Dear Parents/ Carers,
As you’re probably aware, the government’s guidance on the coronavirus has changed from the ‘contain’ phase to one of delaying the spread of the virus. We are in an unprecedented situation and I am getting in touch to let you know what we’re doing in light of this, and what we expect from all of you, to help make sure our school community keeps safe and calm.
We’d like to reassure you that at Hillside Primary we’re taking all of the necessary steps to protect our community and are continuing to follow official guidance from the government.
What’s the current situation?
- The school remains open – this is the current official guidance we’ve been given.
- Pupils should attend school unless they feel unwell – if your child has any of the following symptoms they should remain at home for 7 days:
- a new, continuous cough and/or
- a temperature
If your child is unwell, report this as you would normally by phoning the main school office.
- Hillside Governing body has asked that we take steps to reduce all non-essential visitors to school. Therefore, we are asking all volunteers to not come into school for the next few weeks (This will include placements, classroom volunteers, 1-to-1 readers, mystery readers etc.)
- In addition, we have had to take the decision to cancel various events over the coming weeks including:
- Nursery’s library time on a Friday
- Celebration assemblies
- class assemblies (Year 3, Nursery’s Mother’s day, Year 1),
- showcases (Year 4) and
- the upcoming parent’s consultations
- Careers fair
- Musical Theatre performance
For any event cancelled, we will aim to label as ‘cancelled’ on the school calendar.
Trips will run as normal, unless cancelled by the provider.
We’ll keep you up to date with any changes to the current situation.
What we’re doing to protect and support pupils and staff
- If a child is displaying the symptoms, mentioned above, we will send them home
- We are encouraging the children to hand-wash more frequently with soap and water and more thoroughly
- We are talking to children about the virus and trying to reduce any anxiety or fears.
What we need you to do
- If you’ve recently changed your contact details, please inform the school office as soon as possible via telephone.
- Talk to your children about the coronavirus. It’s an uncertain time and we should make sure children feel supported. BBC Newsround has regular updates for younger children and YoungMinds has practical steps older children can take to help with anxiety
- Come and collect your child straight away, if we ask you to (we’ll contact you if they become ill with either a temperature or a new, continuous cough)
What happens if the school has to close?
We’ll only close if we’re either officially advised to do so or we don’t have enough staff to run the school.
In either case, we’ll:
- Contact you via the app and text messaging service- at no point will you need to ring the school
- We are making plans so that work can be set during any period of closure- more details will follow if necessary.
Please keep in mind that we’re only sending out this information to help the school community prepare. There are currently no plans to close.
If you have any questions
Please consult the:
NHS, if you want to know more about the symptoms of coronavirus. If you think you or your child may have the symptoms, use NHS 111 online if at all possible before calling 111
Department for Education’s coronavirus helpline: 0800 046 8687, if you have any questions about the government’s response to coronavirus in relation to schools
Government’s travel advice, if you want to know whether any upcoming trip or holiday you’re taking abroad should go ahead
We are reviewing the situation regularly and taking advice from the appropriate channels to ensure the health and wellbeing of our school community.
Thank you for your continued support.
Mrs Schonau and the Hillside Governing Body