Dear Parents,

With Covid cases on the rise locally as well as nationally, this is a serious reminder that if a parent or child has symptoms, that person must get a Covid test and their entire household should self-isolate.  If you are unsure about the symptoms you or your child has, please ring NHS 111 for advice or go to https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

A parent must not send their child/ren to school, even if it is the parent with symptoms and not the child.  When you receive the results of the test, please inform the school immediately (whether positive or negative).

We have collated the essential information below from the NHS and the Gov.uk websites.

The most common symptoms of Covid are:

• A temperature of 37.8 degrees Celsius or above;
• A new continuous cough or three coughing episodes in 24 hours;
• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste;
• Also, some people locally have reported having a headache.

If the test comes back negative, the children can return to school immediately (but, as already stated, please ring school to let us know first), assuming they are well enough to return.

If you test positive for Covid 19 you must self-isolate for 10 days from the day the test was taken, and (as of 14th December) the rest of your household must also self-isolate for 10 days from the day the test was taken.

You could be fined if you do not stay at home and self-isolate following a positive test result for COVID-19, or if you are a contact of someone who has tested positive, and you are notified by NHS Test and Trace that you need to self-isolate.  It is also an offence to knowingly provide false information about your close contacts to NHS Test and Trace.  Failure to comply with these requirements may result in a fine of up to £10,000.

A reminder too, that parents must wear face masks while on the school premises at any time.  Thankyou, as always, for your co-operation and understanding.

Mr Langford

Dear parents

Further to the Government’s announcement today that lockdown restrictions are being eased and that the social distance requirement of 2m is being reduced to 1m, I am posting to explain the impact that this will have on our current provision for key worker children, vulnerable children and year 6 children.

Children and staff are kept safe in school primarily because we are working in ‘bubbles’ and we have incredibly strict hygiene procedures. We have striven to adhere to the 2m distancing rule but this is simply not possible in our school setting. Children in classrooms and workspaces are currently spaced out as much as possible to ensure a 2m spacing; reducing this to 1m will have very little impact on our ability to increase the size of our bubbles and welcome more children back. We are also constrained by the Government guideline that no bubble will exceed 15 children.

Our situation will therefore not change in the near future. There may be small variations to our number but there will not be a wider opening as a result of today’s announcement. I reiterate that those children attending in YR or Y1 are only attending because they are key worker or vulnerable children. We have not approached anybody to widen this offer and nor would we do so!

The longer this situation continues, the more families need their children back in school so that lives can be restarted; there are many families desperate for their children to return to school and I am acutely aware of the ramifications of decisions I am regularly having to make.

I am very willing, of course, to discuss any request made for a space if one of the household is a key worker and I thank you all for your continued patience and support.

 Mr Langford

Dear Parents and carers

Our current situation is that we are open to those key worker and vulnerable children who are currently registered for this care. 

We are unable to open more widely until the government alters the guidance regarding social distancing and the requirement that staff do not move between groups of children. 

The current situation will continue until 15th June at the earliest.

We recognise that this is really difficult for many of you with children in YR, Y1 and Y6; please be reassured that the school leadership team and governors have been in close communication about this and that we have explored all possible models for opening more widely. We are simply not in a position to do so. While it remains the case that a number of our staff are unable to work in school due to their particular circumstances, we cannot open to more children. We are also limited by space requirements which mean that only 10 (or 12 in two of our larger classrooms) children can occupy a classroom at any one time.

Senior staff are reviewing our position daily and we are fully aware that life with Coronavirus may be for a significant amount of time. I know I speak for all staff when I say how very desperate we all are to welcome all our wonderful children back in school.

As your headteacher, I therefore ask for your continued patience and support. I fully understand the frustrations you must feel when requests for a place cannot be granted, even if you are a key worker. I can assure you though that all staff will continue to support every child both in school and at home to the very best of our ability.

All decisions about how we further open our doors, whether that is expanding our key worker offer or opening for the phased return of individual year groups,  are underpinned by the absolute necessity to keep all children and staff as safe as possible from this terrible disease; I therefore thank you again for your continued understanding and support.

I will continue to keep you all updated with any changes to our provision at the earliest opportunity.

If any have anything you wish to discuss, points to raise or concerns to voice, please do not hesitate to contact me directly using head@pontesbury.shropshire.sch.uk

Mr Langford