Dear Parent/Carer,

It was lovely to be able to welcome all students back into school by Thursday 11^th March after a very successful in school COVID-19 testing programme; over 65% of students came into school for testing and the team conducted more than 2,000 tests over 8 days. The DfE’s requirement that we offer all students a series of three lateral flow tests in school has now been completed and we now move to the next phase of COVID-19 precautions, which is the lateral flow home testing programme.

On Friday 19^th March, all students who came in for one or more of the in school lateral flow tests will be issued with a home testing kit. The process is the same as was carried out in school, but students will do the tests at home. There is a guidance booklet inside each kit to help you with this process, you may find the following NHS video useful: https://youtu.be/zCqo7MhQT6U  The three tests in the first box will be for twice weekly tests and an additional test for the start of the following week of testing. We would suggest testing on Sunday and Wednesday evenings. We will issue the next kits as soon as we receive them in school.

As described in the instruction booklet, you are required to report the result of home lateral flow tests using the Government’s Covid-19 test result website (https://www.gov.uk/report-covid19-result), regardless if the test result is positive, negative or void. As a school, we do not have access to this information, so we ask that you please complete the results form on the homepage of the school website to log your child’s result (Record Student COVID-19 Home Test Results)  This is so that we can keep a record and advise you of the next steps if needed. Personal data will be processed by school and by other relevant agencies in line with our Privacy Notice for COVID-19 testing which can also be found on the homepage of the website.

If your child’s test result is positive, please inform the school attendance office as soon as possible by telephone. Your entire household should then self-isolate for 10 days as per Government guidance.

Students who did not take part in the covid testing programme are still welcome to receive a test kit as part of the home testing programme but will need to be added to the school testing list. If you would like your child to be added to the list please contact school and inform us as soon as possible and a home testing kit will be provided. As we have always said, these tests are entirely voluntary, and kits will only be given to those students already on our list as having parent/carer consent or those parents/carers that request their child be added to the list.

Please note that these tests are only for students who attend our school, the ‘family scheme’ that you may have heard about is not administered by us. Please do not request additional kits as the supply we have is very limited.

These lateral flow home tests are for students with no symptoms only. If you child develops symptoms at any time, such as a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; or a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste, they must immediately self-isolate, and you will need to book a test by calling 119 or visiting https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirustest.

Along with the other protective measures we are taking, these tests will help staff and students to remain in school safely. Up to one third of people who have coronavirus experience no symptoms. By testing we will help to stop the virus spread and help to keep our school open as safely as possible.

Yours sincerely

Mr M Searles

Assistant Headteacher