Dear Parents,,

After school on Friday 22nd October, Somerset Schools were contacted by the  Director of Public Health for Somerset for Primary Schools with regards to rising cases of COVID in Somerset.

“To help Somerset schools with reviewing their plans, we have undertaken an individual risk  assessment for every school in Somerset, considering current school rates of infection and  the local community infection rates. Based on these rates, we would advise you to reopen  after half term in Amber escalation and implement the basic, additional and enhanced  control measures.

In order for infection rates to stabilise, we would recommend that these measures are kept in  place for 2 weeks following the half term break unless there is a significant outbreak that  requires increased measures.” 

Many of the basic and additional measures have already been in place at Elmhurst from September as part of our high hygiene standards across the school. Some new measures will be introduced when pupils return on November 2nd 2021 and I ask all parents to read the following document carefully so we can work together to help reduce the risk of spreading infection further.

We have highlighted green, actions we are already taking and you will see in the final column new mitigations for the start of term.

Thank you so much for your patience and understanding with what seems like an everchanging landscape when it comes to managing COVID 19 in school. I will continue to keep you updated with information when it is shared with me and when changes have been made.
The leadership team and I have worked over the weekend to ensure we carry out the new mitigations required of the school whilst minimising the disruption to your child’s learning.
We wanted to share the plan with you as soon as possible and I hope it has not taken any enjoyment out of your break. Please remember Elmhurst School remained in the green (low level) zone all of last term and these measures are a reflection of community rates rather than our own personal school situation.
Best wishes
Ms Airey