Coronavirus Information
Beechcliffe School is now open for all pupils who are well and who should not be in insolation due to coronavirus or at home because of other illness. We are following the DFE and Public Health England (PHE) guidance to special schools.
We ask all families and staff to follow the following guidance
- support your child to understand, where possible, the HANDS - FACE - SPACE and the Catch It - Bin It - Kill It campaigns.
- If your child or anyone in your family or support bubble has any of the following symptoms that you try to get a PCR coronavirus test and your child stays off school until you receive the test result.
- If the test result is NEGATIVE your child may return to school as soon as they have been well for 48 hours.
- If your child tests POSITIVE they MUST remain off school for 10 days from the day their symptoms started and you must inform school immediately.
- If you, anyone else in your family or support bubble test POSITIVE you or your child do not have to isolate if they are under the age of 18 or have been double vaccinated.
These instructions are following the guidance from the government and from PHE to help prevent the spread of coronavirus in school.
What happens if a pupil or staff member becomes ill at school?
As soon as we know that a child or staff member becomes ill at school we will follow the following action.
Pupil - will be put into isolation within school and a family member contacted to come and pick them up.
They will be sent home. If they have any of the three classic coronavirus symptoms
- a temperature where they feel hot to touch on their chest or back - even if this is short lived e.g. half an hour
- a new or continuous cough
- a loss of taste or smell.
They will also be sent for a test and not allowed back into school until they have had a negative test result and are 48 hours clear of illness. If they test positive they will not be allowed into school until they have completed their 10 day isolation.
What if we cant get a test or my child will not co-operate with a test?
If you cannot get a test or your child please contact school and we will try to support you to get one.
If you child is unable to have a test due to their needs we have to treat them as positive.
Other Illnesses
If your child or another child attends school with symptoms of the virus or with any other illness we will send them home from school. PHE guidance says that for any other illness other than coronavirus symptoms such as a cold, sickness and diaorrea etc they must be
"Well for 48 hours" before they return to school.
This is because in young people they may not have the classic symptoms of coronavirus. The World Health Organisation ( WHO) has identified the following symptoms of coronavirus in children and young people. These include diarrhoea, sickness, lethergy, a rash, cold or flu-like symptoms, off their food.
We ask you please to co-operate with us over this as we need to try to keep school open as much as possible - we do not want to close for norovirus or a flu outbreak as well as potentially having to close for a coronavirus outbreak. Staff are also more susceptible to the cornavirus and whilst 80% of children will become well again very quickly this is not the case for staff. Having a lot of staff off school ill or in isolation creates a health and safety risk and would require us to shut the whole school site.
Staff member - if they become ill they will be sent home immediately. If they have any of the three classic coronavirus symptoms they will also be sent for a test and not allowed back into school until they have had a negative test result and are 48 hours clear of illness. If they test positive they will not be allowed into school until they have completed their 10 day isolation.
People who have been inclose contact with a person testing positive will be contacted by the NHS via track and trace.
Please click on the relevant documents to open them.
Covid 19 Whole School Risk Assessment Reviewed on 6th September 2021
The School Risk Assessment for Coronavirus for full re-opening August 2020