Schools Pathway for Covid

 Dear Parents/Guardians,

You may be aware of the HSE publication Schools Pathway for Covid-19 which was published yesterday and is being discussed on media and social media today.

I wanted to offer a quick cheat-sheet version for clarity.

1. Symptoms of Covid; a new cough, temperature of 38 or higher, change in sense of smell or taste.

2. If your child presents with any of these symptoms keep them at home and phone the G.P.

3. If your child presents with any of these symptoms in school, you will be called to collect them and they will be moved to the isolation area outside the GP hall. You can collect them via the ramp in the top yard (Talbot Tc side of the school).

4. Siblings do not have to go home unless the child with symptoms is sent for a Covid test.

5. Page 4 of the document states that children will be referred for a Covid test unless there is a strong clinical reason to do otherwise.

6. The entire household must self-isolate while awaiting the results of the test.

7. The wider school community will not be informed of a child being sent for a Covid test.

8. If the child receives a negative result they can return to school once they feel better. We will need parents to sign a declaration stating their child got a negative test result.

9. If the test is positive the HSE will contact the parents directly and instruct you from there.

The HSE will also contact the school and begin the contact tracing process in school.

It is not automatic that a whole class will be considered a close contact and it's possible a pod or immediate group of friends will only be considered close contacts and need to be tested on day 0 and day 7.

10. The school will at all times follow the HSE instructions and will not make any medical decisions concerning Covid, contact tracing, etc. 

11. It is also possible the HSE will partially close the school or just one class. The HSE stress that each school will be dealt with  as an individual case and their response will be dynamic.

12. Please let your class teacher know if your child has any existing respiratory illnesses such as asthma.

I know this is a stressful time but if we can follow the rules and keep on top of things then there is no reason we cannot keep our school open.

I look forward to welcoming you all back on Tuesday.

Mr. Barron