Letter From The Headmaster
Following up on my letter last week, I wanted to give you a few updates.
Over the course of this week, we have seen some more positive Covid cases amongst our community and many of you will be aware that a large proportion of pupils have, as a result, been asked to take a PCR test.
After a visit yesterday from PHE we have been advised that to help us manage the number of Covid cases in school and hopefully reduce new cases, we should move to a ‘test to release’ recommendation. If someone in the household tests positive this would require siblings and other relations to take a PCR test and only return to school when they have received a negative PCR result. This will apply to siblings and other relations across our Foundation schools.
We may also need to advise that some additional pupils ‘test to release PCR’ if they have had substantial contact with a positive case in school. In addition to the ‘test to release’ approach, we will be adding air purifiers for more congested areas around the campus.
We will continue to track and trace and monitor the situation closely. We will review our strategy in consultation with PHE again next week and will keep parents updated if the advice changes again. It is our hope that cases will begin to plateau by the end of next week and that some of the additional control measures we have had to put in place, such as wearing face masks around school and in class and the temporary suspension of competitive fixtures for Years 8, 9 and 10, can be relaxed.
In addition, PHE have confirmed that Princethorpe will become a Covid vaccination centre for 12 to 15-year-olds, when that programme is rolled out shortly. Further specific details will be sent in due course. Please note that this programme will be entirely run and administered by the NHS. For those who wish to opt for the vaccination for their child we hope that parents will find being able to organise the vaccination to take place at school convenient.
What you can do to help us:
1. Please continue with the twice weekly home testing programme and recording the results via the Test Register emails. Please note that the full 30 minutes should be given to check the results – the positive line can take much longer to appear than the control line on the lateral flow device. Even a very faint line is an indication of a positive result.
2. Do not send children into school when they are unwell or exhibit any of the signs of covid. If they do, please book them a PCR test.
In the meantime, please be assured that we will do our utmost to keep day to day school life, both in and out of the classroom, as normal as possible for our pupils.
I will write with further updates next week. If you have any immediate or urgent concerns, please contact us by email at post@princethorpe.co.uk. Thank you once again for all your support and co-operation.
With all best wishes
