18 March 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

We understand these are unsettling times for parents so we would like clarify the current situation within our school based on the current government advice:

Regarding self-isolation, the following procedures will take place with immediate effect;

• Please do not send your child/children into school if they have a temperature of 37.8 or above. Children that develop a temperature whilst at school will need to be collected immediately. Children should remain at home for 14 days after the temperature comes down.
• Please do not send your child/children into school if they have a persistent cough or develop a new cough. Children should remain at home for 14 days.
• Families are now advised to self-isolate even if just one family member presents with any of the above symptoms. For any child who is already self-isolating from school; if this child has a sibling at school they will too must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days from the day when the first person in the household became ill. The full guidance can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-homeguidance

The same guidance is being followed by all staff within the school.

School remains open as normal. Hygiene remains our primary focus; the children and staff are thoroughly washing their hands regularly and we are enforcing stringent cleaning routines.

In the current climate we have made the decision to;

• Cancel all clubs and any external visitors in school with immediate effect
• Postpone parents’ evening
• Any liturgies/stations of the cross will not include members of the wider community but will take place in school behind closed doors

We will update you as soon as we receive further information, please follow the advice through the link on our website’s home page.   The school website will be updated with more information as appropriate. We will advise through text and the website as available.

13 March 2020

Dear parents and carers,

As the level of concern around the COVID-19 Coronavirus continues to grow I wanted to offer some reassurance around what we are doing as a Trust to keep your children safe.

The safety and wellbeing of our community of 17 schools is our top priority and for this reason we are following the very best available advice.  Head teachers and their teams are working hard to plan for all scenarios, ensuring that we have the most effective arrangements possible in place.

At present there are to be no school closures.  We continue to be responsive to changing circumstances and to take sensible measures to protect our children, our staff and our visitors.  

Hand washing remains the most effective way of protecting ourselves and so we are making sure that this is done in our schools for the recommended 20 seconds, many times a day.  

All schools - and the Trust - receive daily advice on managing the Coronavirus, from the Department of Education.  This advice is especially tailored for schools and we are following that advice carefully.  While there is no need to stop people coming together at the moment, we are working through our plans for events where there is a high concentration of people and there are likely to be vulnerable groups among them.  The key vulnerable group that has been identified concerning this virus is the elderly, particularly if they have existing health concerns.  

It remains in the interest of our children that they continue to receive the best education we can give them and we all appreciate your support in continuing to ensure that your children attend as usual.  There is clear advice on when children should not attend (aside from general illness) which can be found here.  The latest advice is to self-isolate for 7 days if you have the following symptoms:

New, persistent cough and/ or

High temperature

The situation is under constant review in our Trust.  Because we are following the best available advice this may mean that you see other schools or organisations doing slightly different things, but this may for specific reasons.  Please be assured that we will continue to act in the best interest of our school communities.

With thanks for your continued support,

Amy Rice

CEO St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Academy Trust.