COVID-19: Plan B and looking ahead to January

 

Following the government’s announcement to implement Plan B, for school this means:

• Face to face education remains a priority. All pupils should continue to attend school unless they have symptoms of COVID-19 and/or a positive PCR test result.
• Isolation. Any pupils or staff who have been identified as a close contact of a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are required to self-isolate and take a PCR test. 
• Face coverings. Primary age pupils do not need to wear a face covering. Staff and adults in school continue to wear a face covering in communal areas.
• Childcare continues. These activities provide necessary childcare for working parents and promote the well-being of pupils.
• Residential Visit to continue. These activities enrich our curriculum and give extra opportunities for our pupils. We may make small changes to reduce risk of infection transmission.
• Special needs provision. Therapists and wider children’s services professionals continue to be welcome in school. We may make small changes to reduce the risk of infection transmission.

 

Looking ahead to January and beyond, the government has told us to review our contingency arrangements.

 

Face to face education in school remains the priority with a full offer (as above) to our pupils. There is uncertainty about the impact of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

 

We may be advised by public health experts to close part or all of the school. This could be a class, an age group or the whole school.

 

We face risks and challenges to remain open to all pupils because members of staff may become ill, show symptoms of COVID-19 or be forced to self-isolate as a result of being a close contact of someone who has the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Already, this term, we have reached times where every available member of staff has been teaching to keep classes in school. We appreciate parents’ understanding and flexibility of our staff as our arrangements change rapidly.

 

We will use all available staff and agency staff to keep classes open. We are not able to move teaching assistants who work with pupils with special educational needs and an Education, Health and Care Plan to cover classes. This limits our flexibility.

 

We will switch to remote education  for individual classes, age groups or the whole school, only as a result of government or public health instruction; or if we are unable to cover a teacher’s absence. This will be for as short amount of time as possible.

 

Parents might want to be prepared for any disruption to face to face education of pupils in school by:

• checking the school APP and website regularly.
• being ready to care for children during the school week, including at short notice.