Head’s face mask plea to parents as cases of Covid rise in school
‘POLITE NOTICE’ ISSUED AFTER DISAPPOINTMENT
A LEICESTERSHIRE secondary head teacher said he was disappointed with the lack of parental support as the school attempted to curb high Covid-19 rates by reintroducing masks.
The head teacher of South Charnwood High School, Andrew Morris, delivered a “polite notice” to parents insisting their children wear face masks in school when they returned after the half-term holidays last month, after previous attempts to reintroduce them went unheeded.
The Markfield school originally requested parental support in encouraging their children to wear the masks prior to the half-term holiday after over 80 Covid-19 cases were discovered in one week.
Mr Morris said in the school’s halfterm newsletter: “We were all so happy to get back to school, with the usual timetable, with no bubbles and staff in their own rooms in department areas, it was such a relief.
“However, the seven weeks have not been without disruption. We have had our fair share of positive cases among pupils and, indeed, staff. Such were our numbers one week – over 80 positive cases – that we asked for your support in encouraging pupils to wear a face covering again in communal areas, including classrooms.
“In truth, the response from pupils was not as we hoped and there are still only a handful of pupils wearing masks as requested.”
Mr Morris added the result was a high number of cases the following week as well. He said: “Hence, our numbers stayed relatively high at 51 positive cases for the next week.
“Can I, therefore, deliver our polite notice that we will now ‘expect’ pupils to wear masks in indoor communal areas. Please supply your child with a mask.”
As pupils returned following the holidays, a letter was sent to parents advising them the school was in stage two of the Outbreak Management Plan.
Leicestershire County Council told the Mercury there are four stages to the plan, with the first stage kicking in when a school has five linked cases or 10 per cent of a school tests positive in the last 10 days, whichever is reached first.
In this stage, the council advises schools carry out greater asymptomatic testing, moving some activities such as assemblies and exercise outdoors and alerting the wider community to the rise in cases. These measures are in addition to the cleaning, testing and ventilating protocols already in place.
Stage two is reached when a school has more than 11 cases. The council advises reintroducing facemasks in shared spaces and limiting visitors to the school.
For a school to be in stage three, there needs to be more than 20 cases, at which point bringing back bubbles is recommended, as well as extending the requirement for facemasks to classrooms. The council also suggests asymptomatic testing sites be set up in the school and the siblings of isolating students be required to register daily test results.
Stage four is initiated when there are 50-plus cases or 30 per cent of a school is positive. At this stage, limiting attendance to the school is suggested.
The county council added these steps are recommended, but ultimately it is for the school to decide whether to follow them. They also said the case numbers for each stage are not set in stone, with the school’s individual circumstances being taken into account.
Mr Morris advised parents the school would be requiring pupils to wear facemasks in all indoor communal areas, including hallways and the dining hall and encouraged pupils to test at least twice a week.
He added that school assemblies would be cancelled for two weeks and there would be a greater focus on cleaning “touch points”.
He said: “Please support us with these measures by encouraging your child to wear a mask in allocated areas and to sanitise their hands regularly.”
Mike Sandys, director of public health for Leicestershire County Council added that the picture for Leicestershire as a whole is starting to look more positive.
He said: “Because term time started earlier in Leicestershire than in most other parts of the country we were always ahead of the curve on infection rates among school age children.
“The positive news is that our rates among 11 to 16 year-olds in Leicestershire are now below the national average for the age group.
“That is because of the efforts of students, parents and staff to keep a lid on the worst excesses that other parts of the country are now experiencing.”
The latest case numbers for young people aged 11 to 16 in Leicestershire between Saturday, October 23 and Friday, October 29 were 892.1 cases per 100,000 people. The national average is about 1081.8 per 100,000.
At the peak of the infections in Leicestershire since the return to school in August, case rates were around 4,000 per 100,000 in Harborough, the hardest hit area.
Mr Morris has asked the Mercury to clarify that the school is now back in stage one of the Outbreak Management Plan, having seen a drop in cases.