Dear Parents, Carers and Pupils, 

I hope you are all well and enjoying the sunshine. This has been another interesting week for our school and I would like to thank all staff, yourselves and the pupils for keeping everything as normal as possible. 

Change in Government guidelines from Monday 19th July

As you may be aware, there will be changes as to how school report and respond to confirmed positive cases of Coronavirus in school as set out by the government.  

For any cases confirmed after 00.01am on Monday 19th July,  schools  must not close a bubble if a pupil or member of staff test positive. The person will need isolate but not the contacts. We will need to seek advice if this happens as the there are changes to the guidance regularly. However, I can confirm the follow systems will be in place. 

• All members of staff and pupils must inform school if they test positive on an LFT or PCR test and isolate as per the guidance.
• You will be informed if someone in your class or child’s class tests positive. 
• We will still be operating the bubbles and all other measures next week and will update further W/C 30/08/2021 for arrangements for September 2021. 

As you are aware there have been multiples positive cases in school with both pupils and staff.  All are beginning to feel much better and they all know they have our full support and best wishes.

The guidance and media massages can be confusing. If you have any concerns at all or any questions, please contact school or email me on cwoodward@st-james.derbyshire.sch.uk. 

Reports

Some classes are isolating until Tuesday and the end of year reports will go out on Tuesday. 

Have a great weekend and take care of yourselves. 

Mr Woodward

Good afternoon, 

There have been some rumours about Mr Doyle and I am very pleased to give you the good news and the better news.

The good news is, Mr Doyle is not leaving and the better news is, Mr Doyle won’t be leaving for a long time. 

The good news is, Mr Doyle has decided that from September, he will be working in school as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA). The better news is, Mr Doyle will continue to teach whole classes and work with groups and individuals. 

The good news is, Mr Doyle has given so much to so many families and made a hugely positive impact on so many children over the last 24 years. The better news is, Mr Doyle will continue to do exactly the same for many more years. 

Mr Woodward

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all well and I can see that the pupils are working really hard on Google Classrooms.  

Test and Trace have been in contact to correct an error in isolation dates. Pupils in Nursery, Mrs Allan’s class and Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s class need to isolate until 11:59pm on Sunday 18th July 2021. The staff who need to isolate have been contacted and will be contacted by Test and Trace directly. I am sorry that this may cause further disruption to your weekend. 

Take care and look after yourselves.

Mr Woodward

Hello Year 6, 

I hope you are all well.

This is not the end of your primary school journey we were hoping for but you are all back in on Tuesday and we will make the best of it. 

Plans

• Film the play on Tuesday morning and put on the website.
• Have the leavers assembly at 2pm Wednesday
• Disco on Wednesday at 6pm – 8pm.

Update on Miss Warburton

Miss Warburton had a close family bereavement on Friday and is hoping to be back in on Tuesday with the class. 

Fingers crossed all goes to plan. 

Have a good evening.

Mr Woodward

Good afternoon,

I hope you are all well.

Since my last message yesterday, there have been more confirmed cases of Coronavirus in school. The people who have tested positive are all symptomatic but are feeling better. Please be aware that our advice and opening may change. We will give as much notice as possible and thank you all again for your continued support. 

Classes Reopening

Following advice from Public Health England, the following classes will open tomorrow (14/07/2021).

• Miss Taylor’s class
• Mrs Fletcher’s class
• Miss Ratcliffe’s class
• Miss Weir’s class
• Mrs Collins’ class

Class Closures

The classes below will remain closed – please see the information below.

There have been confirmed positive cases in school and Public Health England have instructed the following 5 classes need to isolate.

Nursery – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.

Mrs Allan’s class – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.

Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s class – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.

Mr Doyle’s class – Isolate until Tuesday 20th July and return to school on 20th July 2021.

Miss Warburton’s class – Isolate until Tuesday 20th July and return to school on 20th July 2021.

Case numbers and symptoms

Since my last message yesterday, there have been more confirmed cases of Coronavirus in school. Case numbers are rising in this area and Public Health England had advised all parents follow the advice below. We really want to finish the year without further closures but we can only do this if everyone follows the guidelines.

If your child has the following symptoms, you must keep them off school until they have tested negative on a PCR test. 

• a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.

If your child is showing any of the symptoms outlined in blue below, from the letter from Dean Wallace, director of public health, they must have a PCR test. The letter doesn’t say  they need to isolate until the result comes back but I request that they don’t come into school until the result comes back. I don’t ask this lightly as it goes against everything we believe in and want the children in school. However, this is to keep our school community safe and reduce the chance of further bubble closures and the need to isolate.  Please inform school using the child absence form on the website, text system or phone school to notify us and we will authorise the absence. 

Extract from letter by from Dean Wallace, Director of Public Health.

We are now seeing the Delta variant become the dominant variant within Derbyshire County as it
is across the country. It has been recognised that those people testing positive with the Delta
variant may have other symptoms aside from a high temperature, a new continuous cough and a
loss or change to sense of smell or taste – which are the main symptoms of coronavirus.
The additional symptoms are:
• tummy ache
• sore throat
• headaches
• runny nose
• sneezing
• joint pain
• muscle aches or generally feeling
poorly.
• loss of appetite
• diarrhoea
• feeling or being sick
• muscle ache
• feeling drowsy
• tiredness
If anyone in the school/early years community (parents/carers/siblings/staff) has any of the above
symptoms we are advising you to get a PCR test – tests that are sent to a laboratory.

Isolation and Google Classrooms

For those children isolating and we will provide work Google Classrooms, as we did during the last lockdown. Those children and staff must isolate in line with the government guidelines and must not come into school to pick up siblings. Please see the NHS isolation information below. These are not school rules, they are government instructions and law. Please follow the guidance to reduce transmission, keep people safe and avoid a fine or prosecution.  

Everyone’s circumstances are different, if you have no other choice but to keep siblings off school, please notify school (as above) and the absence will be authorised. 

NHS Isolation Information

I know this is a lot on information and more posts will follow about specific arrangements in the coming week.

Take care of yourselves and thank you all for your continued support.

Mr Woodward

Good afternoon, 

I hope you are all well.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Thank you to the teachers for getting work on google classrooms so quickly and for all the pupils who have completed it. 

The people with positive tests are not feeling great but are all ok. They know they only need to ask if they need anything and they would like to thank everyone for the messages of support. 

Bubbles with confirmed cases

There have been confirmed positive cases in school and Public Health England have instructed the following 5 classes need to isolate. 

• Nursery – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.
• Mrs Allan’s class – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.
• Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s class – Isolate until Saturday 17th July 2021 and return to school on Monday 19th July 2021.
• Mr Doyle’s class – Isolate until Tuesday 20th July and return to school on 20th July 2021. 
• Miss Warburton’s class – Isolate until Tuesday 20th July and return to school on 20th July 2021. 

Whole School

Public Health England and Derbyshire Public Health England are still analysing our infection information. It is classed as an outbreak and they need to discuss our school and the High Peak and Glossop area at an outbreak control review meeting tomorrow. We have been instructed to keep school closed until after that meeting. I am aiming to update everyone by 3:30pm tomorrow at the latest. 

Please be aware that all decisions are being made in conjunction with Public Health England and are being made in the best interest of the whole school community. 

I know this is tough and we are doing everything we can to get the children back into school as soon as possible. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. 

I will provide another update as soon as possible. 

Have a lovely evening.

Mr Woodward

Good evening, 

I am very sorry for the late message and just before the match. 

During the last few hours, we have had several confirmed cases of Coronavirus  across all key stages. This constitutes an outbreak, this has been confirmed by Public Health England and school will be closed tomorrow (12/07/2021). We need to seek further advice on time scales and deep cleaning will need to take place. 

Teachers will use google classrooms to set work, communicate with pupils and post daily videos. 

Children and staff from the following classes need to isolate until 19/07/2021;

• Nursery
• Mrs Allan’s class
• Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s class
• Mr Doyle’s class
• Miss Warburton’s class

At this point, children from the other classes don’t need to isolate but will not be in school.

We will get information out about when school will reopen and which bubbles can return as soon as possible. As always, please wait to hear any news from school and direct any queries to school. 

We are all very sorry that school has to close but we need to follow government advice and keep our school community safe.  

Have a good evening and enjoy the match.

Mr Woodward

Good evening, 

I know many people are already getting excited about the Football final on Sunday. This is a historic moment, which hasn’t happened in 55 years. Love football or not, it is an event that is getting the nation excited and that is welcomed after the last 18  months. 

School will open as normal at 8:55am, however, if the children watch the match and need another hours sleep, the registers won’t close until 10:30am on Monday 12th July. This is purely optional.

Good luck England and have a great weekend. 

Mr Woodward.

Good afternoon, 

This message is for the Nursery, Mrs Allan’s and Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s classes. 

I have spoken with the DFE helpline and track and trace. The three members of staff have tested positive for Coronavirus using LFT (Lateral Flow Tests), this counts as a positive test result and the children and staff in those classes must isolate until Saturday 17th July. The pupils will be back in school on Monday 19th July. 

All members of staff have had PCR tests, which are more accurate than LFT. If these tests are negative, then the class or classes will reopen. The results will be sent to the staff in the next 72 hours. I have been advised that it is unlikely that they will be negative after a positive LFT test and there is a delay in analysing tests due to the high volume of tests being processed. 

Financial Support

Some families may be eligible for the test and trace support payment of £500. Please see the link below.

Test and Trace Support Payment Link

Have a lovely weekend.

Mr Woodward

Good morning, 

I hope you are all well.

I apologise to the families who got early morning text messages about class closures. We have three members of staff who have tested positive this morning. They are all feeling ok and the classes which are closed are Nursery; Mrs Allan’s class and Mrs Mackey and Mrs Cox’s class.  The children and staff in these classes need to isolate as per the government guidance.  Once I have spoken with public health England, I will let you all know how long the isolation period will be. 

As you can see from the letter below, cases are rising rapidly in all areas and the number of cases in our postcode is very high. We want to keep the children, staff and families safe and well in the last few weeks of term.  Please continue to follow all government guidelines and get yourselves and your children tested if they show the symptoms of Coronavirus. There are more details below. 

Extract from the letter

We are now seeing the Delta variant become the dominant variant within Derbyshire County as it
is across the country. It has been recognised that those people testing positive with the Delta
variant may have other symptoms aside from a high temperature, a new continuous cough and a
loss or change to sense of smell or taste – which are the main symptoms of coronavirus.
The additional symptoms are:
• tummy ache
• sore throat
• headaches
• runny nose
• sneezing
• joint pain
• muscle aches or generally feeling
poorly.
• loss of appetite
• diarrhoea
• feeling or being sick
• muscle ache
• feeling drowsy
• tiredness
If anyone in the school/early years community (parents/carers/siblings/staff) has any of the above
symptoms we are advising you to get a PCR test – tests that are sent to a laboratory.

Letter from DPH to Parents-Carers – 20210708

Have a great weekend and take care of yourselves. 

Mr Woodward