Reducing the Risk of Infection at Prince Henry’s

The government continues to provide updated guidance for school-based provision (available here). We have followed this guidance to review the control measures which we had already implemented to reduce the risk of infection at Prince Henry’s.

At Prince Henry’s, the return to school arrangements include the following measures to reduce the risk of spreading the infection:

Asymptomatic testing

All students have been offered an on-site Lateral Flow Tests at the start of the Spring term. Staff and students are then encouraged to undertake twice weekly home testing until further notice. Please encourage and support your child to home test regularly. Likewise, if your child is not participating in on-site testing at the start of term, please support them to undertake a test at home on the evening before returning to school.

Face Coverings

Students and staff follow the guidance, updated in January 2022, regarding wearing face coverings on corridors and in communal areas. Students will be expected to wear a face covering when travelling to school on public or dedicated school transport and in classrooms. As stated in the guidance, staff are expected to wear face coverings when in close contact with students, but not when teaching from the front of the classroom.

Ventilation

Maintaining good ventilation in all spaces will remain a priority.

Hand and respiratory hygiene

Hand sanitiser will continue to be available throughout the school building, and the expectation of regular hand cleaning will continue to be extremely important.

The ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach to coughs and sneezes will also remain.

Enhanced cleaning

The school’s cleaning contractor will provide an enhanced cleaning routine, for example regular cleaning of key areas throughout the day, with a particular focus on frequently touched places.

Following PHE guidance on testing, self-isolation and managing positive cases

Students or staff should not come into school if they have symptoms, have had a positive test result or other reasons requiring them to stay at home due to the risk of them passing on COVID-19 (for example, they are required to quarantine). Anyone displaying symptoms will be sent home and asked to follow PHE guidance.

Outbreak Management Plan

The Outbreak Management Plan outlines how Prince Henry’s will operate and what additional mitigation measures may be put in place if there were an outbreak in the school or the local area. The decision to implement some or all aspects of the school’s Outbreak Management Plan will be made in conjunction with Public Health England. Additional measures in the Outbreak Management Plan include:

• A return to the separation of Year Groups (bubbles)
• An expectation that all students and staff wear a face covering in corridors, communal areas or classrooms
• Increased testing
• Limiting activities such as onsite Parents’ events
• Limiting attendance onsite and return to remote education (last resort)

In addition, there will be a review and update of the Individual Risk Assessments for Clinically Extremely Vulnerable staff and students (those who previously received a Shielding Letter).

Risk Assessment

The most recent version of our Risk Assessment and Outbreak Management Plan has been uploaded below.