Welcome Back Letter (Spring Term Routines and Arrangements)

Dear Parents and Carers,

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Happy New Year to you all and welcome back to a new term at the Wyche. Below are reminders, with some up to date arrangements, about the ways in which we will continue to offer education in the context of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and in the light of the Omicron variant. 

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Face Coverings 

There is no requirement for staff or pupils to wear face coverings in classrooms and during teaching but we are following DfE guidance and asking staff to wear face coverings  in communal areas and to avoid crowding. ​We will limit visitors to the school site to those who are absolutely necessary and all visitors who are not regular members of staff must wear a face covering on site. ​UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) say that of course, PPE should still be worn in situations where it would have been a medical precaution before Covid. We will still use PPE if caring for a child with Covid symptoms whilst they are waiting to be collected.  ​If you, as parents, chose to wear a face covering at the gate or when visiting school, that is your right and we support that right, but it is no longer a requirement.  

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Social Distancing  

In the light of the Omicron variant we are maintaining safe distances wherever we can and we would ask if parents when having conversations with members of staff could respect this and maintain a respectful and safe distance. If matters are confidential, phone calls, video calls or face to face meetings can requested. We will also attempt to reassure you by maintaining a respectful distance when meeting with you and safeguarding your own health and wellbeing.

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​Hygiene 

We will continue regular handwashing, especially at the start of the day and before eating. We will encourage a vigilance around potential transmission with sneezing and coughs with the “catch it, kill it, bin it” approach. We’ll also take care to mitigate the effect this has on children’s hands and maximise learning time. 

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​Cleaning 

We will continue to clean thoroughly, in addition to ordinary cleaning, especially in frequently visited places such as toilets and regularly touched surfaces such as bannisters and door handles. 

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​Ventilation 

We will take steps to keep the air flowing whilst being mindful of a comfortable working temperature.  We are using CO2 monitors throughout the school to measure a safe and health flow of fresh air.

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​Regular Testing 

Staff will continue to lateral flow test twice a week and we visitors and invited guests will be required to do so. This way we can catch a large proportion of asymptomatic cases. We encourage parents to do the same.

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Covid Symptoms 

Official guidance remains that the three symptoms are any one of: 

• New continuous cough for over an hour or 3 times in 24 hours, 

• A high temperature, 

• Loss or change in sense of taste or smell. 

If you have any of these, you personally must book a PCR test at a test site (not a Lateral Flow Home Test) and self-isolate until you get results.

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Lateral flow Tests are only designed to catch asymptomatic cases not to establish symptomatic cases. 

Self-Isolation and absence 

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Since Wednesday 22 December, the 10 day self-isolation period for people who record a positive PCR test result for COVID-19 has been reduced to 7 days in most circumstances, unless you cannot test for any reason.

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​Individuals may now take LFD tests on day 6 and day 7 of their self-isolation period. Those who receive two negative test results are no longer required to complete 10 full days of self-isolation. The first test must be taken no earlier than day 6 of the self-isolation period and tests must be taken 24 hours apart. This also applies to children under 5, with LFD testing at parental or guardian discretion. If both these test results are negative, and you do not have a high temperature, you may end your self-isolation after the second negative test result and return to your education or childcare setting from day 7.

​Anyone who is unable to take LFD tests will need to complete the full 10 day period of self-isolation.

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Contacts with a positive case

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From 14 December 2021, adults who are fully vaccinated and all children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years and 6 months identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 are strongly advised to take a LFD test every day for 7 days and continue to attend their setting as normal, unless they have a positive test result.

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Daily testing of close contacts applies to all contacts who are:

• fully vaccinated adults – people who have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine

• all children and young people aged 5 to 18 years and 6 months, regardless of their vaccination status

• people who are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons

• people taking part, or have taken part, in an approved clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine

Children under 5 years are exempt from self-isolation and do not need to take part in daily testing of close contacts.

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We will still send home children with Covid symptoms and ask you to book a PCR test, as part of our systems to control infection. As the seasonal cold season approaches, we will take a common sense approach to this and continue to work with the guidance of our Local Area Response Team (LORT) and UKHSA.

Outbreaks 

The DfE are committed to keeping schools open and are discouraging class and school closures in the event of outbreaks. In the event of an outbreak (as opposed to a couple of isolated cases) we will inform the UK Health Security Agency and take action to put in place measures to limit transmission. An outbreak is classed as:

• 5 children, pupils, students or staff, who are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period; or 10% of children, pupils, students or staff who are likely to have mixed closely test positive for COVID-19 within a 10-day period. 

• Anyone from the school community is hospitalised with Covid

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Catching Up and Recovering the Curriculum
We continue to ensure that the right teaching and interventions are in place to swiftly address gaps in learning, challenging all learners at their point of need and promote the best outcomes for pupils. An engaging, effective curriculum continues to be will be in place to fire children's enthusiasm whilst providing the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

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Attendance

The need to self isolate or seek tests obviously affects children's attendance and in the light of this we ask that any other absence, unless related to sickness or an unavoidable emergency, is avoided so that children can have as much school based education as possible. Unless unable to attend due to ill health children must attend school every day.

Statutory  Assessments 

The DfE still assure us that all end of year tests and assessments will go ahead this academic year. This means that Year 2 and Year 6 SATs will take place as normal and that the Year 1 phonics screening check will occur. The screening check took place in December 2021 for last Year’s Y1 (this year’s Y2) and is due to go ahead as normal in June for this year’s Year 1. We will give you plenty of information and support nearer the time. 
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Amid all of this we don't know what is ahead but rest assured we will continue to provide the highest quality, most engaging experiences within our power for your children, keeping them safe and taking them on new learning adventures. We will continually update and review our contingency planning and risk assessments and stay prepared for changes in official guidance and to the national picture, to maximise your children's learning.

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Don't forget to say a big "hello" to Miss Bent, the new Orange class teacher who joins our Wyche family this term.

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We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow,

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kind regards,

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Mr Murphy

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