Headteacher
COVID-19 Update, Monday 28th June 2021
28th June 2021
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Dear Families,

As you will be aware, yesterday we were informed of two students who have tested positive for COVID-19 having used a lateral flow testing device. These have now been confirmed via PCR tests. Unfortunately, this means that a number of students will need to self-isolate for at least 10 days after their last contact with the positive cases. We have made contact with those who have been affected via email and provide the following information for our Year 10 and 12 students:

  • Year 10 – For those students who have not been identified as a close contact, school will re-open as normal from tomorrow, with mock examinations continuing as planned.
  • Year 12 – On Tuesday 29th June, only those Year 12 students that have mock examinations should come into school for their exam (i.e. Biology and Computer Science at 11:25am, leaving site immediately after).

All other Year 12 students are asked to remain off-site until Wednesday 30th June and use the time at home to revise for forthcoming assessments.

All Year 12 students who have not been identified as a close contact can return to school on Wednesday 30th June, with mock examinations continuing as planned.

  • Year 10 & 12 Mock Examinations postponed on Monday 28th June – These exams will now be scheduled for Monday 5th July in the following way:
    • 09:00 Start – Year 10 Engineering, Religious Studies, Music and Year 12 Chemistry
    • 11:25 Start – Year 10 Physics
    • 14:00 Start – Year 12 English Language

Mr Pilbury will make contact with the families of isolating students this afternoon.

A word on how we identify close contacts…

I understand that this is one of the most contentious issues at the moment. As a parent myself with a daughter who has had to self-isolate on multiple occasions, I know how frustrating this can be. With this in mind, please see the working guidelines which we apply in a school context:

What is meant by a contact?

A contact is a person who has been close to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. You can be a contact any time from 2 days before the person who tested positive developed their symptoms (or, if they did not have any symptoms, from 2 days before the date their positive test was taken), and up to 10 days after, as this is when they can pass the infection on to others. A risk assessment may be undertaken to determine this, but a contact can be:

  • anyone who lives in the same household as another person who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive for COVID-19
  • anyone who has had any of the following types of contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19:
    • face-to-face contact including being coughed on or having a face-to-face conversation within one metre
    • been within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact
    • been within 2 metres of someone for more than 15 minutes (either as a one-off contact, or added up together over one day)

A person may also be a close contact if they have travelled in the same vehicle or plane as a case. 

A few things to note on a practical level for schools

  • To space out students in a classroom context such that they would not be a close contact is not practically possible. If you have a class of say 30 and one student is a positive case, then that will unfortunately mean that a significant number in the class will be deemed to be close contacts.
  • At GCSE and A-level, students take multiple option subjects across several classes. This means that they encounter several students from across the year group. Again, you only need to have a small number of cases for a significant number of students to come into “close contact”.

What you can do to help

You can help us by ensuring that you test your children every three days. Also, if your child is unwell or not feeling right in any way, please keep them away from school. Should a positive test result emerge then please make contact with the school via e-mail on confirmedcase@tytheringtonschool.co.uk . Those who have been identified as close contacts are now being encouraged to go and get a PCR test.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any queries. Thank you for your patience and support.

Yours sincerely,

Mr Emmanuel Botwe

Headteacher

ebotwe@tytheringtonschool.co.uk

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