Dear Parents and Carers,

Update on School Systems and COVID safety

As you may have seen/heard Prof Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance gave a live TV address about the spread of the virus - and what could happen over the next few months. There has been much speculation about further lockdowns and potential implications for schools, this is merely a guessing game. I can assure you that we are doing all that we can to ensure that:

A) all of our families are safe from cross-contamination of potential illnesses including COVID-19 and

B) we are providing the best quality education and interventions that we can to maintain the positive momentum and progress in learning for all of our pupils.

The key points from the scientists address this morning were:

• The virus is now increasing across the majority of the country. "So this is not someone else's problem, this is all of our problem," said Prof Whitty

At the King Alfred Federation we have put in place all that we can to reduce risks and to increase social distancing between ‘bubbles’. In school this is going incredibly well. At the end of the day we need YOU to help us to maintain these high standards:

 YOU MUST KEEP 2metre SPACING BETWEEN FAMILIES
 Reduce the number of adults on site- One adult per household to collect from this week please (Mum, please leave Nan/Dad/Aunt etc across the road OR even better at home with the younger siblings if possible)
 Please do not take advantage of the staff on the gate by chatting to them whilst on duty, we are putting our families at risk by policing the gate, we are there to welcome and protect the children. If you need to talk to someone please phone!

• It's a "six-month problem that we have to deal with collectively," said Prof Whitty. He said the seasons are against us with autumn and winter benefiting viruses like Covid

We acknowledge that our children / we are all likely to get ill over the winter months (we normally do)! So we are asking that you take responsibility for your child’s care especially in the intial/most crucial 24-48 hours. If your child has a seasonal cold please keep them at home for a day to monitor their symptoms, you know your child better than us so will be able to monitor things like temperature and the severity of coughs. If they are okay they can return to school the next day, if you’re unsure please give us a call and we can talk it through.

Norovirus is on its way so if your child has diarrhoea and/or sickness please keep them off of school until 48hours AFTER their last episode.

• The virus is not milder now than in April. Prof Whitty said some people have been saying this - but there's no evidence for it.

All of the systems that we have brought in and all of the requests that we are making are for a reason. The last time the statistics around Coronovirus were this high we were operating as a school for 50 children, most of your families were safe at home, controlling the spread and doing what was necessary. We now have to face this pandemic in the real world, not in the comfort of our homes and the only way that we can do this is TOGETHER.

From today you will see more staff wearing visors/masks at the beginning and end of the day. We are not wearing them throughout the day but we are wearing them to protect each other from potential harm.

As I said last week, we do not have any confirmed cases at our school (yet) but I am guessing that it is only a matter of time before we do. When that time comes I know that our staff can say that we have done all that we can to reduce the risks of transmission in our community… my question is: Can you say the same?

HANDS- FACE –SPACE

Thank you for your continued support at this difficult time, please take care of yourselves and your families.

Yours sincerely,

Mrs Nathalie Dummer