Coronavirus Update as at March 14th 2020
Dear Parent/Carer,
Further to my previous letter in recent weeks, I am now writing with a further update on the Coronavirus outbreak. You will probably be aware from national news reports that at the present time, the UK Government advice is for all schools to remain open and so for now, we will continue to operate as normal. I am also pleased to confirm that at the time of writing, we have had no known cases of Coronavirus affecting any of our students or staff.
We are well aware of the responsibility as a school that we have to keep all of our community safe and you can rest assured that we are following all government guidance carefully in order to ensure that we are protecting the “Edge Family” as effectively as possible.
Please remember that the key advice from the Department of Health and Social Care for parents and carers is as follows:
- Anyone who has a high temperature (37.8 degrees and above) or a new, continuous cough, should stay at home for 7 days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas at home or abroad. Those staying at home should then avoid all but essential contact with others for 7 days from the point of displaying mild symptoms, to slow the spread of infection.
- You do not need to call NHS 111 to stay at home. If symptoms worsen during a stay at home period or are no better after 7 days, contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency, continue to dial 999.
- The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves continues to be to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Further detail which may be of interest for parents and carers is available on the following websites:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan
https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
As you would expect, we are busy making contingency plans for any possible future moment in time when schools may be closed- in the event of this happening, we would dedicate a new section of our website to learning materials for our students to access from home. These would be accessible from phones as well as computers. You will also be aware from our regular communication that our safeguarding team work around the clock and through the holidays to support families during non-school hours- please continue to use the details below where necessary:
The Edge Safeguarding Team – [email protected]
Adam Smith (Designated Safeguarding Lead and Vice Principal) – [email protected]
Childrens’ Services 0121 303 1888
NSPCC 0808 800 5000
In addition, we are “going over and above” in terms of preventative measures in school by doing the following:
- Increasing the hours spent on general cleaning of the building.
- Increasing the frequency of toilet monitoring checks and ensuring that soap is available at all times. We are also awaiting delivery of additional hand sanitiser supplies next week which will be available as well as soap.
- Increasing the frequency of cleaning shared items (e.g. door handles and eating tables) with anti-bacterial materials.
- Openly talking to all students about the latest “Coronavirus” news in form time, Lifeskills and Science lessons.
- Reducing physical contact with students and visitors by adopting a “no-handshake” policy- please do not be offended by this and do not think we are being unfriendly!
Finally, I would also be grateful if you could all check that we have your most up to date contact details so that we can continue to communicate with you all quickly and effectively. Don’t forget that as always, alongside any paper copies of letters and mobile phone texts, we post all of our latest news on the following social media platforms:
www.twitter.com/edgenorthfield
www.facebook.com/edgeacademynorthfield
www.instagram.com/theedgeacademynorthfield
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecMYPWTNC-DYEbioHbBFvA
If you have any further questions or anxieties regarding this letter, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]
Yours faithfully,
Andrew Wakefield
Principal