UPDATE LETTER TO PARENTS 15/3/20 12PM

Dear Parent/Carer,
As you will all be aware, we are in the unprecedented position of a global pandemic relating to Covid-19.
As announced by the Prime Minister, there will be no blanket closures of schools at the moment.
As a school, we are receiving the same information from Public Health Wales (PHW) as is being published for the general public. The LA is advising schools to follow PHW guidance.
Our first priority, as ever, is the health, safety and well-being of our children, staff and the families and friends that make up our school community.
The latest guidance from PHW is as follows:
*People who have returned from Category 1 specified countries or areas in the last 14 days should self-isolate. This includes avoiding attending an education setting or work until 14 days after they return.

ACTION : Therefore, please inform the school if you have travelled to any of the countries on the list in the last 14 days.

*Stay at home if you have coronavirus symptoms
Stay at home for 7 days if you have either:
• a high temperature – you feel hot to touch on your chest or back
• a new, continuous cough – this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly

ACTION: Therefore, if your child has ANY of the above symptoms, please DO NOT send them to school.
If any child displays these symptoms during the day, you will be contacted immediately.
If as a parent, you feel your child is vulnerable due to an underlying medical condition, then please inform the office and we can use an attendance code for self-isolating if you feel this is the safest option for them. The safety of all our community is utmost at this time.

What is happening in school now:
We have already taken a number of measures in school. These include:
*ensuring regular hand-washing with anti-bacterial hand wash. You can help us with this by also emphasizing the importance of washing hands at home.
*children are being reminded of personal hygiene.
*staff are cleaning surfaces with anti-bacterial spray at regular intervals during the day.
*Computers and electronic devices are being wiped/sprayed regularly with anti-bacterial wipes / spray.

What may happen in the coming days:
There are a number of measures that we may take, if necessary. This would include measures such as temporarily stopping assemblies, eating packed lunches in classrooms, reducing time sitting as a whole class on the carpet and cancellation of school visits to any crowded locations or where the children would come in to contact with large groups from other schools. These measures will come in to effect as we believe they become necessary.
What could happen in the future:
It is a possibility that it may become necessary to close the school- whether directed to do so, or if this is a decision we need to take ourselves. Any closure could be partial or whole school in either the short term (for example, for a deep clean, or where staff levels become critically low) or longer term as advised. We are aware that we may get very little notice of school closures and therefore we are planning at a number of levels behind the scenes so that we are prepared for a short or a longer-term closure. If this does become necessary, we will prepare a simple package of learning for the children to complete at home.
As you will be aware, this situation and therefore advice, is changing on a daily basis. We will keep parents updated of any changes viatext and our website. Please check your messages daily. We will inform you of any developments as rapidly as we are able to.
We hope you understand the necessity of any measures we will need to take over the coming weeks and thank you in advance for your support in keeping our community safe for all.
Kindest regards,
Mrs R Barker
Headteacher