This section of our web site aim is to provide you with the latest information about Covid-19, we will be adding details as they become available. Please check regularly - this is an unprecedented situation but we will be doing our best to update this section information for parents, it will change regularly.
These updates are valid from March 8th 2021
We will continue to have a staggered start and finish to the day although we have altered the times at the end of the day very slightly to try to maximise learning time. Please try to stick to the times to ensure it does not get too crowded.
A walking one-way system has been introduced for dropping off and collecting pupils. Pupils and parents will enter through the car park gate and parents can then exit via the pedestrian gate in front of the office observing social distancing rules. Any parents needing to escort pupils to the school door will be asked to follow the one-way system and leave via the side gate into the alley adjacent to Tesco. We will encourage communication through phone calls and email but if it is essential to talk to office staff, please ensure only one person is in the office foyer and anyone waiting to stand on the bees outside the office doors. Adults are more likely to pass on and to catch the virus so we need to ensure we are all keeping a good distance from each other. Be alert.
We are very grateful that so many parents have worn masks and followed the one-way system
and we are asking that you continue to do this in order to help us to keep everyone safe.
There will be additional measures of safety that we will be putting in place, these will include:
There may be times where we find it difficult to staff classes if teachers test positive or they need to self- isolate. We will cover as much of this as we can to ensure classes stay open, but there may be times where we need to close classes or bubbles and move to remote learning for a short period of time. Work will be provided on Google Classrooms so children do not miss out on the work the children are doing in class.
We are aware that some children will have grown out of their uniforms since January. If they do not have all the right uniform, we will not worry if children are not in quite the right clothes when they come back as we realise it is difficult to buy during Lockdown. There is a "pop up" free use uniform shop available in the community on the 4th March - of you can contact them direct - details here: Uniform News!
The advice regarding self-isolation remains the same. Pupils staff and other adults must not come into school if:
If any of these situations apply, they must not attend for at least 10 days after:
For the full guidance click on this link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/
This is the lastest guidance from Hampshire County Council working in partnership with other councils
about what you need to do to help ensure your child and your family is safe.
To ensure the safety of the school community, please do not send children to school if they are feeling poorly. We will be monitoring the temperatures of all staff daily and we ask that if your child has a temperature, they do not come to school even if they feel well. If they become ill during the school day, we have a small, well-ventilated room for them to wait in until they are collected. Adults will wear PPE when working with children if they show symptoms of Covid-19.
We have created a Covid-19 Scenario Factsheet for parents to answer you questions about what to do if:
It goes through a variety of scenerios from having symptoms, to to someone in the household testing postive, to being contacted by NHS Test and Trace - to travelling outside the UK and Sheilding.
Your can read it here: Covid Scenerio FactSheet
If your child falls ill at school, you will be contacted to collect them.
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
|
NON COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
If your child does not have any of the COVID-19 symptoms but does;
If any of the 3 main COVID-19 symptoms develop you must follow the government guidance on self-isolation and arrange a test for your child.
The school will contact you after 48 hours to check if your child has been COVID-19 symptom free.
If your child does not develop one of the three main COVID-19 symptoms, they can return to school 48 hours after the symptoms have stopped.
TESTING FOR COVID-19
All children and members of their households in England have access to testing if they display symptoms of coronavirus, including children under 5. A positive test will ensure rapid action to protect other children and staff in their setting. Tests can be accessed through the NHS website or by calling 119.
More Information was on our 1st newsletter of the school year or can be downloaded here: Covid -19 Advice and School Action Plan.
REGULAR TESTING
All families of school age children are able to access Rapid Tests - and we would like all families to test at home twice a week, as this is a way to help ensure the virus does not spread within out school community.
Pennington Junior School has partnered with the COVID Symptom Study to help make sure our students are as safe as possible as we head back to the classroom, whilst doing our part in creating the world’s largest scientific dataset of COVID-19 in children.
What is the COVID Symptom Study app and why should you use it?
The COVID Symptom Study app is a not-for-profit initiative that was launched at the end of March 2020 to support vital COVID-19 research. The app was launched by health science company ZOE with scientific analysis provided by King’s College London. Now, with over 4 million contributors globally, the Study is the world’s largest ongoing study of COVID-19. The app also provides unique insight on asymptomatic and symptomatic information across the UK which builds into a larger picture for the government and captures information not covered by other means. The Government has been so impressed with the data and research being produced it is now funding ZOE to continue the great work.
We are asking all parents to join the COVID Symptom Study now, by downloading the free app and taking less than 1min a day to report how your child/children are feeling each day. With all parents reporting daily via the app, the app will provide a powerful tool for helping the school and parents understand COVID in the community and help keep our students safe. Importantly, the information you report will be invaluable to critical scientific research into COVID in children and for public health purposes - the Study will be sure to share any findings from their research with you.
You can read more in the newsletter that was sent to all parents - including how to connect with our school network - you can view a copy here:
As we continue to try to minimise the risk of COVID-19 in the Pennington community, we ask for the support and understanding of our visitors.
Please read our COVID-19 guidelines for visitors.
We are asking for the support and understanding of our visitors in helping us minimise the risk of COVID-19.
We continues to take guidance from Public Health England. Taking this into account, we are now limiting access to the site to essential visitors only.
If you are unsure as to whether your proposed visit is considered essential, please contact the school on adminoffice@pennington-jun.hants.sch.uk or ring on 01590 672104
If your visit to the school is an essential one, we would nevertheless ask that you refrain from visiting if:
Along with all members of the PJS community, any visitors to the School should wash their hands with soap and water before leaving home and once they arrive at the school, and they may be asked to take a Lateral Flow Test.
For the avoidance of potential embarrassment, we would also like to advise you that the School is currently operating a ‘no handshake’ policy for all members of its community.
We apologise for not being able to give you our usual warm welcome, but we must take the current situation very seriously and look after the welfare of our pupils and staff. If you have any questions, please contact the member of staff you were due to visit.
All children have been able to access learning through their "Google Classroom" since November 2020.
Your google classroom anytime here: My Pennington Junior School Classroom.
Google Classroom Help - FAQ from our families
It is very important that children are able to continue to borrow reading books from school. Our new library system, which we will launch in September, will allow children to choose books virtually and we will then provide those books for children to take home. When they return these, they will be left for 72 hours to ensure they are virus free before anyone else is allowed to borrow them.
The same principle will apply to reading scheme books, we have invested in both KS1 and KS2 Rising Stars online library to ensure as many children as possible have access to the books that they need. If children do not have online access to books, they will still be able to borrow scheme books from school and we will quarantine these for 72 hours when they are returned.
The past few months have been challenging for everyone and we are aware that some children may have struggled with this more than others. We will offer ELSA support as well as whole class ‘circle times’ to give children time to discuss and share their experiences and help them to transition back to school happily.