Coronavirus / Covid-19 Updates and Information
New Government guidance to schools issued today
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson CBE MP today made a number of new announcements as the Department of Education issued new guidance to schools.
Wiltshire Local Authority will hold a briefing for headteachers tomorrow to discuss what these changes mean for schools in Wiltshire. We will keep you updated. Our current arrangements will stay in place for school tomorrow.
Income related free school meals
From Monday 18th January 2021, we will be issuing ecodes / vouchers through a company called Edenred in relation to free school meals. Each child registered for income related free school meals will be entitled to £15 per week. No further food parcels will be available.
This is the same company as we used last April/May 2020. It may take a few days for your ecodes to get to you by email but please let us know if you do not receive them. Please check your junk email folders as it is often found in there. We are issuing these ecodes fortnightly and you will therefore receive £30 per eligible child this week and a further £30 week commencing 1st February 2021.
National lockdown to come into legal force on Wednesday 6th January 2021
The Prime Minister has today announced that a new national lockdown will legally come into force at 00:01 on Wednesday 6 January.
During the period of national lockdown, schools, alternative provision, special schools, and colleges will remain open to vulnerable children and young people and the children of critical workers only.
Please read the letter with a survey link above, to identify the children of critical workers. The deadline for completing the survey will be 12:00am Tuesday 5th January 2021. Please complete the survey if you are a critical worker and not an email to school, as this will help us deal with requests quickly.
We intend to contact the families of critical workers later today so that we can open the school for them on Wednesday 6th January 2021.
Teachers will be placing online learning resources for their classes online starting tomorrow. There are resources you can access today, which teachers are contacting you about through the ‘see saw’ website.
We hope that you appreciate we are working as quickly as possible to organise all of this. We received the information at the same time families did, whilst watching the Prime Minister’s broadcast.
School update following the Prime Minister's announcement of a lockdown
On Tuesday 5th January 2021 Old Sarum Primary School will be open to children in the vulnerable category. We will contact these families separately to confirm this.
Today we sent out a letter and link to a survey to establish which children meet the criteria for children of critical workers. We will now set a deadline for the survey to be completed by 12:00 tomorrow.
On Wednesday 6th January 2021 we will open to vulnerable children and the children of identified critical workers.
Tomorrow staff will start to operate our remote learning policy to teach all other children during the lockdown.
I am sure you will appreciate that school staff have heard the announcement at the same time as families this evening. We are working hard this evening and we will be tomorrow, to put the changes in place as quickly as we can to support you.
Return to school January 2021
Primary age pupils in tier 3 are expected to make a full return to school on the first day of term on Monday 4th January 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-and-childcare-settings-return-in-january-2021
You will have heard on the news that the mass-testing is scheduled to be rolled out in primary schools across the second half of January; we will share more details of this programme at the start of term.
Finally, the national picture is constantly changing and we will provide updated information as soon as we get it.
16.12.2020
Dear parents/carers,
You may have seen in the news this week that the Government has announced the rollout of mass testing in secondary schools in January 2021, and then to primary schools from the start of February 2021.
We have received some information on this today and, along with other schools, health colleagues and Wiltshire Council, we will be processing this information to assess what this will mean for our school.
At this stage, we do not have the full picture. We will, of course, keep you updated with any further information when we receive it.
I’d like to thank you all for your understanding and support at this time and wish you a safe and happy Christmas.
Thank you
Mr John Jones
Coronavirus information from the Department of Health & Social Care
Testing
The best and fastest way for students or staff with symptoms of coronavirus to access a test is to visit a test site.
Appointments at test sites can be booked via:
https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen/name
This portal will give you a range of testing options available in your local area. These will usually be:
- Test centre - Booking a test at a test centre is likely to be the fastest way to get a test. Some test centres are mobile so move around every few days so you may notice addresses change. Some test centres have an option to have the test adminstered for you, but not all. The test centres are generally open seven days a week from 8am to 8pm.
- Home test kit - Staff, parents/carers and further education students can order a home test kit for themselves and up to three members of their household. These kits will be be posted to the address given, and are returned via a Royal Mail priority mailbox.
The symptoms of coronavirus are a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
For individuals who are symptomatic and/or test positive for coronavirus please follow the latest NHS guidance, which can be found at:
If an individual has symptoms or tested positive for coronavirus, they will usually need to self-isolate for at least 10 days and the rest of the household will need to isolate for 14 days.
For guidance on responding to coronavirus in children, please follow the link at:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/coronavirus-in-children/
If at any stage , an individual cannot cope with the symptoms. or their condition gets worse, or their symptoms do not get better after 7 days, use the https://111.nhs.uk/COVID-19 service. If you do not have internet access, call NHS 111. In a medical emergancy, dial 999.
Translation of guidance
We have translated the guidance for parents and carers with children in nursery, school, or college in the autumn term.
The guidance is now available in the following languages:
WELCOME
Welcome to the Old Sarum Primary School website.
On behalf of our staff and governors, I would like to welcome you to our happy community school.
We are dedicated to giving every child the highest standard of education possible.
‘Emotional Literacy’ is at the heart of our school’s ethos. We believe all children should feel happy, valued and secure. This will pave the way for their success as lifelong learners and ensure good standards of behaviour and achievement.
All members of the school share a real sense of unity and commitment to serve our growing community and welcome opportunities to work with other groups from within it. We are very proud of all we have achieved since opening in September 2011.
Mr John Jones BA (Hons) PGCE. MSc. NPQH
Headteacher
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