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13 January 2021



Dear Parents, 
 
I am sure we are all aware of the rising rate of infection in Dubai and across the world at this time and I write to reassure you that at NAS Dubai we have reinforced all of the safety measures within the school and are confident that as we uphold all of the guidelines, NAS Dubai is a safe environment.
 
Social distancing is adhered to throughout the building, masks are worn at all times by everyone except the children in Year 1 and below.  The rooms are sterilized with the fogging machines every day and sterilization takes place whenever a different student cohort moves to a shared class space. 
 
Our attendance record together with the record of positive student cases and close associations show that 21% of our students are currently online.  We have twelve teachers who tested positive and are therefore not on campus though most are teaching from home. Nine of the twelve expect to have their negative result and  ‘all clear’ sign off from the DHA to be able to come back next week. 
 
As you would expect, the leadership team and the covid crisis management team of the School meet regularly. This week we considered whether we would need to revert to online learning and virtual schooling for all if the numbers continue to rise and decided that unless directed to by the regulator, and unless for a long period, we did not think that we should. We discussed whether a ‘circuit breaker’ and short period of closure would be sensible and decided against that because we believe that so long as we uphold the regulations then all safety measures are in place. We also consulted with the DHA who informed us that the numbers of student and staff cases did not justify school closure to take all online at this time.  
 
There are some classes, particularly in Primary, where there are larger numbers of families whose children are learning at home either resulting from parental choice or because of infection or quarantining for close contact.  We are monitoring the situation very carefully and when absence from on campus schooling reaches a critical point we may need to reassemble classes to ensure that we can continue to provide the very best learning experiences whether online and remote from school or in the school classroom. If this happens then there will be some disruption as the friendship groups are reconfigured and the teacher changes. We hope that this will not be needed and appeal to your understanding of how we are doing our very best to juggle things in such a volatile environment. 
 
It is foolish to predict anything at this time and essential to plan for all scenarios. We do sense that the worst may soon be over following the spike that resulted from various infections that proliferated over the winter holiday period.  
 
I also include below a detailed fact sheet from Mrs McSweeney who leads our covid crisis team which should answer many of the questions that are being sent to us at this time. If you have any further additional questions or require more clarification, please do not hesitate to ask.
 
Meantime, stay safe – we all know what we need to do to limit the possibility of infection. 
 
Kind regards, 
 
Matthew Farthing 
 

COVID FACT SHEET - JAN 2021






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Nord Anglia International School, Dubai · Hessa Street · Al Barsha South 3, · United Arab Emirates