We are receiving daily updates from the Department for Education and Public Health England (NHS), and we are following any advice they issue to ensure the wellbeing of all our students and staff.  The school has contingency arrangements in place to support students in the event of the Government issuing a notice for schools to close.  In the meantime, it is important to stress that people need to be proportional and considered in their response to this rapidly changing situation.

What is the current situation?

As of today, there are no known confirmed COVID-19 cases at our school.

The school remains open – in accordance with current Public Health England and Government guidance.  Students should attend unless they feel unwell – if your child or anyone in the household has any of the following symptoms they should remain at home for 14-days alongside the rest of the household (as per the Government directive):

• a new, continuous cough and/or
• a temperature 37.8 °C and above

If a student becomes unwell, please notify the school as normal by telephone on 01553 775035 or through office@clenchwartonprimary.co.uk   We will keep you up to date with any changes to the current situation.

What are we doing to protect and support students and staff?

We will make contact with you if we suspect your child shows signs of the symptoms above.

Breakfast and after school clubs will still take place.

As a precautionary measure, in line with Government advice, we will be cancelling all trips and visits for the rest of the term, including Y6 Easter School, Trust Poetry Day, KS 1 Velveteen Rabbit Performance, Yr 5 Virtual Reality Australian Day, Yr 2 Sainsbury’s Centre trip, Music Concert at Springwood, school disco and Y6 Crucial Crew. Refunds will be added to your ParentPay account.  Any monies refunded via ParentPay can either be used towards future events, lunches or withdrawn. 

We will also be cancelling all whole school assemblies until further notice.

We are cancelling non-essential external visitors from visiting the school. Any meetings with staff, if essential, should be conducted via telephone.

Our lunchtime arrangements will continue as they are staggered (not everyone in the hall at same time), however we have been advised by Lunchtime Company that they have had to put together a contingency menu which may be implemented at any moment – we will advise of any menu changes as soon as we know. 

We will be encouraging all children to wash their hands before they enter the classroom at the start of the day and continue the usual procedure to wash hands before lunch.  There are hand sanitisers in school and we will be encouraging children to regularly use them.

Our usual cleaning schedule will continue with an added focus on high contact surfaces.

All changes to school procedures will be placed on hold during this unprecedented time (including policies, uniform etc).

If any child is self-isolating, we are able to put a pack of work together.

No prosecutions will be sought if any of our students are off school for coronavirus related reasons. 

What do we need you to do?

If you have recently changed your contact details, please inform the school office as soon as possible and please make sure we have your email address via 01553 775035 or through office@clenchwartonprimary.co.uk

Please inform us via the office, if you do not have internet access at home.

Talk to your children about the coronavirus. It is an uncertain time and we should all do what we can to make sure children feel supported.

Keep looking at the school website for up to date information www.clenchwarton.norfolk.sch.uk.

Inform us if your child or a family member has a confirmed case of COVID-19.

What happens if the school is directed to close?

We will alert our school community, via the school website, text and email. We will confirm a date of reopening through the same channels.

If we are directed to close, the school are currently making preparations for all students to be able to access work online via ‘Google Classroom’.  If this should happen we will send out an email address and password for each child to be able to access work, we will also put some work on our website.  If you do not have access to the internet, please let the office know and we will put a package together should we close.  Each child will be given extra reading books to take home along with a book to complete their work in.  

Please keep in mind that we are only sending out this information to help the school community prepare. There are currently no plans to close.

If you have any questions, please consult:

The school office, if you have any questions about our response to this issue, BBC News channels for regular updates (PM daily coronavirus update).

NHS, if you want to know more about the symptoms of coronavirus. If you think you or your child may have the symptoms, use NHS 111 online if at all possible before calling 111.

Department for Education’s coronavirus helpline: 0800 046 8687, if you have any questions about the government’s response to coronavirus in relation to schools.

Government’s travel advice, if you want to know whether any upcoming trip or holiday you’re taking abroad should go ahead.

Finally, if the school is closed I would like to remind you that any safeguarding concerns about the welfare of a child, should be reported to the Norfolk Child Advice and Duty Service (CADS) on 0344 800 8020.

Thank you for your understanding and support during this challenging time.