Covid Update

With Covid cases locally increasing, we have decided to take a precautionary approach for the first three weeks of January whilst we monitor the number of Covid cases in our local community and in school.  This means that we have decided to continue with some of the measures we had in place before we broke up.

• Moved to virtual worships
• Minimised indoor contacts so children are either eating lunch in classrooms or fewer classes in the hall
• Any mixing of classes will only take place outdoors for the time being.

Children will continue to mix outdoors as we do not feel it is appropriate to move to class bubbles as yet or if at all!  We will closely monitor numbers and review these measures again nearer the end of January.

Covid Guidance Updates:

Close Contacts:

COVID-19 infection rates are very high and the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly. The self-isolation advice for contacts of people with COVID-19 has changed to reduce the risk of spread to others.

If you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 you are at significantly higher risk of becoming infected yourself.

Anyone aged 5 years and over, who has been identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 and who is not legally required to self-isolate, is now strongly advised to take a rapid lateral flow device (LFD) test every day for 7 days or until 10 days since their last contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19 if this is earlier. If any of these LFD tests are positive they should self-isolate in order to protect other people.

If you have been vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine, you are less likely to become severely ill if you catch COVID-19. You are also less likely to spread COVID-19 to other people, but it is still possible for this to happen. Therefore:

• if you are aged 18 years 6 months or over and you are not fully vaccinated*, and you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, you are legally required to stay at home and self-isolate
• if you are fully vaccinated or aged under 18 years and 6 months, and you live in the same household as someone with COVID-19, you are not legally required to self-isolate. However, you are strongly advised to take an LFD test every day for 7 days, and to self-isolate if any of these test results is positive

*You are fully vaccinated 14 days after having received 2 doses of an approved vaccine (such as Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca or Moderna/Spikevax) or one dose of the single-dose Janssen vaccine.

Self-Isolation for Positive cases:

For those who test positive for Covid the 10 days have been reduced to 7 days.  A LFD test can be taken on day 6 (no earlier than this) and then 24 hours later on day 7.  If both days are negative, the child / adult can return to school on day 7 as long as the they do not have a temperature. 

New Guidance from the DfE:  Confirmatory PCR tests following a positive lateral flow device (LFD) test result are to be temporarily suspended from Tuesday 11 January. This will mean that anyone who receives a positive LFD test result will be required to self-isolate immediately and will not be required to take a confirmatory PCR test.