17^th March 2020

Dear Parents

This letter is to advise you of some of the short term changes we are making to procedures in school to minimise the spread of COVID-19 as much as we can.

Our Lady’s Catholic Primary School is open and will remain open so long as DfE and Public Health England’s guidance is to do so and as long as I have staff that are healthy enough to work. You will appreciate that I have a duty of care to all children at our school but also to my staff, who have families of their own to consider. Any decisions made are therefore to safeguard the whole school community.

• First, if your child presents with ANY symptoms we will phone you and ask for immediate collection from school along with any siblings (we are not diagnosing but must follow NHS protocols at this time to minimise exposure)
• Pupils absence will be monitored slightly differently and Mr Ratcliffe will update this information in due course following Birmingham City Council Directives
• All children will wash their hands as soon as they come in to school, at break time, before lunch and after lunch and when they use the bathroom as usual (we recommend you use the same procedures at home)
• Lunchtimes have been staggered to reduce numbers of children in the hall on the two playgrounds at any one time
• We have cancelled all assemblies so that we reduce gatherings. Classes will maintain collective worship in classrooms
• After school activities have been cancelled until further notice
• Mass celebrations will take place in line with the Cardinal’s directive and arrangements with the parish priest. We will keep you informed of decisions regarding Mass and the Sacrament of First Holy Communion (which is still scheduled at present but may be subject to change)
• Visits by external agencies have been reduced or cancelled to avoid anybody inadvertently bringing the virus with them
• Non-urgent meetings with staff have been postponed while they manage the current situation
• Swimming and out of school visits for pupils have been cancelled until further notice
• We recommend parents think carefully about who is dropping off or collecting their children from school – if they are parents or anyone with underlying health conditions you may decide the school run is not as safe as it should be for the time being

We do not know what the Prime Minister is planning in terms of school closures. It is not for us to speculate this will or won’t happen. We will continue to provide the best education we can. In the event of closure, we will notify parents of arrangements for learning at home and ongoing communication with staff.

I know that these are unchartered times but it is important that you work with us to make sensible and responsible decisions about the welfare of the whole school and parish community. We appreciate your understanding about the scale of organising taking place in all schools at the moment. If you have any questions please see our dedicated information page for Coronavirus on the school website https://www.ourladys.bham.sch.uk/coronavirus-advice-information/

If you/your family is self-isolating it is extremely important you make school aware through our absence procedures. Advice for self-isolation is being updated regularly by the government and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

All household members are now required to self-isolate if one member has symptoms and must do so for 14days. Please see the government advice for other factors.

Yours sincerely,

V McDonald

Miss McDonald