NEW Coronavirus update 18 March 2020

UPDATE 18th March 2020
Coronavirus Update – 2.00pm, March 18th 2020

Dear Parent / Carer,

All schools have just received information from Welsh Government regarding closure as a result of the spread of coronavirus.

This school will be closed for years 7, 8 and 9 from 3.00pm Wednesday 18th March 2020.

This school will remain open for years 10, 11, 12 and 13 until 3.00pm on Thursday 19th March 2020.
This will allow us to provide optimal preparation before closure.

The main method for distribution of work for all year groups to complete at home is the ’’Google Classroom’’ platform.

Further information will follow as it is received by the school.

For students in Years 10, 11, 12 and 13 please continue to follow national guidance in relation to self isolation.

National Guidance

UK guidance for schools was updated Monday to include the following information:

– Staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others.
– If staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they will be sent home.

Whilst we currently have no confirmed cases of COVID-19, we continue to follow the guidance above.

In addition, main messages arising include:

– If you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started. (See ending isolation section for more information)
– If you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.
– It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community.
– For anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period. (See ending isolation section for more information.)

We appreciate your ongoing patience, support and understanding at this challenging time.

Yours sincerely

A Slade

Update 17.03.20
Currently the school remains open as normal. If your child is displaying symptoms of coronavirus please follow Government advice.
If your child becomes unwell whilst in school you will be contacted in order to come and collect your child immediately. At this point you will again need to follow Government guidelines.
Staff are currently uploading materials to Google Classroom to support pupils who are not in school for any reason. Access codes were distributed to all pupils on Monday 16th March 2020.
Please check the school website regularly for any future updates.

Previous updates

Coronavirus update(Covid-19)from the Director of Education BCBC

Dear Parent/Carer
Coronavirus (Covid-19)
Bridgend County Borough Council’s primary concern is for the safety of children in our schools and we will continue to act in their best interests. While the situation regarding coronavirus is developing quickly, please be assured that the local authority is working closely with schools, Public Health Wales and Welsh Government in order to implement any necessary measures to protect pupils, staff and visitors from the spread of coronavirus. While there are currently no identified cases in Bridgend, your child’s school is following specific advice issued by Welsh Government in relation to the management of coronavirus in schools.

National advice, as of today (12 March 2020), remains very much a case of ’business as usual’, but I wanted to reassure you that the local authority is closely monitoring developments, both locally and nationally. In this respect, the local authority is currently developing a strategy to ensure that effective plans and resources are in place to respond appropriately to this changing situation.
For information, there is a range of advice available to the public on the Public Health Wales, Welsh Government and UK Government websites in relation to coronavirus.
In addition, more specific advice for parents and carers can be found on the Public Health Wales website and I would encourage you to access this routinely. Further general advice in relation to travel to or from the UK can also be found on the website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).

In the meantime, your support as parents/carers is critical to our strategy to fight the spread of coronavirus. I can only reiterate that the best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus through good hygiene.

Therefore, please advise your child to wash their hands:
– before leaving home;
– on arrival at school;
– after using the toilet;
– before food preparation;
– after breaks and sporting activities;
– before eating any food, including snacks;
– before leaving school; and
– on returning home from school.

Please also advise your children to:

– avoid touching their eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands; and
– avoid close contact with people who are unwell.

If you are worried that your child may be symptomatic for coronavirus, please call NHS Direct Wales on 0845 46 47 or 111. Do not go directly to your GP or other healthcare environment.

Please be assured once again that the local authority is taking all possible steps to respond to this situation.
Yours sincerely
L. I. Harvey
Lindsay Iorwerth Harvey (Mr)
Corporate Director – Education and Family Support