who receive positive LFD test results for coronavirus (COVID-19) but do not have any symptoms will be required to self-isolate immediately but won’t be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.
Anyone who develops 1 of the 3 main COVID-19 symptoms should stay at home, self-isolate immediately and take a PCR test – these rules have not changed. If this PCR test result is positive, you must self-isolate and follow the advice for people who have COVID-19. If this PCR test result is negative, you can stop self-isolating, but you should continue to take your daily LFD tests. Please follow this advice until the household member who has COVID-19 reaches the end of their self-isolation period.
I know this looks complicated but basically it means that you can test yourself on Day 6 and Day 7 and if you are clear on Day 7 then your child can return to school that day. HOWEVER, if they still have symptoms of Day 7-10 then they should isolate until Day 10 as before.
This is what Mrs Ryan put in the newsletter:
The guidance states that they must have had two negative lateral flow tests in a 24 hour period so it will depend when the tests are taken. For example:
- If they do a test before school start time e.g. 7:30 am on Day 6 and day 7 they could come into school on day 7.
- If they do them during the school day e.g. 1pm on day 6 and day 7 they would come in on day 8.
I know... not our rules and we have tried to make them as straightforward as possible. If you're not sure... just ask. We'll try and guide you through.
The latest HM Government Advice for schools and families is here:
Latest HM Govt Advice on Stay at Home Guidance
I hope all this helps,
Stay safe. Stay strong. Stay socially distanced.
God bless,
Mr Hutchinson.
Previous Guidance: Thursday, 9 December 2021
Dear Parents,
UPDATED GUIDANCE: You will have seen PM Johnson on TV last night announcing that Plan B has been rolled out. A copy of Plan B can be found here:
I am awaiting an update from LCC about how this will affect schools and any further guidance will be posted here along with any updates to the Risk Assessment below.
Today's planed performance at 2.00pm for Nursery and F2 will go ahead. I'm not making any promises about next week's performances though. Please can parents/carers not arrive before 1.45pm as we must avoid crowding on site. You can park on the site (if there is room) but once the car park is full then you must park off site... do not park outside of the bays please.
Tickets for Performances: I am truly sorry that some parents cannot attend the performances they have been allocated because of work commitments. If you can swap with a parent in another class (Y3-5 especially) then please make those arrangements yourself. School cannot get involved here. We are trying to do this as safely as we can. There will be 120 chairs out and no more. If you bring toddlers they need to sit on your knee and buggies must be left outside the hall/in the studio. Please complete a LFD Test before attending any performances.
Staff will be really clear on this:
- No Mask no entry (unless you are exempt and have a lanyard)
- No ticket no entry (tickets were allocated in plenty of time)
- Once you're in and sat down, please can you to remain seated at all times
- No recording of any of the performance please.
- We will not be crowding round to take pictures at the end either.
- No pictures of performance social media please... I will add some global shots at a distance for Twitter.
Thank you for your cooperation here. I am delighted that we look like we will be able to perform for you but we must do all we can to try and stay safe... no one wants their Christmas ruining at this late stage.
God bless,
Mr Hutchinson.
Tuesday, 7 December 2021
You will be aware that the current CV-19 situation is one that is evolving quickly again due to the increasing occurrence of the Omricon Variant nationally. The latest guidance I have from LCC is included in the updated RA below. It still states that children can still come to school even if they are a close contact of someone with the virus (including their parents) unless it is confirmed that they have the Omricon strain of the virus. Please see the section below from our latest Risk Assessment update:
11.6 Close contact isolation - from 16th August 2021 people are exempt from close contact isolation if they: a) are under the age of 18 years and 6 months, or b) are fully
vaccinated (over 2 weeks ago), or c) have taken part in or are currently part of an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial, or d) are not able to get vaccinated for medical
reasons. The exception to this is if persons are close contacts of suspected or confirmed Omicron variant cases. Individuals will be contacted directly and required to
self-isolate immediately and asked to book a PCR test. They will be informed by the local health protection team or NHS Test and Trace if they fall into this category and
provided details about self-isolation. Further actions for educational settings may be advised by a local Incident Management Team (IMT) investigating a suspected or
confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Whilst we appreciate that parents/carers are understandably anxious about children coming into school if their parents have tested positive for the virus I cannot enforce asking these parents to keep their children at home. The guidance is very clear that HM Govt want children in school at all times unless they are poorly themselves. We are strongly advising parents who have tested positive for the virus to do a daily LFD Test with their children before sending them into school. If a child tests positive on LFD then a PCR is required immediately to confirm the virus. LFD tests are widely available from the NHS website or from your local pharmacy. The latest information I have from local NHS sources is that the prevalence of the O Strain is low in our area at the moment. We are acutely aware that this can change very quickly though and we will aim to keep you as up to date as we can.
We are trying to manage the situation as best we can, but the guidance is very clear to us as a school; we cannot ask parents to keep their children at home if they themselves have Covid-19 (or it is in the household) as it is deemed that school is the best place for young people to be if they are themselves well enough to be in. There are lots of things going around at the moment like coughs, colds and tummy bugs and telling the difference between this and Covid-19 is very hard. We do appreciate how difficult this is for everyone.
Thank you for your continued cooperation and patience here.
Mr Hutchinson
Below is the current and most up to date Covid-19 Risk Assessment based in the LCC model which we have used since the beginning of the pandemic:
Covid-19 Risk Assessment latest Version 6.02 (December 2021)
Plan for September 2021 V2
Please read the above carefully and also check out the checklist on the last page! However in brief:
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Bubbles are no longer in operation
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School will start and end at the same time as it did before the pandemic
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8.55 start for all pupils… doors open from 8.45 as they were in the past for a staggered entry into school
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3.15 finish for all pupils
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We are still using the various entry and exit points we used in Covid times
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The drop off is still in use in the morning
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The school carpark will be closed at the end of the day (please let everyone know who is collecting at the end of the day).
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Gold and Silver permits will be back in use
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We are still asking adults to wear a face covering on site if they feel able to; we can’t force this but to be frank there are still people dying of the Virus and they have been double jabbed so we are asking you to remain vigilant, alert and cautious.
