Dear Parents/Carers,
I thought that it might be easier to write a post to explain procedures for bubble closures after reading some of the posts on Facebook and trying to respond to each query on an individual basis.
When we have a positive test result, in tonight’s case, it’s the lateral flow tests, we ask the member of staff to consider who they have had close contact with. Close contact is a tricky concept but it’s taken from the government guidance and when you ring Public Health, they give the same message. This is outlined in the paragraph below.
- anyone who lives in the same household as another person who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive for COVID-19
- anyone who has had any of the following types of contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19:
- face-to-face contact including being coughed on or having a face-to-face conversation within one metre
- been within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact
- been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact, or added up together over one day)
Within a school context, this is usually the staff and pupils within their bubble as they might work closely/sit next to a pupil in their class at some point that day and tend to sit within 2m of each other throughout the day.
Some of you have questioned that pupils from more than one bubble have mixed during the last week. This only ever tends to be for RWI for most pupils as it’s really important that the children read a book which is the right level for them to read. So, for example, we have some Y2s in with Y3s but they sit 2m apart from the other year group and only have close contact with the member of staff from their own bubble. So, in Y2, the Y2 member of staff has contact with the Y2 children and the member of staff who has tested positive teaches from the front, which is 2m away from those Y2 pupils. The Y3 member of staff in this bubble works with their pupils but not anybody else.
The nature of reading allows us to keep our distance as we can get the children to read aloud without getting close to them. With Reading groups, we think carefully about the size of the room, so that the children can sit 2m apart from pupils from another bubble too. We spend a significant amount of time planning reading groups to ensure we teach children at the level they need whilst maintaining social distancing measures.
For any pupils that require close contact in Reading to support them to access the reading lesson (this is the odd one or two), we send a member of staff from their bubble to sit next to them, so that the other adult doesn’t have to get close to them.
Our staff know to keep 2m distance from pupils who are not in their own bubble as this then does not warrant isolation and reduces the number of pupils being asked to isolate if we have a positive staff case.
In addition, children take their own pencils with them from their own bubble and then their tables are wiped down afterwards. They share a book with someone from their own bubble, so do not share any equipment with another bubble.
I thought it might also be useful to share how the guidance works using another scenario as I understand it’s not an easy concept to get our heads around. When I contracted C-19 and did my track and trace with public health/NHS England, I had met with 6 adults during the 2 days before (during the period of transmission) and when I did my track and trace, these adults were not contacted to isolate because we were sat 2m apart at all times, even though some of the meetings were quite long. Contact tracing does not pick up cases where they have been 2m apart. In addition, none of these 6 adults contracted the infection, so I have good faith that the 2m ruling does on the whole seem to work the vast majority of the time (not always, but from what we have found, it’s fairly accurate).
Regarding staff crossing bubbles, we do try and ensure that staff do not cross bubbles, however, there are times when we have to utilise staff to go into another bubble to cover absence/staff days off and to keep children safe in terms of staff/pupil ratios and also for any pupils whom require additional support such as with their social, emotional and mental health needs etc. However, again, we know which staff have been where and can then inform track and trace as required. Staff know that if they go into another bubble, they should not have contact with another member of staff, as our policy is to maintain 2m distance.
We have looked at who the two members of staff with positive LFD tests have had contact with and believe that we have contacted the people whom they believe to have had close contact with. However, if the members of staff think of anybody else, we can ensure that these people are informed too if we have missed anyone.
We do understand that for parents, it’s a bit of a minefield, however, myself and Mrs Lythe have worked with Public Health and C-19 guidance for 12 months now and do believe that we have a secure understanding of what the guidance means. In particular, within school, we ensure that as much as possible, we try and stick to the 2m ruling for staff -staff and for any pupils that for whatever reason are required to work in another group, as explained for reading.
I have noted that a parent has shared that their child has been sent to work in another class for a different reason, again, the child will be seated 2m away from the others and the Teacher will ensure that they do not have close contact with that pupil. If they have, then they would let us know about this.
Regarding siblings, guidance states that it’s only children who have had the close contact with the positive LFD case who has to isolate. If your child starts to show symptoms, it’s at that point that the sibling along with the rest of the family would isolate. Again, it’s a confusing concept, but not everyone who comes into contact with a positive case contracts the virus. For example, my partner did not contract the virus despite me having it and us living in the same household.
I do understand that it’s a tricky concept, however, we do believe that we have contacted all those who have been classed as having potential close contact with the two potential positive cases this evening.
However, if you do wish for your child to isolate as a precaution, then this is your decision to do so- please let the office know.
As a school we are working extremely hard to try and educate pupils at the right level for them in order to help them to catch up after missing chunks of their education whilst also trying to ensure that we do our best to minimise chance of transmission. However, there are unfortunately going to be occasions when the virus does make it’s way into school and staff/pupils may unfortunately contract it. All we can do, is minimise this by implementing social distancing measures as outlined above including the 2m ruling and sticking to bubbles for as much of the day as possible.
If, after reading this post, you still have any questions or queries, please may I ask that you contact myself and Mrs Lythe via email and we will try and get back to you at some point. Please can we ask that parents refrain from commenting on Facebook as it becomes a really challenging task managing the feed and given it’s a Friday evening, I would really appreciate it if parents contacted us on a 1:1 basis instead as this is much easier for me to manage. However, we are here to help via email so please do not hesitate to get in touch if you need anything.
I hope that this is helpful in trying to explain the guidance and reassure parents that we really are trying our absolute best to get the balance right between educating our pupils whilst playing our part in slowing down the virus in terms of transmission.
Thank you for your co-operation and understanding during this time.
Miss Laing
Headteacher