4th September 2020
Dear Parents,
Welcome back! We made it!
Since our return things have been going very well. We have taken to the small but significant changes with aplomb, and the children have done so very well coping with it all.
Our new infants are settling well, and have already become a special chapter in our school’s story.
We have some updates below to keep you informed:
Sick Children
Sick children cannot be sent to school if they display any symptoms similar to COVID-19. These include;
- Sore throat,
- Temperature,
- Shortness of breath,
- Loss of sense of taste or small,
- Cough
If a child presents with these symptoms at school we must send the child home, and ask you to contact their GP. The GP will then inform you of the next steps – whether or not testing is required etc.
The child can return to school once clinically well enough to do so. Your GP will advise you.
Update re Isolation Space
If a child says they are sick we will phone you. We will remove the child to an ‘isolation’ space; we have developed several spaces – inside the main door and inside the old door, as well as the ‘Doll’s House.’ We will make decisions based on where to place a child based on their class (seniors will be places at their senior door etc). We want them to feel as safe as possible, while following the guidelines.
Important – Contacting Teachers
If your child is sick and you wish to let us know, if possible please email your child’s class teacher. If you wish to speak to a teacher, please email to make an appointment in person, or over the phone. We only have two handsets in school, and they must be sanitised in-between uses. This has slowed down our ability to phone home in a timely manner, when a child has presented as sick.
In addition, teachers must be available to supervise their own classes (including sanitising and social-distancing measures) and they cannot do this when taking phonecalls. Certainly, there will be occasion to call, and we apologise for the inconvenience, however we ask you to make email your first port of call.
Professional email addresses are included in the PDF version of this letter below.
We thank you sincerely for practicing handwashing, sanitising and general preparation of the children this academic year. They were ready for the challenge!
Please note – our opening times are 9.20am-3pm, we will open the doors at 9.10am to allow the children to arrive safely. We close at 3pm and expect the children will be safely in your care by 3.10pm. This is a difficult change in our relaxed community, but our COVID-19 procedures have tightened our practices in this regard considerably.
Le Meas,
Evanna Charlton,
Principal
Errew National School 