Covid-19 over Christmas

IMPORTANT - Advice for Parents/Carers on what to do if your child develops Covid-19 symptoms and/or has a positive test result in the school holiday

As we move closer to the Christmas holidays, this will be another school break where we may have to be in contact, if a member of our school community tests positive for Covid-19. Outlined below is some key information in our approach.

How can parents/carers support school in avoiding delays in testing as we approach Christmas?

From this point on, if symptoms develop, we urge families to utilise in-person tests wherever possible to help avoid delays in results coming back, which can be the case with postal tests. This will ensure we can respond appropriately and in a timely fashion to support contact tracing ahead of the Christmas period.

Contact details of parents/carers

Please ensure your contact details are up to date prior to the end of term so that you can be contactable should we need to self-isolate a bubble. This may be necessary during the first week of the holidays.

How should parents/carers communicate with school?

Communication should be via the info@westburyontrym.academy email account ONLY - please do NOT leave a message on the school answer machine/Seesaw message as they will not be monitored. The info inbox will be checked every morning by 10am.

1) If your child develops symptoms before Monday 21^st December please inform the school via the info@westburyontrym.academy email account ONLY. Please provide the following key information:

Parent/Carer name:

Name of child with symptoms:

Child’s class name:

Child’s date of birth:

Symptoms:

Date symptoms started:

Last day in school:

Parent/carer contact number:

**A test should be booked immediately, ideally in person, to ensure a timely response**

2) If you have a test result for your child, please inform the school via the info@westburyontrym.academy email account ONLY. Please provide the following key information:

Parent/Carer name:

Name of child who took the test:

Child’s class name:

Child’s date of birth:

Date of test result:

Test result outcome:

Last day in school:

End of isolation date as advised:

Parent/carer contact number:

How will school communicate with us?

If your child is identified as a close contact of a positive case (same bubble), we will communicate via a family announcement in Seesaw and an alert via text in School Comms.

If you report symptoms/a positive test result we may follow up with a phone call.

How long is the period of self-isolation?

From Monday 14^th December 2020, this has been reduced from 14 days to 10 days. This means children can return to ‘normal activities’ from day 11 providing they are well and symptom free. This is the period required unless informed otherwise by NHS Test and Trace.

Guidance for the holidays

The Government have announced that there will be a period between the 23^rd and 27^th of December in which 3 households can meet up. The guidance on what this means can be found here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-a-christmas-bubble-with-friends-and-family/making-a-christmas-bubble-with-friends-and-family

We know that the easiest way for COVID to spread is when people meet up indoors and encourage you to consider the risk, particularly to older or vulnerable members of your family at this time. Increasing ventilation, keeping physical distance, hand hygiene, keeping to your 3 household bubble and importantly if you are unwell not meeting with others may help reduce this risk.

Unfortunately due to the relaxation of restrictions we expect to see an increase in COVID infections in Bristol after Christmas and together we want to look at how to safely return to school in January.

We have created a useful ‘Parent Holiday Information Sheet’ – this has advice for during and after the holidays and what to do if your child becomes unwell.

The table below will help you see when your child can return to school and whether you need to inform school if your child has Covid symptoms/tests positive. Critical dates are highlighted.

Child’s Symptoms started	Self-isolation period	Child is a close contact of another case over the holidays when can they come back to school?	Does the parent need to inform school and when
Thursday 17th	child must SELF-ISOLATE until 28^th Dec	When school reopens in January	Yes, twice – 1) as soon as booking a test and 2) as test result is known
Friday 18th	child must SELF-ISOLATE until 29^th Dec	When school reopens in January	Yes, twice – 1) as soon as booking a test and 2) as test result is known
Saturday 19^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE until 30^th Dec	When school reopens in January	Yes, twice – 1) as soon as booking a test and 2) as test result is known
Sunday 20th	child must SELF-ISOLATE until 31^st Dec	When school reopens in January	Yes, twice – 1) as soon as booking a test and 2) as test result is known
Monday 21st	child must SELF-ISOLATE until 1^st Jan	When school reopens in January	No
Tuesday 22nd	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until school reopens in January	When school reopens in January	No
Wednesday 23^rd	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until school reopens in January	When school reopens in January	No
Thursday 24th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until school reopens in January	When school reopens in January	No
Friday 25^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 5^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 5^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Saturday 26^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 6^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 6^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Sunday 27^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 7^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 7^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Monday 28^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 8^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 8^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Tuesday 29^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 9^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 9^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Wednesday 30^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 10^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 10^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Thursday 31^st	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 11^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 11^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Friday 1st	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 12^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 12^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Saturday 2^nd	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 13^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 13^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Sunday 3^rd	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 14^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 14^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Monday 4th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 15^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 15^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term
Tuesday 5^th	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 16^th Jan	child must SELF-ISOLATE and not return to school until 16^th Jan	Yes at the beginning of January term

As was the case during half term, there will be some anxiety around whether positive cases in the school may affect Christmas plans and, sadly, this is a possibility. It remains our responsibility to ensure we all play our part in ensuring that the spread of the virus is minimised through prompt action and continued partnership.

If you do have any more questions, please feel free to contact the School Office before the end of term, so that I can ensure that you all have the information you need before we break up.