Reinforcing COVIDSafe Behaviours

It is wonderful to have everyone back at school! We all need to play our part to ensure that we keep our school community a safe and healthy environment.

The most important action school communities can take to reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19, is to ensure that any unwell staff and students remain at home and get tested, even with the mildest of symptoms.

Remember we can all slow the spread of COVID-19 by following these simple rules :

social distancing
face masks
hand and respiratory hygiene
avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
disinfecting surfaces
increasing the amount fresh air by opening windows

Students and staff with underlying conditions (such as hay fever or asthma)

If a student or staff member has persistent symptoms due to an underlying condition such as hay fever or asthma, the student should still be tested for COVID-19 if they develop symptoms that are different to or worse than their usual symptoms.

Parents/carers and staff should also consider getting a medical certificate from their treating GP to confirm that it is safe for them to attend school with persistent symptoms that may overlap with some of the symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough or runny nose.

Children with asthma should ensure they keep up to date with their prescribed preventative medications from their doctor. If there are changes to your child's asthma plan, please forward this to the school to ensure we support your child's health needs appropriately.

Young children with persistent mild symptoms

Younger children (pre-school up to Grade 2) may have prolonged post-viral symptoms such as a runny nose or cough and may return to school following a negative COVID-19 test even if they are not completely free of symptoms. They will need a medical certificate from their GP to confirm they are otherwise well or have recovered from their acute illness.

Any worsening of symptoms will require review and repeat COVID-19 testing, if considered appropriate by the doctor.

Please contact me at any time if you have concerns regarding your child's health to discuss best practice and management.

Students with a negative COVID-19 test whose symptoms have completely resolved do not need a medical certificate to return to the school.

For further information for parents regarding the responsibilities we all have can be found :

Managing illness in schools and early childhood services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to remember that if your child becomes unwell with

COVID-19 symptoms whilst at school,

you will be contacted and asked to get them tested and collect them immediately.

The symptoms to watch out for are:

fever
chills or sweats
cough
sore throat
shortness of breath
runny nose
loss or change in sense of smell or taste

A huge thank you to all our parents for continuing to adhere to these guidelines and keeping our school COVIDSafe.

Kind regards,

Cecile

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