We are looking forward to welcoming all of our children, both old and new, back to school next week. To ensure that we can continue to enable our children to return to school and to their learning, it is essential that we all work together to follow the guidance in place.
Below are some reminders for parents, as well as links to websites and documents that should be useful.
Parents are encouraged to visit gov.uk/backtoschool for information and practical guidance to help them plan for their child’s return to school. The following publication produced by the Children’s Commissioner for England may also be useful.
Please find the letter sent to parents at the end of the summer term here.
Attendance
Parents/Carers should use the usual school procedures for sickness absence.
Attendance Policy Information for Parents Leaflet 2020-21
Travelling to School
Bikes and scooters can be used to travel to school, however currently cannot be stored at school.
Please see the current guidance regarding accessing public transport.
Durham County Council Guide to Getting to and from School
On the School Site
It is essential that parents/carers, as well as pupils, maintain social distancing when entering the school site and that parents/carers leave the school site immediately once their child has entered the building. To help to ensure social distancing and maintain ‘bubbles’ on the school site, it is essential that pupils arrive/leave promptly at their allocated time.
Pupils who use face coverings when travelling to and from school should remove them when they arrive in the school building and adhere to the following procedure:
- They should not touch the front of their face covering during use or when removing them.
- They must wash their hands or use hand sanitizer immediately on arrival.
- They should dispose of temporary face coverings in a lidded bin or place a reusable face coverings in a plastic bag that is to be placed in their school bag so that they can re wear it to travel home.
- They must then wash their hands again before heading to their classroom.
Anyone in the school displaying symptoms will be sent home.
Where a pupil or a member of their household displays symptoms of the coronavirus, please follow the Guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection.
Pupils or a family member displaying symptoms are advised to self-isolate and will not be permitted into school until 7/14-day isolation is completed and should arrange to have a test to see if they have coronavirus (COVID-19).
Tests can be booked online through the NHS testing and tracing for coronavirus website, or ordered by telephone via NHS 119 for those without access to the internet. Testing for COVID-19 is available through the NHS to everyone whatever their age.
We ask Parents/Carers to inform the school immediately of the results of a COVID-19 test.
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:
– a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
– a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
– a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
Parents/Carers and pupils should ensure that they adhere to staying alert and social distancing guidance when away from the school.
