The situation with regard to the Coronavirus outbreak is rapidly changing and in order to keep you informed we will be posting information on our school website by 10.00am each morning.  Additionally any more urgent information will be sent to you be email with any closure also communicated by text message.  I would ask that you please visit the website frequently to keep up-to-date with non-urgent information and advice.  The Minster School continues to receive daily updates from the Department for Education.  The information below is an update on the information sent in our recent newsletter.

All members of the school community can help by maintaining high standards of hygiene and handwashing, including the careful disposal of rubbish and tissues in bins available throughout the site.  Dropping litter adds to risks for all.    

The government advice has now changed with regard to self-isolation and can be summarised as follows:

• if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus illness (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started.
• if you live with others and you or one of them have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill.

The full guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

We are vigilant in school and if we have concerns for an individual child you will be contacted – if this happens please make every effort to come and collect your child as soon as possible, then following government advice accordingly.

According to latest government advice and with a view to social distancing we have taken a number of decisions today about the nature and extent of school activity:

• We have now cancelled all our trips for the remainder of this term (until the Easter holidays).  This includes the international visits to Iceland and Davos.  The school is pursuing any reimbursement with trip operators and through insurers and those affected will be contacted with regard to refunds in due course. Other trips later in the year have not yet been cancelled but this is being kept under ongoing review. 
• All after school clubs and activities will be cancelled from tomorrow (Wednesday 18^th March).  This includes but is not limited to sports clubs and fixtures, music groups, detentions and revision sessions.  The library remains open after school for 1 hour. All students should leave the school site by 4.15pm.
• All non-essential meetings will also be cancelled in school including for parents. Please be considerate of this and avoid coming in to school reception unless absolutely necessary.
• The additional internal examinations (mocks) for English and Maths planned for this Thursday (19^th) and next Monday (23^rd) will no longer go ahead. These assessments were for internal purposes only and students will still be provided with the papers to complete.

It is helpful if you make sure your child brings a reading book to school with them and/or revision guides as appropriate.  This will allow them to undertake meaningful activity should a teacher be unavailable. At present the majority of our teaching staff are in school and delivering lessons.

Should the school need to close we already have in place contingencies to continue providing learning to students.  These will rely on email and Show My Homework as modes of communication, systems already commonly used by the school.  For any students absent at present it is not possible to set individual packages of work but BBC Bitesize is an excellent resource to continue learning relevant topics.  Further information regarding the setting of work during any potential closure will be available on the school website in the coming days.

As you will appreciate we at school are very busy contending with pressures caused by the current situation while maintaining a continuing education and care for all members of the Minster School community.  I would ask that you keep communications and requests to the essential and uphold our values of kindness and resilience at this challenging time.
 
Matthew Parris
Head Teacher