Please see the letter below from Amanda Healy (Director of Public Health for County Durham).

DPH letter

Public Health England have produced a letter for schools to distribute to parents which explains when a person requires a coronavirus test and what the symptoms of coronavirus are.

The intention of the letter is to help prevent children being taken out of school unnecessarily and answer some of the questions parents may have around testing.

23rd September – PHE letter to parents and guardians

Will your child turn 5 between 1 September 2021 and 31 August 2022? If so, please see the poster below for further information about applying for a school place.

2021 Poster

Please see the infographic below to help you decide what to do if your child is unwell.

Please see the documents below for further information about local and national services that provide support for mental health and emotional issues.

MHES for children, young people and families

MHES for adults

Public Health England launches Every Mind Matters campaign

Most families have experienced upheaval in their daily lives during the pandemic. With children and young people now back at school or college, the new Public Health England (PHE) Better Health – Every Mind Matters campaign provides NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and equip parents and carers with the knowledge to support them.

The new advice available on the Every Mind Matters website has been developed in partnership with leading children and young people’s mental health charities, including Young Minds, The Mix, Place2Be and The Anna Freud Centre. It is designed to help parents and carers spot the signs that children may be struggling with their mental health and support them, and also provides advice that can help maintain good mental wellbeing. The site also provides tools to help young people build resilience and equips them to look after their mental wellbeing.

It was lovely to see all the children back in school today. They are settling in well and adjusting to our new routines with smiles on their faces.

Thank you to all of our parents and carers for your support in helping make today a success. We really appreciate your patience and understanding as we adapt to our new normal.

We may not get everything right over the coming weeks and months but please rest assured that we are all doing our very best to ensure that we provide the education your children deserve while minimising the risk to our entire school community.

Take care and stay safe.

Mr Kirtley (Headteacher)

As already mentioned in the reminder message posted last week, the information in the update letter published at the end of summer term – in relation to the procedures for the start of the new school year – still stands. In addition to this please note the following updates:

School bus

• Information in relation to home to school transport has been provided by the local authority when sending out bus passes. If you have not received this information, it can be found here.

Children/Staff showing possible coronavirus symptoms (isolation period extended from 7 to 10 days)

• Ensuring that pupils, staff and other adults do not come into the school if they have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptomsor have tested positive in at least the last 10 days and ensuring anyone developing those symptoms during the school day is sent home, are essential actions to reduce the risk in schools and further drive down transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).
• If anyone in the school becomes unwell with a new and persistent cough or a high temperature, or has a loss of or change in, their normal sense of taste or smell (anosmia), they must be sent home and advised to follow guidance for households with possible or confirmed coronavirus (COVID-19) infection, which sets out that they should self-isolate for at least 10 days and should arrange to have a testto see if they have coronavirus (COVID-19).
• If they have tested positive whilst not experiencing symptoms but develop symptoms during the isolation period, they should restart the 10-day isolation period from the day they develop symptoms.
• Other members of their household (including any siblings) should self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptomatic person first had symptoms.

PE kits

• In a change to the usual arrangements, we will be asking that the children come to school in their PE kit on their PE day. There will be no PE lessons this week and class teachers will provide further information about these new arrangements in their class newsletters.

Items from home

• The only items that the children will be required to bring to school are a water bottle and a packed lunch (if required). All resources needed by the children for their lessons will be provided by school. Please ensure all other items are left at home. We will provide an update about reading books and homework once the children have settled back into school.

Class 4 update

• During the lockdown period a damp issue was discovered in the cloakroom and toilet area of Class 4. Some remedial work has been undertaken over the summer break to remove the affected material and make the area safe. However, as an extended drying out period is required before the remaining work can be completed, the toilet and cloakroom area will not be in use until after the half-term holiday at the earliest. In the meantime, the children will be able to access alternative facilities in school which will be for the sole use of Class 4.

I hope you have all had a lovely summer break.

Just a reminder that school reopens (to all children in all year groups) on Thursday 3 September 2020.

The information in the update letter published at the end of summer term – in relation to the procedures for the start of the new school year – still stands. However as further information from the DfE and LA continues to arrive on a regular basis, it may be necessary for me to provide you with a further update before the start of term.

Please enjoy the summer bank holiday weekend.

Take care and stay safe.

Mr Kirtley (Headteacher)

As we head into the summer holidays, we wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that Coronavirus is still with us and there are some very simple steps we can all take to help keep each other safe and healthy.

We want to encourage all of our families to have fun together during the holidays, in the (hopefully) warmer weather. But please remember you should still be:

• Washing your hands for 20 seconds regularly – it’s one of the best ways to protect yourself and encourage your children too
• Using hand sanitiser (at least 60% alcohol) if soap and water aren’t available
• Staying 2m apart where possible or 1m with additional measures such as, wearing a face covering, being behind a screen, not talking face-to-face. When you are in businesses/public premises follow the advice on site
• Trying not to touch your face (mouth, nose, eyes) with your hands
• Using a tissue if you cough or sneeze, then bin it and wash your hands. If you don’t have a tissue use the crook of your arm. Catch it, Bin it, Kill it!

We know that there is still some confusion around Coronavirus so we thought the following points might be helpful:

What are the main symptoms?

• A temperature
• A new and persistent cough
• Loss of sense of taste or smell

What should you do if you have symptoms?

• Self-isolate immediately
• Get tested – you must do this within the first five days of having symptoms

How do I get tested?

• You can book a test online at https://www.nhs.uk/ask-for-a-coronavirus-test
• Or you can call 119 and book over the phone

What is self-isolation?

If you are self-isolating because you have symptoms/have been diagnosed, someone in your household or support bubble has symptoms/has been diagnosed or you have been asked to by the NHS Test &Trace team, then you should stay at home.

• Don’t go out to work / school / public places (if you can work from home that is ok)
• Don’t go shopping even for food/medicine
• Don’t use public transport or taxis
• Don’t have visitors
• Don’t go out to exercise (you can do this in your home or garden)

The County Durham Together Community Hub is there to help you with everything from getting food or medication as well as advice about managing financially and ways to continue looking after your physical and mental health while in isolation. You can find out more details here: http://www.durham.gov.uk/covid19help

Following these simple steps will help stop the spread of Coronavirus. Remember your symptoms can be mild, so you could be spreading the virus without knowing it. You have the power to help keep your family, friends and loved ones safe.