Infection Control
The government has made it a national priority that education and childcare settings should continue to operate as normally as possible as we move to ‘Living with Covid’.
Many of the measures that we put into place to manage Covid-19 at Talbot Primary have a benefit for managing other infectious illnesses that tend to occur in schools. These include:
- Hand hygiene
- Good ventilation
- Cleaning
We have also developed new temporary ways of working such as grouping children, limiting mixing, remote learning, and enhanced cleaning. This helped us respond to outbreaks of a variety of illnesses rapidly and helped minimise disruption to the education of the children. As we move to ‘Living with Covid’, and in accordance with Local Authority requirements, some of these measures will remain. This is because measures affecting education may be necessary in some circumstances:
- to help manage severe operational impacts or identified health risks of an infectious illness outbreak within the school and/or
- as part of a package of measures responding to an extremely high prevalence of infectious illness in the community and if other measures have failed to reduce transmission.
The school’s plans to support these measures are outlined in the Outbreak Management Plan. This outlines how we will operate if there is a significant outbreak of any infectious disease. It is important to note that the response if not just restricted to Covid-19. The plan includes how we will ensure every child, receives the quantity and quality of education and care to which they are normally entitled. Please click here to access this document (updated September 2022)
You can also still access the previous Local Authority Covid-19 risk assessment which assesses over 20 separate areas of control and over 140 individual control measures by clicking here.
The previous expectations for remote home learning currently remain in place for 2021-22. If you would like access our Remote Home Learning Policy click here. (Reviewed September 2022)
Frequently asked questions (reviewed May 2022)
What should I do if my child has symptoms?
Do not send your child(ren) to school if they show symptoms. They can usually return to school after 3 days if they no longer have a temperature or are feeling unwell. Please continue to liaise with the school on 0113 2934086 or via admin@talbotprimary.net as we recognise that each child can be different.
What about showcases and assemblies?
These will continue as planned and shared with you. As an additional measure, we request that parents and carers continue to wear masks when inside school. This is because ventilation becomes a great deal trickier during these often crowded events.
What about the 'Catch-up' fund strategy?
The government has announced a national programme of £1 billion of funding to support children and young people to catch up. This includes a one-off universal £650 million catch-up premium for the 2020 to 2021 academic year to ensure that schools have the support they need to help all pupils make up for lost teaching time as well as £350 million to access the National Tutoring programme for eligible children. At Talbot, we will use the funding to enhance the following:
- Teaching and whole school strategies – i.e. enhancing and adding capacity for whole class teaching
- Targeted approaches – i.e. small group tuition, intervention programmes and extended school time
- Wider strategies – i.e. supporting parents and carers and access to technology
It is important to note that whilst we will automatically receive the catch-up premium, access to the National Tutoring programme may be more variable and dependent upon DfE criteria for eligibility. This will prioritise disadvantaged children in priority areas. Wherever possible however we will seek to access this support.
To find out more about how we intend to make the most of this funding please see the Pupil Premium page for our Pupil Premium and Catch Up Fund Strategy Report.
I am worried about sending my child to school, what can I do?
Please continue to discuss these worries with either Mrs Gill, Mr Rivers, Mrs Liddington or Mr Youdan. We know that these discussions have been helpful and reassuring for those most vulnerable within our community. If you have any worries over the break, please email admin@talbotprimary.net. UKHSA have published the following summary guidance which you may find useful.
