Friday 23 October, 2020

Dear Parents/Carers

Call to Action for Parents and Carers in Trafford

The last seven months have been hard for us all with the restrictions and disruption caused by Covid. Our schools continue to adapt, doing the best they can to keep all children, staff and visitors safe. We recognise that parents and carers have also made many changes to their lives during the pandemic and we would like to thank you for this support.

Unfortunately, as the number of people with Covid infection has increased, so has the number of children and staff who have had to self-isolate, missing valuable days in education. Schools and the Council have been working hard to reduce the risks, to manage cases and understand the pattern of infection across our school and child-care population.

However, actions taken by schools can only stop some of the cases. We do need families and communities to help us bring the local infection rate down and protect our children’s health and education.

We all know that ensuring our children get the education they deserve is important for their health and wellbeing, as well as their futures. We also need to protect our vulnerable families and friends. The best way to do this is to reduce the number of people we see, because this way we are less likely to catch the infection or pass it on.

So as half-term approaches we need your help. We are asking for your support in the following ways:

• If someone in your household has Covid symptoms, and is waiting to be tested or for test results, all household members must self-isolate until the results are known. Do not send children into school, or go into work yourself until the test result is known. If the result is positive, all household members must self-isolate for 14 days. A table is attached below to show the isolation periods. Also if your child tests positive over the half term do not forget to let the school or nursery know.

• If you are a contact, you have to self-isolate for 14 days from the last contact with the case. It does not matter whether you have a test and you are negative, you must still self-isolate. If your child has been sent home from school as a contact, they must not leave the house or garden or see friends during this period. This will stop other people getting the infection if you or your child are developing the infection. If they are a contact and this time falls into the holidays they must still isolate.

• Do not have visitors into your home and do not visit others in their home. We appreciate this is difficult especially when there have been life events; deaths, births or celebrations but this is so important to reducing the risk. Under current legal restrictions this is also illegal and you may be fined.

We have seen situations in a number of schools where young people have had parties at home, and someone attending later became unwell. As they were infectious at the time of the party, a number of party goers became infected too and this has led to year groups being suspended. Parents or carers, please talk to your young people about the risks of socialising at this time, and remind them about the health and legal impacts of this.

• Reduce mixing of different households or families outside of the home too. Halloween and Bonfire Nights are highlights of this time of year for children but mixing with others will increase the risk of developing the infection. Please celebrate these with only your own household members this year.

• Remember to wear face coverings, keep two metres apart from people not in your household and wash your hands regularly – all these actions reduce the spread of the infection.

We understand that children having to stay at home, or even whole households, is not easy or ideal, but we are asking for your support so that we can together stop the spread of Covid, keep our children and families safe and keep our schools open for the majority of children.

Yours faithfully,

Kim Earle (Headteacher)
Eleanor Roaf (Director of Public Health, Trafford Council)
Jill McGregor (Director of Children's Services, Trafford Council)
Karen Samples (Director of Education, Trafford Council)