On return to school after the Christmas break, we set up a test centre and pupils for whom we had consent were able to do Lateral Flow Device tests in school on Wednesday 5 and Monday 10 January 2022.

We had a delivery of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) kits to school on Wednesday 12 January 2022 and were finally able to distribute test kits to pupils and staff.

As of Monday 17 January, we have a small but increasing number of pupils self-isolating due to a positive Covid test result. In our experience, some of those pupils testing positive have some symptoms (for example, headache, cough, tiredness) and some are asymptomatic i.e. have no symptoms at all. Check NHS: Symptoms of coronavirus and ZOE COVID Study: Omicron and cold-like symptoms.

Normally we would encourage pupils to test twice a week, or once a day if you have a positive case of Covid in your household. However, Omicron seems to be transmitting faster than previous variants and so we encourage everyone to test more frequently if they can, perhaps every two days, even if your child(ren) has had a previous positive Covid test result, as Omicron seems to reinfect more than Delta did. If your child needs an additional test kit, they can see Miss Brace, Assistant Head, in her office.

If your child has a positive LFD or PCR test result, please make sure that you

• follow the Goverment guidelines regarding how long to self-isolate;
• follow the Government guidelines regarding other members of your household;
• log any positive LFD result on the Government website;
• email Miss Brace C.Brace@deerparkschool.net as well as the usual attendance@deerparkschool.net,  so that we can contact any school close contacts.

Our thanks to pupils for their cooperation with testing on return to school. If we see a pattern or spike, we plan to re-test specific groups, year groups or all again. For example, on Monday 17 January we tested the 80% of Year 11 pupils who were in school for whom we have consent, none of whom tested positive.

If you have not previously consented to your child doing LFD tests in school and would like to now give that consent, please email Miss Brace C.Brace@deerparkschool.net and include your child's name and tutor group. 

From Monday 17 January, the Government guidelines change regarding how long to self-isolate:

'You can stop self-isolating at the start of day 6 if you get 2 negative rapid lateral flow test results on days 5 and 6 and do not have a temperature. Tests must be at least 24 hours apart. If either test is positive, wait 24 hours before testing again.' from gov.uk/coronavirus

Please note: The day you test positive on a LFD is day 0 and the following day is day one.

REMOTE LEARNING

If pupils are self-isolating and well enough to study, they are expected to continue with their learning and, in line with our Remote Learning Plan, they will be able to access lesson materials in MS Teams. We will be looking more closely at their timetables and, where a significant number are taught within one or more groups, we are hoping to provide some live lessons for them too. To ensure they can keep up with their peers, all pupils who are self-isolating should aim to follow their normal school timetables. They are expected to check their school emails, Show My Homework and MS Teams every day so that they can plan their own schedule from 9:00am to 3:20pm, complete and submit relevant learning activities and attend any live lessons they are invited to.