Dear Parents and Carers,
I am writing to inform you that I have been made aware of a member of staff at our College who has tested positive for COVID 19.
Understandably, this will concern you all but be assured we are monitoring the situation and are working closely with Public Health England, the Department for Education and our Local Authority. I wanted to take the earliest opportunity to inform you of the current situation and provide advice on how to support your child. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.
The member of staff who has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), was in on the staff training day and has not been in since so has
not had any contact with any of the students. There are however several members of staff who have been in close contact with the member of staff, all of whom are now self-isolating at home for 14 days.
Due to the number of staff who are now unable to be in College as a result of needing to self-isolate, as of tomorrow, I will not be in a position to continue to guarantee the safety of the students with regard to safe supervision and therefore I have taken the difficult decision
to close the College temporarily to all students from tomorrow (Thursday 5th November) up to and including Friday 6th November, in the first instance.
This measure while regretful, will maintain the safety of our students and our staff and will enable us to update our risk assessment, ensure the College is cleaned and to make arrangements in preparation for students to return next week.
We will endeavour to provide additional home learning resources as soon as possible but in the meantime please direct your child to our online platforms that we use as a College. These are:
Free School Meals
Parents of students who are eligible for free school meals will be emailed a free school meal voucher to cover the next two days. Details of how to redeem the voucher will be included in the email.
Sixth Form Students
All Post-16 lessons at partner schools will continue as normal for the rest of this week, and those affected students can come to the College site to access transport as normal.
Exams
Exams that are scheduled for the next two days
will run as normal. Those students that are due to sit an exam tomorrow or Friday need to come in to College and report to the Sixth Form block as normal.
We will be in touch with you all as soon as possible to clarify our arrangements for reopening. My sincere apologies for the inevitable inconvenience that this closure will cause, but please be assured it is not a decision I take lightly, and it is in the best interests of our students, staff and community.
Yours sincerely,
Julie Bevan
Principal
For your information, please see further guidance below provided to us by Public Health England:
What to do if your child develops symptoms of COVID 19
If your child develops symptoms of COVID-19, they must not come to College and should remain at home for at least
10 days from the date when their symptoms appeared. Anyone with symptoms will be eligible for testing and this can be arranged via
https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.
All other household members who remain well, must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. This includes anyone in your ‘Support Bubble’.
Further information is available at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection
The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
Household members should not go to work, College or public areas and exercise should be taken within the home.
If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or family. Alternatively, you can order your shopping online and medication by phone or online.
Household members staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
If you are able, move any vulnerable individuals (such as the elderly and those with underlying health conditions) out of your home, to stay with friends or family for the duration of the home isolation period.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19) are recent onset of:
- a new continuous cough
- a high temperature
- a loss of, or change in, your normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia)
For most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.
If your child does develop symptoms, you can seek advice from the nhs.uk website at
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/check-if-you-have-coronavirus-symptoms/. If you are concerned about your child’s symptoms, or they are worsening you can seek advice from NHS 111 at
https://111.nhs.uk/ or by phoning 111.
How to stop COVID-19 spreading
There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with COVID-19
Do
- wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
- use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
- wash your hands as soon as you get home
- cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
- put used tissues in the bin immediately and wash your hands afterwards
Further Information
Further information is available at
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
