The updated government-issued advice states that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild infection. Everyone should read and following key points:
All UK schools will close at the end of the school day on Friday 20th March 2020
Advice regarding self-isolation
If you or a member of your household, has a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, then the all members of the household should stay at home and self-isolate for 14 days.
The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
You do not need to call NHS 111 to go into self-isolation.
If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 14 days, contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
Social distancing is advised to reduce the opportunity for transmission of COVID-19. It is intended to be used in situations where parents, carers, and children are living in their own homes, with or without additional support from friends, family and carers. If you or a member of your household has an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19 you should be particularly stringent in following social distancing measures.
For a full list of people you are included within the severe category, and the different measures for social distancing please view the Public Health England official list here: https://www.gov.uk/government/...
Further Information
We understand you may have further questions. Our aim is to manage communications to the best of our ability, keeping you up to date with all the latest information so that we can help you prepare for any eventuality. Below, we have outlined the actions parents and carers can take should they have further questions.
Read Public Health England’s advice regarding educational settings.
In order to best help limit any spread of the virus, we recommend everyone to follow the advice issued by Public Health England.
Full guidance can be found here, the UK Government response can be foundhere
Call the Department for Education Coronavirus Helpline:
The Department for Education has launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents, and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
If you have self-isolated for 14 days with a continuous cough and/or a high temperature and your symptoms worsen or you are no better after 14 days, contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency, dial 999.
Still have more questions?
If, having taken all the above steps, you are still unsure about anything regarding COVID-19 in relation to the school, please feel free to contact the school via our newly-installed chat function. An example of where this can be found on our website is shown below:
Any inquiries fielded through the website chat will be answered by a White Horse Federation Coordinator. We promise to respond to any questions from parents and carers as soon as possible, within normal working hours.
Additionally, we would also like to issue to following advice for:
What to do if…
A.) A member of the household has been asked to self-isolate and is a CONFIRMED case of COVID-19:
If a member of the household has been advised to self-isolate and has a confirmed case of COVID-19, please inform the school as soon as you are able by either calling or emailing our school office. We would ask that any of your children, should also remain at home for 14 days even they are without symptoms. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
If your child develops a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, please keep them at home and continue to self-isolate them. If their symptoms worsen during self-isolation or are no better after 14 days, contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
After 7 days of your child's symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can return to school. Should your child develop symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (eg on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended for all the household. Your child will need to stay at home for a further 7 days.
B.) A member of the household has been ASKED to self-isolate by the NHS and is NOT a confirmed case:
If a member of the household has been asked to self-isolate but does not yet have a confirmed case of COVID-19, please still inform the school as soon as you are able by either calling or emailing our school office. Being asked to self-isolate by the NHS may be as a result of previous travel arrangements to a category 1 infected area.
In this situation, the whole household including children should choose to self-isolate for 14 days. If your child develops a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, please keep them at home and continue to self-isolate them. If their symptoms worsen during self-isolation or are no better after 14 days, contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
After 7 days of your child's symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can return to school. Should your child develop symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (eg on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended for all the household. Your child will need to stay at home for a further 7 days.
C.) A member of the household has CHOSEN to self-isolate and is NOT a confirmed case:
If a member of the household has a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, but does not yet have a confirmed case of COVID-19, the whole household including children should choose to self-isolate for 14 days. Please still inform the school as soon as you are able by either calling or emailing our school office.
If your child develops a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature, please keep them at home and continue to self-isolate them. If their symptoms worsen during self-isolation or are no better after 14 days, contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111.
After 7 days of your child's symptoms starting, if they feel better and no longer have a high temperature, they can return to school. Should your child develop symptoms late in the 14-day household-isolation period (eg on day 13 or day 14) the isolation period does not need to be extended for all the household. Your child will need to stay at home for a further 7 days.
D.) No one in the household been asked to self-isolate:
If no one in the household has been asked to self-isolate, simply follow Public Health England’s advice for limiting the spread of the virus through good personal hygiene. Further guidance linked to non-clinical settings can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidance
Important Note:
In any case where we are notified that a pupil will remain off school for a prolonged period of time, we will endeavour to ensure that learning materials and online resources are provided where possible.
We would like to reassure all parents and carers that we promise to treat all cases with confidentiality. Thank you to parents, carers, and members of the school community for their continued cooperation throughout this period.
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The White Horse Federation
At the heart of The White Horse Federation is a belief in using collaboration to provide a first-class education to a wide range of children. This means that every child understands what they are capable of, and can collectively strive for excellence.
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The Government has published guidance regarding school provision
for the children of workers in crucial sectors who cannot safely keep
their children at home during the upcoming school closures.
In order to identify which parents and carers are key workers, we
have set up a key worker questionnaire, which can be found on the right
hand side of our school status page: https://www.stlukes.swindon.sc...
