Dear Parents/Carers

It is day four of our staggered start as I write this letter and we have been delighted to welcome back our pupils. The week has gone well so far, and we are very pleased with how pupils are settling back into school life. The lateral flow device testing has been running successfully.

I am writing specifically to you today to give you more information about home self-testing kits.

At home rapid lateral flow testing for Secondary and Sixth Form pupils - kits to be issued to all pupils between 15^th and 19^th March

From 15^th March the school will issue rapid lateral flow device testing kits to all Secondary and Sixth Form pupils. We will issue 2 boxes containing 3 test kits in each. The instructions and how to upload the results of the tests to the NHS Test and Trace Service are included in each box.

The reasons for the government request for every Secondary and Sixth Form age pupil to participate in this testing are given below.

The testing is voluntary. We strongly encourage your child to take part so we can help prevent the spread of coronavirus and can better protect everyone in school and the local community.

When we distribute the test kits, we will record your child’s name, the serial number of the test kit, date of issue and expiry date on the kit. The government has asked us to keep this inventory information for 12 months.

Each pupil is asked to self-test twice a week, ideally before they come into school in the morning. Allow about 5 minutes to conduct the test and 30 minutes for the results. The kits will provide enough tests to carry this out until the Easter holidays.

The government will hopefully provide further instructions soon about the continuation or discontinuation of this measure for the Summer Term after the Easter holiday.

As well as communicating the results to NHS Test and Trace, we ask you (as does the government) to communicate the results to school via the Achievement Coordinator email to inform us of the test results, whether they are positive, negative or void. Ideally, you will do this as soon as you get the test result.

When you email the result please clearly type in your email your child’s

• Full name
• Year group
• Form
• Date of birth

This will enable us to accurately record the result. The result is for information purposes and will be added to the inventory.

Please email your results to the email below depending on which year group your child is in:

• Year 7 – ACO7@waverley.bham.sch.uk
• Year 8 – ACO8@waverley.bham.sch.uk
• Year 9 – ACO9@waverley.bham.sch.uk
• Year 10 – ACO10@waverley.bham.sch.uk
• Year 11 – ACO11@waverley.bham.sch.uk
• Year 12 and 13 – enquiry@waverley.bham.sch.uk

This is the official NHS self-test video that has been produced to instruct a person to carry out a self-test. It shows you the stages:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9XR8RZxKNo&list=PLvaBZskxS7tzQYlVg7lwH5uxAD9UrSzGJ&index=1

Rapid lateral flow testing for households and bubbles of school pupils and staff

All adults who live in households with Primary School, Secondary School and/or Sixth Form/college age children, are being asked by the government to test themselves twice a week.

As the overwhelming majority of pupils and students return to the classroom the government has asked that these adults including those in childcare and support bubbles, test themselves twice a week. 

Around 1 in 3 people with Covid-19 do not have any symptoms but can still pass it on. The aim of the rapid testing is to test as many people as possible to help stop the spread of infections – especially as places, such as schools.

To support this, home testing kits (a rapid lateral flow device test) are now available for anyone who is over the age of 18 who lives in the same home as a Primary School, Secondary School and/or Sixth Form/college age student.

People who are asymptomatic (do not display symptoms of Covid-19) can find out how to get a rapid lateral flow test by visiting the following government website link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rapid-lateral-flow-testing-for-households-and-bubbles-of-school-pupils-and-staff   

Here is a link to finding locations in the community where you can pick up testing kits: https://find-covid-19-rapid-test-sites.maps.test-and-trace.nhs.uk/

Reporting results of LFD Tests carried out at home

It is really important that results of all self-testing kits (pupils’ kits or kits obtained for families) are reported to the NHS. You can do this by visiting the Government's Report a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test result webpage (opens in new window) or over the phone by calling 119.

If anyone in the household tests positive or gets coronavirus symptoms, they should tell the school and:

• Self-isolate immediately
• Get a PCR test at a local test centre to confirm the result. PCR Tests work in a different way to lateral flow device tests as the swab kits go to a laboratory. The PCR tests are better at finding very small amounts of the virus, especially in early infection, so these are used primarily in people who have symptoms.
• Follow the guidance on the Government's webpage for households with possible infection (opens in new window).

A negative result means the test did not find signs of coronavirus, but this does not guarantee people do not have coronavirus, so they should keep following all the guidance on the Government's coronavirus advice webpage (opens in new window) including:

• Regular handwashing
• Social distancing
• Wearing a face covering where recommended

As I said in my last letter, the vaccination roll-out gives us real hope that we are winning the battle against Covid-19. We strongly advocate that every adult who is offered the vaccination and can have it does so. By doing this, recipients play a vital role in protecting our school, our local community, our nation and the wider world.

Yours sincerely,

 

Mrs. A Lloyd

Head of School - Secondary and Sixth Form Phase