Dear Parents and Carers - Download the letter Ltr to parents 30-11-21
Yesterday the Education Minister Jeremy Miles made the following announcement about schools and the emergence of the new Omicron variant:
The emergence of this new variant is a serious development in the ongoing pandemic. We have already taken swift action on international travel, alongside the other UK governments.
We are now introducing an additional measure, while we learn more about this new strain. All staff and learners in our secondary schools, colleges and universities should now wear face coverings while indoors where physical distancing cannot be maintained. This is a temporary, precautionary measure that will be in place for the remaining weeks of term at which point the position will be reviewed. This should come into effect in all settings as soon as possible.
From tomorrow (1st December 2021) we will be asking all pupils and students to wear face coverings in all lessons if they cannot maintain social distancing. This is in addition to all of the measures we have in place as part of our risk assessment:
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Face masks being worn in all communal areas including corridors and the diner
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Good hand hygiene and the use of sanitiser regularly
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Regular LFD testing of pupils, students and staff
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All other measures in place in school to ensure we are as safe as possible
Only at the end of last week, Denbighshire CC along with TTP decided to change the colour categorisation of all secondary schools from AMBER to GREEN due to the reduction of cases of school aged children. This is great news but we must continue to be
vigilant against the virus as the national picture can change rapidly.
We will also be asking all staff and pupils to continue to LFD test twice a week over the Christmas break so that we can ensure a smooth and safe return to school in January 2022. Pupils and students are to collect enough test kits for Christmas and the new year from the pastoral team.
I am really proud of how the pupils, staff and community have helped the school lose so few teaching hours over the past 12 months and I ask all parents and carers to continue your vigilance. Please follow the latest guidance from Welsh Government including not sending your child to school if they have any of the three key symptoms of COVID-19:
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a high temperature: this means that they feel hot to touch on their chest or back
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a new, continuous cough: this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
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a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste: this means they’ve noticed they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.