Page 11 - Return to School Guide - August 2020

Health Screening, Suspected and Confirmed Cases of Coronavirus
At the time of writing, Public Health England have advised that implementing regular temperature checks is an unreliable method of checking for coronavirus and that there seems to be no benefit in schools doing this. We will monitor and review this advice.
If any member of staff or pupil displays symptoms then testing will be carried out in a local facility and
we will hope to be able to receive results within hours. Children would be isolated, pending pick up, with
an adult to supervise them with appropriate social distancing and in a well-ventilated room. The child should not return to school until negative test results are received. We expect to be provided with a small number of testing kits but we have, as yet, no detail
on the method for disseminating testing kits. Boarders would be self-isolated within school, with medical and pastoral supervision, until we have a result. If we do have a need to isolate any pupils then Yates House has been prepared as an isolation facility. Girls will board in the Main House within their own specially prepared ‘household’. Face masks and gowns will be available for our medical staff to use if they are required to care for
a child with actual or suspected COVID-19. If any child is required to isolate then they would be taught online.
In the event of a confirmed case, we will work closely with the local Public Health England authorities who will quickly carry out further tests and we will actively engage with NHS Test and Trace: those who have been in close contact with the individual in question will be identified and asked to self-isolate.
We are preparing an Abberley Hall contact tracing system which means that, in the event of a suspected case, we will quickly identify relevant pupils and staff so that they can be isolated and tested. Contact tracing will be facilitated by the recording of seating plans in lessons and meals, as well as ‘households’ within the boarding house. There will be no non-essential visitors to the boarding house and all visitors to the school campus will be recorded. The contact tracing system means that, if needed, relevant people can be isolated and tested and the rest of the school can continue as normally
as possible.
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