St Joseph’s Catholic Junior School
Headteacher: Mrs C May B.A. (Hons) PGDE NPQH
Acting Deputy Head: Mr R Hopkins
Nobel Avenue
Port Talbot
SA12 6YN
Tel: 01639 769743
e-mail stjosephsjunior@npt.school
website: https://st-josephs-catholic-junior-school2.j2bloggy.com/
7th January 2022
Dear Parent/Guardian
There has been a confirmed case of COVID-19 in your child’s year group. Your child should continue to attend school and unless confirmed as a close contact by TTP, does not need to conduct daily Lateral Flow Tests (LFTs). However, we ask that you look out for symptoms of COVID-19 in your child.
The three key symptoms of COVID-19 are:
a high temperature: this means that they feel hot to touch on their chest or back
a new, continuous cough: this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
a loss or change to their sense of smell or taste: this means they’ve noticed they cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
If your child has any of these three key symptoms, please do not send your child to school and arrange a PCR test for them immediately. You can book a PCR test online through the NHS website at gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119. Anyone else in your household with any of these three key symptoms should also isolate and take a PCR test.
You should also be vigilant for the wider symptoms associated with COVID-19 which can include the following:
Runny nose/cold like symptoms,
Diarrhoea/sickness,
Loss of appetite,
Fatigue,
Sore throat,
Back pain/general aches and pains.
Please note that if your child is under the age of 5 years old they should not take COVID-19 tests unless directed to do so by a medical professional or if you believe a test is absolutely necessary and in the best interests of your child. They should however remain off school if they are unwell or have a high temperature and not return to school until it returns to normal and they feel better.
If any member of your household has tested positive for COVID-19, we also recommend that children 5 and over should take a daily lateral flow test every day for seven days. This should start on the day a member of your household is confirmed positive from a lateral flow or PCR test result.
Anyone with a positive test result should follow the rules set out at gov.wales/self isolation. If the test is negative, your child can return to school as soon as they feel better.
As a school we are not always aware of personal circumstances and there may be adults or children with conditions that increase the risk from COVID-19 in your household or extended contact group. You may choose to limit contact with anyone at greater risk from the effects of COVID-19 infection as a precaution.
This letter is for information so you are aware to look out for any symptoms of COVID-19. You may receive further correspondence from the Test, Trace and Protect (TTP) team who may provide you with further information and instructions.
If your child develops symptoms and tests positive for COVID-19, the Test, Trace and Protect service will contact you via text. You will be issued with an EFORM to enable the TTP service to gather contact tracing details. By providing details of your child’s contacts, you are helping to keep Wales safe and break chains of transmission within our communities.
Please follow the guidance to complete the e-form by 22:00 on the day that you receive the link. The form will take around 10 minutes to complete. If you are unable to complete the e-form by this time, you will receive a phone call from a contract tracer to confirm your details.
For further guidance regarding completing your EFORM, please follow the link provided: https://gov.wales/contact-tracing-completing-your-online-e-form.
We know how disruptive the last year has been for everyone. This year we want to keep your child in school as much as possible, but we also want to keep our schools and communities safe from the effects of COVID-19.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs C S May