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Last Day of Term - December 2020

You will be aware that Government announced yesterday a flexibility for schools to allocate Friday 18th December as a teacher training day. The rationale for this is to reduce the timeframe needed for possible contact tracing that stretches into the Christmas break and the consequent impact on families and school staff.

This is a welcome step, and we as a Trust will therefore be adjusting our end of term plans. The end of term will now be Thursday 17th December.

Covid-19 Symptoms / End of Term We are now in a timeframe where, should a 14 day isolation be necessary this will impact on the Christmas holidays. We have been asked by some parents if their child can access remote learning in the last week of term. Whilst this is an entirely sensible request, schools have been firmly instructed by Government not to allow this, despite schools pointing out both the logic of it and the potential impact on public health. In essence, all pupils are expected to attend school until the last day of term unless they have been instructed to isolate as a contact of a positive case or are otherwise unwell.

We are all familiar with the 3 main coronavirus symptoms:

  • A high temperature
  • A new and continuous cough
  • A loss of smell or taste

If your child is exhibiting any of these, they must not attend school and you should arrange a test for them. With the approach of the Christmas holidays, I feel it is worth raising awareness of the secondary, or pre-covid, symptoms of covid-19.
These are:

  • A shortness of breath
  • A loss of appetite
  • Muscle aches
  • A sore throat
  • A persistent headache
  • Nasal congestion
  • Diarrhoea, nausea and/ or vomiting

Clearly, these are often simply a cold or a tummy upset, and we have seen a great many of these during the term that are exactly that and are not coronavirus. However, we ask that you maintain high vigilance in the next 10 days and if you have any doubt please do not send your child to school, and instead book a test. In this way we will prevent any late spread of the virus that would impact on Christmas plans for us all. In many cases we are seeing a rapid return of tests, often within 24 hours, so if that continues the impact on schooling will be minimised. Thank you for your co-operation with this in order that we can keep the community safe.

Yours faithfully,

Geraint Roberts                                                       Rosie Shorter
Executive Headteacher & CEO                         Chair
The Spire CE Learning Trust                              The Spire CE Learning Trust

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