Latest News
Latest news
-
URGENT - PLEASE COMPLETE ONLINE IF POSSIBLE
Wed 18 Mar 2020 -
Virtual tours
Wed 18 Mar 2020 -
website links
Wed 18 Mar 2020 -
Information Link
Tue 17 Mar 2020https://thepenrithhub-cumbria.frogos.net/covid-19 -
Update 17th March
Tue 17 Mar 202017th March 2020
Dear Parents,
Thank you for your support during these difficult times. I would like to update you on some of the measures we are putting in place.
- 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. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal.
If one person in any household has a persistent cough or fever, everyone living there must stay at home for 14 days.
- We will continue to reinforce good hygiene and the importance of handwashing is school.
We are cleaning and disinfecting regularly touched areas.
- All assemblies have been cancelled.
- All external visitors to school will only be allowed if they have no symptoms.
- All after school clubs are suspended after tonight 17/03/20
- All swimming has been cancelled until the end of term.
- The Mother’s Day sale will still go ahead as planned but staff will help to run it, rather than inviting visitors to help.
- The egg decorating is also cancelled but children can decorate an egg at home and bring this to school for the competition.
- All meetings with parents have been cancelled and letters/ leaflets will be sent in place.
If any parents or grandparents who are collecting children are classed in the vulnerable groups, then we are happy for them to collect children at a different time in order to help them with social distancing.
We will remain open as long as the guidance says that we can. In the event of any self isolation/ social distancing or school closure – we have packs of work prepared for the children. Each pack will have a Maths and English activity and other activities for the children to complete at home. We will send an exercise book and apparatus for the children to complete their work. We will also send home log in details so children can access our online learning platforms such as: Rockstars, Accelerated Reader, Mathletics and Reading Plus.
In the even of a full closure, staff will be available via email to offer support, advice and guidance. Email addresses will be text to parents if this becomes the case.
School will support families as best we can. If at any point you feel that your family is struggling and needs support please get in touch.
I will continue to update you on a regular basis. Thank you for your understanding.
Kind regards
Mrs Sarah Jardine
- 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. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal.
-
Cumbria county council guidance
Mon 16 Mar 202016th March 2020:
Please see below letter from Cumbria County Council with the latest advice and guidance from Cumbria County Council in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-109)
Dear Parents/Carers,
Advice to schools responding to Coronavirus (COVID-19)
This is a worrying time and many of you will have concerns about how to keep your family and loved ones safe.
Last week Government changed the national approach to managing Coronavirus (COVID-19) but as yet has not provided updated guidance to schools about how to respond. While we await new Government guidance, Cumbria County Council is advising all schools in the county to take the following precautionary action.
• Remain open unless advised otherwise by Public Health England.
• Take steps to reduce contact with people outside of the school. For example, only essential visitors, stop non-essential out-of-hours meeting/gatherings, postpone school trips. Consider alternatives to parents evenings to share progress.
• In school, stop large gatherings unless educationally essential.
• Expect that some pupils and families may develop symptoms and will have to self-isolate. The school should remain open unless advised otherwise by Public Health England. There is not an expectation that schools will inform other parents in this situation.
• If staff absence means that staffing ratios become too low to operate safely, schools should close.
• Where pupils have specific vulnerabilities that put them at higher risk, particularly in Special Schools, individual risk assessments should be carried out. It may be appropriate for parents/carers to remove their child from school and self-isolate. Some parents/carers may already have done so and should be supported, Special School Head Teachers should make this recommendation to parents where risk assessments indicate this is necessary.We understand that these measures may cause disruption, but it is important to take proportionate steps to slow the potential spread of infection in communities. We would ask parents/carers to support the decisions schools are taking to keep people safe.
This is a fast developing situation and it is likely that the advice to schools may change over coming days and weeks, please be prepared to respond quickly.
Thank you for your understanding.
Dan Barton
Assistant Director for Education and Skills
Cumbria County Council
-
coronavirus letter
Fri 13 Mar 202013/03/2020
Dear parents/carers,
Following the announcement from the Government that we are moving into the Delay phase of the Coronavirus Plan, the cases of the virus are expected to increase. The advice from the government is that currently schools should remain open. However, as the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff is our top priority, we are implementing further precautions throughout school. These include:
- Increased use of handwashing before eating food alongside washing hands before entering the school in the morning is taking place. We have had talks in classes with the children discussing hygiene and washing hands for 20 seconds at a time (or singing Happy Birthday twice whilst doing so) we will continue to emphasise this.
- Hand sanitizer is available in school and children are welcome to bring their own if required. Soap dispensers are replenished regularly and we have an adequate supply of hand soap.
- Each child needs to bring their own water bottle in from home to prevent cross contamination through shared cups.
- Any pupils who develop the following symptoms should not come into school
- Dry Cough
- Fever
- Shortness of breath
- Any visitors to school will be required to use hand sanitizer and we ask that anyone showing the above symptoms, do not enter the school.
At this time there is no cause for concern at the school, as we are not aware of any cases that affect our school community currently, but we will keep you informed about any developments. The government advice is that anyone who is experiencing symptoms should self- isolate for 7 days. If you are worried in any way that you or your child may have contracted Coronavirus you should immediately seek advice by contacting NHS 111. Please inform us afterwards.
We will continue to monitor the Coronavirus situation closely and follow the advice from Public Health England and the Department for Education. Updates will be added to our website and Facebook page. We will contact you immediately with any arrangements that may have to be put in place.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sarah Jardine
Headteacher
-
DFE DAILY UPDATE
Fri 13 Mar 2020Department for Education
This is your daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Government announces move from Contain to Delay phase
Yesterday, the Government announced that we are moving from the Contain phase of the coronavirus action plan and into the Delay phase, in response to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Full details of each stage in the government action plan can be found here:
To support the delay of the spread of the virus, the Department for Health and Social Care has asked anyone who shows certain symptoms to stay at home for 7 days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas. This means people should stay at home and avoid all but essential contact with others for 7 days from the point of displaying mild symptoms, to slow the spread of infection.
The symptoms are:
- A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
- A new, continuous cough
You do not need to call NHS 111 to stay at home. If your symptoms worsen during your stay at home period or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.
Current advice remains in place: no education or children’s social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that the impact of closing schools on both children’s education and on the workforce will be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be. Decisions on future advice to schools will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.
COVID-19 travel guidance for the education sector
The Government has issued new travel guidance for the education sector. This advises against all overseas education trips for children under 18. This does not apply to domestic trips, or overseas trips which are already underway.
The full guidance can be found here:
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Watch this short NHS film for guidance:
Educational resources
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends.
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the hotline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Guidance for social or community care and residential settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources:
Latest Department for Education information:
Please keep your GIAS contacts up to date
If you work in a school, please take this opportunity to review your contact information in Get Information About Schools (GIAS).
To update your record, please go to the GIAS home page, “Sign in” using your “DfE Sign-in” credentials and select GIAS from your available services here:
-
Coronavirus - daily updates
Tue 10 Mar 2020In response to the Coronavirus, the DFE have been sending a daily update to all education settings, the email update below is from today. The guidance remains unchanged since letters were sent out last week. We will let you know if we are advised to take any further action,for now we are being vigilant with handwashing and singing happy birthday several times a day.
Department for Education
This is your daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Government coronavirus action plan
Yesterday, the Prime Minister confirmed that the government’s response to COVID-19 remains in the Contain phase – the first phase in the government’s coronavirus action plan.
The coronavirus action plan was launched last week. This document sets out what we have done to tackle coronavirus (COVID-19), and what it plans to do next, depending upon the course the current coronavirus outbreak takes.
The action plan can be found here:
Advice from Public Health England continues to be for education and children’s social care settings to remain open, unless advised otherwise. We are continually reviewing how best to support all educational settings and the impact of any measures will be considered carefully before being implemented.
Updated travel advice for travellers returning from Italy
Yesterday, Public Health England updated their travel advice, recommending that anyone returning from Italy should self-isolate, even if you do not have any symptoms. If you do develop symptoms, call NHS 111.
The latest travel guidance can be found here:
Further information on what you should do if you are asked to self-isolate can be found here:
The importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes.
Wash your hands more often for 20 seconds with soap and hot water
In addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, both children and staff should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials at:
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is now available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the helpline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources
Latest Department for Education information:
Please keep your GIAS contacts up to date
If you work in a school, please take this opportunity to review your contact information in Get Information About School (GIAS).
To update your record, please go to the GIAS home page, “Sign in” using your “DfE Sign-in” credentials and select GIAS from your available services here: