Secondary | Newland School for Girls | England | Our School

COVID - Updates

On Wednesday 8 December, the Prime Minister announced the implementation of Plan B of the COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan, to reduce pressure on the NHS. Plan B sets out a number of additional measures across society to control transmission of COVID-19.

The Government is clear on the critical importance of not disrupting the education of children and young people and the Government will prioritise keeping all education and childcare settings open. The measures set out below will support this.

Attendance

School attendance remains mandatory and all the usual rules continue to apply. Enabling children and young people to attend their education setting regularly continues to be a national priority. As usual, schools are able to grant leaves of absence for pupils in exceptional circumstances.

Face coverings

Face coverings should be worn by pupils and students in year 7 and above (which would be children who were aged 11 on 31 August 2021), staff and visitors in communal areas, unless exempt. Pupils and students in year 7 and above in these settings must also wear a face covering when travelling on public transport and should wear it on dedicated transport to and from school, college, or higher education provider.

Testing

We strongly encourage all those involved in education and childcare settings to continue regular testing (LFD not PCR) and reporting their results, and to encourage pupils and students in year 7 and above to test and report their results.

Parents, guardians and other visitors are now asked to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test before entering the setting.

Isolation

All individuals who have been identified as a close contact of a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, irrespective of vaccination status and age, will continue to be required to self-isolate and asked to book a PCR test.

January return

We will have a phased return to school in January. Y10 & Y11 will return on Wednesday, January 5th; Y8&Y9 on Thursday, January 6th and Y7 on Friday, Janurya 7th 2022. Each pupil will have an individual appointment time.

From September 2021

Students

It is recommended that all students wear face masks in communal areas and are required to wear a face mask when travelling to and from school on the school bus as well as when queuing for food during break and lunchtimes.

Other measures in place are:

* ventilation of the building

* regular hand sanitisation and hand washing

As the temperature drops students will be allowed to wear additional clothing as the temperature around school now requires ventilation to keep us cool. This must be a plain black jumper in addition to the school jumper and blazer. Hoodies, text emblazoned sweatshirts or plain sweatshirts of any other colour than black are NOT allowed.

Vaccination

COVID vaccinations will be conducted on Monday, 22nd and Tuesday 23rd November 2021. Please follow the link and let IntraHealth know your intention re vaccination consent for your child. The link will close on November 15th 2021.

https://forms.office.com/r/a3DPeGgXwb

COVID-19 vaccination programme and testing: a letter from the Secretary of State for Education to parents, carers and guardians

The Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi, has written an open letter to parents, carers and guardians about the importance of children aged 12 to 15 getting their COVID-19 vaccine either at school, or at a local vaccination centre.

The letter also reminds parents about the importance of testing.

Students and pupils should be encouraged to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test at home and report the result before returning to school or college after half-term, and then to test twice-weekly after that. This is a key part of reducing transmission and case rates in secondary schools and colleges, and keeping children and young people in face-to-face education.

If you are looking for more ways to encourage participation, you can use the toolkit which has excellent ideas to encourage staff and students to test regularly.

NHS test and trace, Covid-19 testing for pupils and at Newland.

Schools are no longer required to conduct test and trace. We will, however, inform you if your child is identified as a close contact of a student who has tested positive and recommend that your child takes a PCR test. Your child will be allowed to school and is not required to self isolate, so long as they remain symptom-free and have a negative COVID test.

Home Testing

We encourage all pupils to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test at home and report the result before returning to school or college after a holiday, and then to test twice-weekly after that. This is a key part of reducing transmission and case rates in secondary schools and colleges, and keeping children and young people in face-to-face education. School will continue to provide the home testing kits.

Information on the different types of self-test kits you may receive for at-home testing

We would like to remind all settings of the different types of COVID-19 self-test kits that you may receive for testing at home. Since July, settings have been receiving either Innova, Orient Gene or Acon-Flowflex self-test kits.

The instructions for use for each test kit differ, so please advise your staff, pupils and students to follow the instructions provided in the box.

Keeping Children Safe Online

The following updated government guidance has been issued recently. Coronavirus (COVID-19): keeping children safe online - Advice and guidance to help parents and carers to keep children safe online during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-keeping-children-safe-online