Dear Parents/Carers,

We have been advised that there has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 within the school.

The school remains open and your child should continue to attend as normal if they remain well. Please be reassured that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness.

If your child is aged 5 years and over and has been identified as a contact of someone with COVID-19, but are not legally required to self-isolate, your child is strongly advised to:

• take an LFD test every day for 7 days,
• take this daily test before leaving the household for the first time that day

If the LFD test result is positive, your child should immediately self-isolate to prevent them from passing the infection on to other people. You should also arrange for them to have a PCR test. If this PCR test result is positive, they must self-isolate for 7 full days starting from the date the PCR test was taken.

If the PCR test result is negative, your child can stop self-isolating but you should continue to take the daily LFD tests for the remaining 7 days.

If the LFD test result is negative, it is likely that they were not infectious at the time when the test was taken.

Regular LFD tests are not recommended for children aged under 5. If they live with someone who has COVID-19 they are not legally required to self-isolate, but you should limit their contact with anyone who is at higher risk of severe illness if infected with COVID-19.

A box of seven lateral flow tests can be obtained free of charge from NHS Test and Trace either through pharmacies or home delivery by ordering online. People are encouraged to use the tests they already have at home before ordering more. Children and young people should take these tests from the day they are notified as being a contact and report their results to NHS Test and Trace on GOV.UK or by calling 119.

The school continues to carry out safety measures to minimise the risk of COVID – 19 spreading.

There are things you can do to help reduce the risk of you and anyone you live with getting ill with coronavirus (COVID-19) and further information is available at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/how-to-avoid-catching-and-spreading-coronavirus-covid-19/

Yours sincerely

John L. Hardy (Head Teacher)