01/01/2022

Covid-19 testing and the staggered start of term (January 2022)

The following information was sent to all parents/carers on Tuesday 7th December. This information contained a Covid-19 testing appointment time for your child.

On our return in January, at the start of the New Year, schools have been asked to carry out Lateral Flow Device (LFD) COVID testing for students, with a staggered start to the term to reduce mixing of potential cases. We are now able to provide you with more details regarding the testing process.

The vast majority of students will have gone through this testing process previously. We have made the process as simple as possible for families by ensuring that all children in a household have the same appointment times.

If your child has had Covid after 6 October 2021, then please do not attend testing in school as they may get a false positive result.

Please note the following points about our processes:

Tuesday 4 January 2022 – Students in Years 10 – Year 11 and their siblings will be tested. A small number of other students in Years 7, 8 and 9 will also be tested. There will be no lessons in school on this day. Work will be set via Show My Homework.
Wednesday 5 January – The remaining students in Years 7 – 9 will be tested. Years 10 – 11 to return to school as normal.
Thursday 6 January – Students in Years 7 – 9 to return to school.
Please note that testing remains a voluntary process.
Where parents have not given consent for their child to undergo LFD testing then they should ignore the appointment time and arrive for school on the first day of term as listed above.
Consent forms have been sent out to parents via the ParentMail app – please return the consent forms via the app by 15 December in order to allow us time to process these. Parents must give consent for this round of testing even if consent has been provided for previous in school testing.
Students will take their first test before the start of term. The appointment time for your child was provided on the letter sent to parents.

Additional LFD Testing Information

Results will be sent via email within a few hours of the test. If a test result is positive, then we will make contact as soon as possible.
The entry and exit to school will be the same as previous rounds of testing – please enter via front main reception East End gate.
Unfortunately parents cannot enter the test centre with their child.

You will be aware that the school has reviewed our risk assessments and procedures given the recent changes to national guidance and the potential spread of a new variant. Testing plays an important part in keeping our school community as safe as possible and we would urge all parents to consent for this. We hope that you are reassured that we are taking all possible precautions whilst maintaining a full curriculum delivery.

The staggered start to term has been made a necessity due to the requirement placed upon schools to carry out testing. We realise that this may be an inconvenience for families. If necessary we can accommodate children of critical key workers in Year 7 and Year 8, as we did during the period of school closure. Students working in school will be in a computer room completing the work set via Show My Homework, and will not be with their usual teachers. We would encourage parents not to use this unless absolutely necessary as we want to limit any mixing of students before testing has taken place. These students would take a lateral flow test at the start of the day. It would be useful if they were tested at home the evening before, as they would have to be collected if they tested positive in school and we realise that this could cause difficulties. Please contact the school using the email address below if you feel that you need to use this service. All requests must be made to the school by 15 December.

If you have any questions about anything in this letter, please email studentabsence@spaldingacademy.org.uk which is the dedicated email address set up to ease communication during the pandemic.