Dear Parent/Carer,
At the current time COVID-19 cases in Bolton continue to be high and although case rates are not as high as other areas, cases are rising markedly in school-age children. In response to this, in line with guidance from Public Health Bolton, we will be putting the following additional measures in place from Monday, 18 October 2021. In selecting measures, we have carefully considered those which we feel will have minimal impact on education and are effective at reducing risk of transmission.
From Monday, we are strongly recommending that students (unless they are exempt) wear a face covering in all communal areas e.g. corridors/school buses. Therefore, if you wish to adhere to this guidance, from Monday, students will need to have a face covering with them each day. To avoid your child having to queue in the canteen, which is a very busy communal area, you may wish to consider providing your child with snacks or a packed lunch for the next few weeks.
In school, we will be emphasising the importance of the regular washing/sanitising of hands and we would appreciate it if you could reinforce the importance of hand hygiene to your child. Hand sanitiser points are located across the school site and can be easily accessed by students. In addition to this, we will also ensure that all areas of the building are adequately ventilated.
To support these additional protective measures, it is important that students continue to undertake twice-weekly lateral flow testing and report the results to school via TestRegister. Students will be provided with additional test kits prior to the half-term break.
If a student is a close contact of a positive Covid case, they are exempt from isolation and can attend school. However, they should carry out daily lateral flow testing for 10 days after the onset of symptoms and only attend school if their lateral flow test is negative. They are also encouraged to follow national guidance for all contacts and access a PCR test at COVID-19: guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Thank you for your ongoing support for our school. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or queries regarding this information.
Yours faithfully
A.Webster
Headteacher
