I am worried about my child’s health – do they have to come to school?

School is currently open for all year groups and therefore we require all pupils and students who are not showing symptoms of Coronavirus, and those who do not have any members of their household who are showing symptoms, to attend school. As of 18/03/2020, we do not have any members of staff or pupils who have tested positive for COVID-19.

If your child has a pre-existing medical condition, or if there is a member of your household (who the child lives with) who is vulnerable, that you are worried about, please refer to this page or call NHS 111 for advice as to whether your child should come into school. Please ensure to contact us to let us know if an absence needs to be recorded.

What symptoms should I look out for and what do I do if my child has them?

Symptoms of COVID-19 are a high temperature (37.8 or above) and a new, persistent cough. If a pupil or student begins to show symptoms in school, we will contact you and require you to collect your child immediately. In the interest of helping to protect our pupils, students and staff, we would appreciate a swift response from parents/carers in this situation.

If these symptoms arise with your child, the child will need to self-isolate for 7 days and  it is important all members of your household self-isolate for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. For anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.

If you feel you cannot cope with the symptoms at home, the symptoms last longer than 7 days or the symptoms get worse, you should contact the NHS online service or call 111. For medical emergencies, call 999. Further guidance on self-isolation can be found here.

What does self-isolation mean?

All household members should remain at home. You must not go to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transport or taxis.

If possible, you should not go out even to buy food or other essentials, other than exercise, and in that case at a safe distance from others. If you require help with buying groceries, other shopping or picking up medication, or walking a dog, you should ask friends or relatives. Alternatively, you can order medication by phone or online and order your shopping online.

What happens to my child’s education whilst they self-isolate?

Self-isolation has already begun for some pupils and students. For those who are well but self-isolating due to a member of the household showing symptoms, it is extremely important they continue to complete class work.

Teachers will be monitoring work completed via Class Dojo, Classcharts and Google Classroom on a daily basis and will follow up on any pupils or students not completing this work.

Will school close?

We are currently following guidance from DfE and making appropriate plans, should the guidance change for us to partially or fully close school. All parents/carers have been contacted via email to advise of what to do if the school closes to pupils/students and/or staff, and that class work will be accessible via Class Dojo (EYFS-Year 2) or Google Classroom and Classcharts (Year 3-13). Pupils and students in Year 6-Year 13 must also check their QEGS school email addresses regularly.

The Coronavirus information page on the school website is updated each time a whole-school email is sent. If we receive any change in the current guidance, we will communicate this to our school community as quickly as possible.

What should I do to protect my children and myself from Coronavirus?

You should ensure that everyone in your household practices good hygiene, including regularly washing your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water, or if this is not available, use hand sanitiser. To reduce the spread of germs, sneeze into a tissue and dispose of it immediately.

Clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces using regular cleaning products to help reduce the risk of passing on the infection.

For more information Public Health England and Government offer daily updates via this page.

Where can I get more information?

We are updating our school website on a regular basis with guidance specific to pupils and students at QEGS.

To see the latest guidance from Public Health England and the Government, click here.