E-newsletter 100

 
Grendon Newsletter
  E-newsletter #100 Friday 8th October 2021  
 
  Hello Visitor,

Update: Parent Governor Election

Many thanks to the 3 candidates who have put themselves forward for the Parent Governor Election. Your child should have brought home today the pen portaits for the candidates along with ballot papers and full instructions on what to do! 

The deadline for returning ballot papers to school is midday on Friday 22nd October.

Reminder: Covid Symptoms

assembly

All Together Again!

I want to say a huge thanks for your support in helping the school to remain open and full to capacity. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to see children learning and playing together, meeting as a whole school in assemblies, eating together at lunch and going about their day happily and generally untroubled by the worry of Covid. Our Reception children have settled so quickly, in part due to the amazing friendships they have made not only with their classmates but also their Year 6 Buddies and all pupils elsewhere in the school are thriving in their academic, social and emotional development. It is great to be back!

Having been without so much of the above for so long over the preceding 18 months or so (and hopeful that we can continue as we are indefinitely!), you will forgive me for once again reminding you of the school's expectations relating to Covid-19. All of the relevant guidance was circulated with the Parent Information at the start of term but there are some brief reminders below on some important aspects.

buddies 2

Lateral Flow or PCR Test?

If your child presents with Covid symptoms - new and persistent cough, high temperature or loss of taste/smell - they should take a PCR test. School requests that your child does not come back to school until you have shown school evidence of their negative PCR test result. 

A common misconception is that if a child presents with Covid symptoms, a negative Lateral Flow Device (LFD) test is sufficient for them to carry on as normal. This is not the case. LFD tests are for asymptomatic use - they are less sensitive than PCR tests and so it is relatively common for someone who has Covid-19 to test negative on a LFD test.

In line with DfE guidance, a negative LFD test result for a symptomatic child is not sufficient for them to return to school.

My child has a Covid symptom but I don't think they have Covid...

The only way to be certain of eliminating Covid-19 as a possible source of any of the symptoms mentioned above is to get a PCR test and the school will follow this particular piece of guidance to the letter in its attempts to keep Covid out of our school. 

If your child presents with any one of the three Covid-19 symptoms they should a) not come to school and b) have a PCR test.

If a child comes to school and shows any of these symptoms, they will be immediately isolated and parents will be asked to collect them from school and take them to get a PCR test as per DfE guidance. 

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Some local primary schools have, just this week, been forced to revert to class bubbles and split breaks and lunchtimes and you may be aware that rates of Covid in local secondary schools are very high in comparison to the wider population - many of our pupils/staff have siblings/children in these settings which makes us more susceptible to disruption.

With your consistent support, our school has navigated its way through Covid very safely and, beyond the national school closures, day-to-day disruption outside of those times has been minimal - there have been extremely low rates of Covid within our immediate school community, we did not have to send home any bubbles of children during the height of the pandemic and, although stretched at times due to absence and self-isolation of staff, we have always had capacity to keep the school running smoothly and safely.

However, small schools remain extremely vulnerable to any disruption caused by a spike in local Covid infections. Any potential disruption is likely to arrive with very little or no warning and may impact on the smooth running of the school and also on our parent body. I am desperate to avoid a situation where the school is forced to introduce more restrictive measures due to increased infection rates and I would therefore urge you to continue following the guidance outlined in the Parent Information document and all other relevant NHS/DfE guidance. Covid-19 has not gone away and my aim is to keep our school fully open and for it to continue to be the safe, happy and thriving community that it currently is. 

 

 
 
  Grendon Church Of England Primary School
Main Road
Grendon
Wellingborough
NN7 1JW
Tel: 01933 663208
 
  https://grendonprimary.net/