COVID-19 (coronavirus)

Information for Families, Carers and Staff

 Updates

The wider opening of secondary schools from 15 June 2020

We are looking forward to welcoming back our Year 10 and 12 students from 15 June to support them with their on-line learning. We will also continue to take vulnerable students  and children of key workers in all year groups. We want all those on site to fell safe and secure so we have carried out a comprehensive risk assessment and put in place a wide variety of measures to ensure good hygiene and social distancing.

Risk Assessment

Guide to risk assessment rankings

Free School Meals – The National Voucher Scheme

Families who have children eligible for free school meals should have received, last week, a text or email from Wonde.com about supermarket vouchers. Since then, the Department for Education has set up the National Voucher Scheme and promised to fund free school meals during the Easter Holiday. The school has signed up to the scheme and vouchers ordered for the next three weeks. They are funded at £15 per eligible child. The vouchers can only be received by email. If you think that we may not hold an up to date email address, can you please let us know by emailing admin@the-elmgreen-school.org.uk. We will also be texting families to check. Emails will come from Edenred. Please check you inbox and junk/spam folders as well.

Unfortunately, due to the huge demand the company organising the vouchers on behalf of the Department for Education, have not yet sent out the voucher codes. We are hoping these will arrive by the end of this week.

Further information about the National Voucher Scheme can be found here

What we are doing

We know families and carers will be concerned about the potential impact of COVID-19 on our students and the wider community and we are continuing to monitor the situation as it develops. As of 13 March we  entered the Delay phase of management at national level.

Government has decided that schools will remain open and we are doing all we can to keep students and staff safe and well.  This however is a situation that is evolving rapidly and our response may need to change at short notice. We will keep you informed through this web page, text, email, Instagram  and our twitter feed. We continue to follow the advice and guidance given by Public Health England and the Department for Education.

We have put the following in place:

• Alerted staff and students to the need for hand washing through posters around the school and information in tutor time
• Greater access to hand washing facilities
• Hand washing for all students at the start of the school day
• Enhanced cleaning of toilets and touch surfaces
• Reiterated to students our ‘no hands’ policy (social distancing)
• Placing unwell students waiting to go home in the Partnership Room where an appropriate distance can be maintained
• Cancellation of assemblies
• Cancellation of parents’ evenings and meetings
• Cancellation of sports fixtures
• Cancellation of the trips to Athens and Krakow

Self Isolation

The guidance published was updated on 16 March (link here)  and  states that anyone with a new continuous cough and/or a temperature (of above 37.8C) and who lives alone should self-isolate for seven days. If you are living with someone who has symptoms then all those living in the same household should also self isolate for fourteen days. You do not need to call 111 to go into self-isolation. If symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after seven days, you are advised to contact NHS111 online (www.111.nhs.uk  ) If your child requires self-isolation you must let us know immediately; we will do everything we can to support.

If a student or member of staff at The Elmgreen School is confirmed as being infected with COVID-19

The school continues to not have any confirmed cases of COVID -19. At the moment we have a significant proportion of the staff who are self-isolating because they or family members have symptoms or who have an underlying medical condition. We also have a similar proportion of the student population whose families are doing exactly the same.

As a precaution we have had deep cleans done of the classrooms where staff have had suspected symptoms. We have done this to make the school as safe as we possibly can. Without any national system of testing this is the very best that we can do.

If we receive confirmation that one of our students or staff has been infected with COVID-19, we will contact 111 / Public Health England. We will act on the advice given and undertake a risk assessment. In most cases, closure of the school will not be necessary, but this will be a decision made in line with advice on a case by case basis.

School Closure

The government has confirmed that schools will close at the end of the school day on Friday 20 March until further notice.

We have put the following in place

1. Parents and carers  informed of arrangements via email, the website, Twitter, Instagram and text.
2. Students  informed of the decision to close and of the arrangements for remote teaching and learning.
3. Setting electronically and in hard copy where needed. Students will be expected to complete work at home and engage fully with their education.
4. Providing care for vulnerable students and children of key workers ( we will update this when the government issues its definition of key workers)
5. Provide  a meal to all our students entitled to a free school meal between 11.45 and 12.30 each school day.
6. Regularly update this page with any additional information and any arrangements for reopening the school.

We will have limited cover in the school office, but our phone lines will be open during office hours. Reception will not be open and   we would discourage visits in person to the school. If  our lines are busy o please use the web form at the bottom of this page to contact us. Please allow 24 hours for a response.

External Examinations

GCSE and A Level examinations will  not take place for 2020 and there will be no school league tables. Many students and families will understandably be concerned about how they will get the qualifications needed to move onto the next phase of education or employment. The Department for Education and OFQUAL have brought  forward proposals on how grades will be awarded. The statement is available by using the link below

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/further-details-on-exams-and-grades-announced

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020

Trips, visits and events

We have already followed Department for Education Guidance and cancelled the trip to Athens due to depart on 26 March. We will keep the visits to Naples and Poland under review and rely on any advice from the Department and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about overseas travel. There current advice is available here.

At this stage the Department are not advising against trips and visits within the UK. We will keep this under review and assess any risk that might be present if trip goes ahead.

Parents’ evenings and meetings have been cancelled.

Meetings of the Board of Trustees, its committees and the Governing Body have been cancelled.

Further information and support

Government guidance on COVID-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/topical-events/coronavirus-covid-19-uk-government-response

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

Guidance for education settings

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19

Education resources

https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/resources/campaigns/101-coronavirus-/resources

https://campaignresources.phe.gov.uk/schools

Department for Education social media

https://twitter.com/educationgovuk

https://www.facebook.com/educationgovuk/

DfE Advice line (8am-6pm Monday to Friday) 0800 046 8687

Lambeth Council

https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/elections-and-council/about-lambeth/coronavirus-covid-19-information

For enquiries related to COVID-19 please use the enquiry form below putting COVID-19 in the subject line. Please allow 24 hours for a reply.