I would like to reassure all members of the school community that we are following all the advice given by the government and health experts when it comes to dealing with COVID-19 in schools. We receive daily updates from The Department for Education and Public Health England about this issue. We monitor this advice and take any actions as appropriate. For example, the planned school trip to Italy over Easter has been cancelled, we have taken the decision at tonight’s Year 10 parents evening that staff and parents / carers will not shake hands, we have posters up all round school reminding students of the importance of personal hygiene and handwashing facilities across the school are topped up and checked on a daily basis. Based on the current information we have received from Public Health England, there are currently no suspected cases of COVID-19 reported in Cheshire East or Staffordshire.
The current advice from the government is that no school should close in response to a suspected (or confirmed) COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England. So it is business as usual for us here at Alsager.
The Department for Education has launched a new helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, students and parents / carers can contact the helpline on
Phone – 0800 046 8687 – Monday – Friday 8am – 6pm
E mail; DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
The best way to tackle the challenge posed by coronavirus is by following public health authorities’ advice, for example on handwashing, ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ and reducing the impact and spread of misinformation by relying on information from trusted sources such as that on www.nhs.uk and www.gov.uk
Warm regards
Richard Middlebrook
Executive Headteacher
