Dear Parents and Carers, 

Following government guidelines changing over the break we wanted to remind you of the changes and offer guidance on what to do in relation to Covid and School Policy. 

Key actions we need to take to keep ourselves and our school community safe

• Get vaccinated
• Get boosted 
• Continue to test regularly – with lateral flow tests
• Wear face coverings in communal areas and when advised / appropriate to do so
• Wear face coverings on public and school transport
• Maximise ventilation
• Maintain good hygiene – wash hands with soap and water or use hand sanitiser
• Self-isolate if not well with covid symptoms, and get PCR test ASAP
• Self-isolate if asked by NHS Test and Trace

Attendance and Remote Education

Attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. This means it is your legal duty as a parent to send your child to school regularly. 

If you have concerns about your child attending, you should discuss these with the school.

School will provide remote education for school-aged children who are unable to attend school due

to follow government guidance or law relating to COVID-19 (for example if they need to self-isolate, or if they have tested positive but are well enough to learn from home). This may be paper based or online based learning activities. 

Face Coverings

In school we ask that all staff, visitors and parents that are inside of school wear a face covering when in communal areas, unless you are medically exempt. Health advice continues to be that children in infant schools should not be asked to wear face coverings.

Tracing close contacts and isolation

Education settings are not undertaking contact tracing. Close contacts will now be identified via NHS Test and Trace. This is likely to be a small number of individuals who would be most at risk of contracting COVID-19 due to the nature of the close contact.

From 14 December 2021, adults who are fully vaccinated and all children and young people aged between 5 and 18 years and 6 months identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19 are strongly advised to take a LFD test every day for 7 days and continue to attend their setting as normal, unless they have a positive test result.

Daily testing of close contacts applies to all contacts who are:

• fully vaccinated adults – people who have had 2 doses of an approved vaccine
• all children and young people aged 5 to 18 years and 6 months, regardless of their vaccination status
• people who are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons
• people taking part, or have taken part, in an approved clinical trial for a COVID-19 vaccine

Children under 5 years are exempt from self-isolation and do not need to take part in daily testing of close contacts.

Further information is available through these links:

NHS Test and Trace: what to do if you are contacted 

Stay at home: guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection

Outbreak Management Plan

The school has an outbreak management plan in place outlining how it would operate if the number of positive cases substantially increases within school. 

Financial support to care for a child who is self-isolating. 

You may be eligible for a one-off Test and Trace Support Payment of £500 from the local authority if your child has been advised to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace. Further information on claiming financial support under the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme is available. Claiming financial support under the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme

Symptoms and Testing

Parents and other visitors are strongly advised to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test before entering the school.

From 11 January in England, people who receive positive lateral flow device (LFD) test results for coronavirus (COVID-19) will be required to self-isolate immediately and won’t be required to take a confirmatory PCR test. This is a temporary measure while COVID-19 rates remain high across the UK. Whilst levels of COVID-19 are high, the vast majority of people with positive LFD results can be confident that they have COVID-19. Further information can be found; Positive rapid lateral flow test results.

If you have a positive PCR test please follow the below 

As a school we would like to thank you for your continued support through this difficult time. 

Mrs Lythe

Business Manager 

#WeAreCarcroft