Oakfield Park School

Coronavirus

Coronavirus / COVID–19 Update.

September 2020

I am sure you are all aware of the recent national increase of cases of Covid 19 and will no doubt be sharing our concerns as to how this may impact on school.

Can I start by reassuring you all that we have instigated many steps which will help to protect all pupils and staff from the dangers which this virus can pose. For example, we have grouped students in “Bubbles” to avoid them mixing with other students, we have greatly increased the hygiene requirements around school and we have increased the availability of PPE to all who require it.

However, we must all be aware of the symptoms which identify possible cases of Covid.

These include:

- a high temperature.

- a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot, for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours.

- a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – this means they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

Typical symptoms of a cold, such as a runny nose or a sore throat, are not considered symptoms of coronavirus, and as such, children do not need to be kept off school.

The government guidance is very clear. Where any of these symptoms are to be found then the student must not be sent into school until they have either self-isolated for 14 days or have been tested and received a negative result, and I ask that you follow this guidance closely.

Equally, if a student displays any of these symptoms within school our first step will be to isolate the student and ensure that the symptoms are genuine. Where the symptom is a high temperature, we shall then take two temperature tests at an interval of one hour and where both results are over 37.8° we shall contact parents and request that they come and collect their child. With regard to the coughing symptoms we shall also monitor closely, in isolation if necessary, and in consultation with the school nurses where we feel that the government guidelines are being met, we will contact parents and ask that their child is collected and that the above guidance regarding testing or self-isolation is put into action.

I appreciate the potential for inconvenience the implications of these steps may cause, but equally, I hope that you will understand that we must take every precaution to protect our students and staff from any possibility of catching this horrible virus.

Click here to read Special School Guidance