Unfortunately, we have had notification of a positive COVID-19 test within Year 1. I am informing you that I have consulted with Public Health England to ensure that we are taking the right actions for our school.
They have advised that ALL children should self-isolate for a period of 10 days from the date of contact. This means that Year 1 pupils will need to isolate until and including 23rd July. The advice from Public Health England is that children will need to be tested if they develop any of the symptoms as listed on the DfE and NHS websites:
a high temperature– this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough– this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours(if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste– this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
School Lunches: If your child is entitled to a free school lunch, please collect these at 11:30am each day from the school office from Wednesday 14th July
Remote learning will be provided from 12:30 On Wednesday 14th July via Microsoft teams. Timetables will be uploaded shortly.
Staff and leaders across school are working tirelessly to ensure that we are following all of the guidance being issued. I appreciate that this is a very worrying and challenging time for the whole Birchfield family and thank you for your support.
Reflecting on the previous year, it is hard to sum up what we have been through individually, as families and as a community. I want to thank you for the support you have shown the team at Birchfield and the patience with which you have worked with us during a time that has been incredibly challenging.
At the point of writing this letter, there has been an initial update from the UK government and DfE about what is expected of schools for September. It is important to note that this new guidance could change if cases continue to rise across the summer. As always, we will endeavour to communicate this with you quickly and clearly.
What follows in this letter is what we currently know about beginning the new academic year in September.
The new, updated guidance outlines the following changes for the Autumn term:
· It is no longer necessary to keep children in consistent bubbles in school.
· Assemblies can resume.
· Children from different classes/bubbles are able to mix at break and lunchtimes.
· Children under the age of 18 will no longer be required to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive case/contacted by NHS Test and Trace.
· Face coverings will no longer be advised for pupils, staff or visitors in classrooms or communal areas.
· Good hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, appropriate cleaning regimes, ventilated spaces and the following of all Public Health England advice remain.
· A Covid risk assessment, with clear control measures, continues to be a requirement of school.
· Asymptomatic testing (also known as LFD testing) is recommended to continue twice weekly (these are readily available free of charge from pharmacies)
Term dates:
Thursday 2nd & Friday 3rd September – Teacher training days, school closed to ALL pupils.
Monday 6th September – School begins for all pupils.
Friday 22nd October – Last day of Autumn term 1, pupils break up for half term.
Monday 1st November – All pupils return to school after October half term.
Nursery and Reception parents will have received individual correspondence about arrangements for starting in September. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need any further information.
Other information:
Pupils should continue to come to school in their PE kits on their designated PE days. These dates will be shared by new class teachers in September. Pupils remain in their PE kits all day and do not need to bring uniform to change into.
Lunches:
School lunches are automatically free to any child in Reception, Y1 or Y2 as part of the universal free school meals initiative from the government. Other children may also be eligible for a free school meal, as part of the pupil premium free school meals offer. If you think this applies to you, please contact our school office via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Dinners are £2.25. Packed lunches are also permitted for all pupils who do not wish to have a hot school dinner.
Arrival and Departure Procedures:
Recent guidance suggests that we are able to return to our normal drop off and collection times and arrangements from September. Unless we are advised otherwise before September, school starts at 8:45 and finishes at 3:30 for all pupils.
In the event of any updated guidance, we will text parents to alert you and ensure all letters are uploaded onto the school website www.birchfld.bham.sch.uk. Please ensure the office have your correct contact details before breaking up for the summer.
I hope this letter has helped to answer any questions you may have about September. We wish you all a wonderful summer. Stay safe, take good care and we look forward to welcoming you back in the new academic year. On behalf of the whole team at Birchfield, thank you for your continued support.
There are 2 main types of tests to detect if someone has COVID-19. These are:
PCR tests
PCR tests are the most reliable COVID-19 tests. It takes longer to get the results because they are usually processed in a laboratory. People with symptoms of COVID-19 should arrange to have a PCR test. People who live in the same household as someone with COVID-19 can also take a PCR test, as they are at higher risk of being infected even if they do not have symptoms.
LFD tests
LFD tests are mainly used in routine testing of people who are not displaying symptoms. People in England who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 can take part in regular testing using LFD tests as part of school or workplace LFD testing programmes. These programmes are known as ‘asymptomatic testing programmes’ (no symptoms present) and help by detecting undiagnosed cases and therefore reducing the spread of infection to others.
When children develop or show symptoms in school, we will ask you to collect them and arrange for a PCR test. We will also ask you to collect siblings. Once you have received the results of the test and the results are negative then all children can return to school and the child with symptoms can also return once they are well enough to do so.
If the results are positive, then you will need to isolate for 10 days. We ask that you keep school informed so that we can minimise the risk to other pupils and staff.
I hope this information is useful. For any queries or information relating to attendance, please contact the school and ask to speak to Mrs Ahmed.
Unfortunately, we have had notification of a positive COVID-19 test within Year 4. I am informing you that I have consulted with Public Health England to ensure that we are taking the right actions for our school.
They have advised that ALL children should self-isolate for a period of 10 days from the date of contact. This means that Year 4 pupils will return to school on Monday 28th June. The advice from Public Health England is that children will need to be tested if they develop any of the symptoms as listed on the DfE and NHS websites:
a high temperature– this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough– this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours(if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste– this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal.
School Lunches: If your child is entitled to a free school lunch, please collect these at 11:30am each day from the school office from Monday 21st June.
Remote learning will be provided from Monday 21st June via Microsoft teams. Timetables will be uploaded shortly.
Staff and leaders across school are working tirelessly to ensure that we are following all of the guidance being issued. I appreciate that this is a very worrying and challenging time for the whole Birchfield family and thank you for your support.
Unfortunately, we have had notification of a positive COVID-19 test within Year 4. I have worked with Public Health England to ensure that we are taking the right actions to minimise risk to our school community.
The advice that Public Health have given is outlined below:
Only children within the specific year group need to self-isolate. Siblings of children in year 4 are advised to continue to attend school unless they develop symptoms themselves. Children in other year groups are advised to remain in school unless they are already self-isolating.
As per the guidance from Public Health England, children will only need to be tested if they develop any of the symptoms as listed on the DfE and NHS websites:
a high temperature– this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
a new, continuous cough– this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours(if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste– this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Staff and leaders across school are working tirelessly to ensure that we are following all of the guidance being issued. I appreciate that this is a very worrying and challenging time for the whole Birchfield family and thank you for your support.
