08 Jul
Dear parents/guardians and staff,
Schools continue to work closely with Public Health England and Birmingham City
Council to follow national guidance and promote a COVID-secure environment within
their school. Your school is in an area of enhanced support at the moment, this means
that there is lower uptake of testing, rising case rates and low levels of vaccination,
which puts us all at risk of ongoing outbreaks.
We must all take individual responsibility to do everything we can to enjoy the extra
freedoms we have, while remaining cautious and following the ‘Hands, Face Space
and Fresh Air’ guidance when mixing with loved ones and socialising.
This is most important as the city of Birmingham is now under government enhanced
support due to increasing numbers of people getting infected with the Delta variant
which is more infectious.
It is important for all staff, pupils and families to continue to follow all coronavirus safety
measures and guidance to minimise the risk of spreading infections across the staff
and pupils in the school. The safety measures include testing, isolation, vaccination,
good hand hygiene, wearing face coverings, social distancing, good ventilation for all
person regardless of whether they have had their coronavirus vaccines.
Testing
We are aware that some parents are sending children to school without carrying out
their twice weekly Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests. Please remember that all
secondary school aged children, staff and their households should be testing twice a
week using the rapid Lateral Flow home testing kits. Even if you have had both doses
of the vaccine or have mild symptoms, it is important to keep testing to help identify
anyone who is infected with coronavirus as the vaccines reduce the risks of becoming
seriously ill or dying from the virus.
Ordering a test is simple. Please follow the 3 options below:
• Individuals can order 1 pack of Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests (contains 7 kits)
per household per day or by calling 119 (open 7am-11pm). Delivery is within
two days.
• Find a pharmacy where you can collect Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests
• Find a local site where you can collect Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests
Your school is also happy to help to support you with getting tested, please do speak
to the staff.
Isolation
There are some children who continue to come to schools when they should have
been isolating. Sometimes, we know that people are unaware of the reasons to isolate
which are due to displaying COVID-19 symptoms or if you are a contact (e.g. part of
a household or school bubble) of someone with symptoms or confirmed coronavirus
infection. It is also important that if you test positive for COVID-19 after taking an LFD
test, you self-isolate immediately and request a PCR test, which gives a more accurate
result to confirm if someone has COVID-19. There is an isolation support pack to help
households access the correct information to enable them to choose rightly and
remain at home to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Please use the isolation pack here:
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/downloads/download/4207/self_isolation_support_pack
Vaccination
It is also important that people take up the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as you are
invited to do so. Please use our local vaccine toolkit to inform yourselves about
the COVID-19 vaccines facts and also use trusted NHS websites here:
https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/covid-19-vaccine-toolkit-download
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination.
Parents and guardians should continue to remind their children to follow the guidance
provided in school even when they are outside school, to help everyone remain safe
and enjoy the end of school term.
Your school can offer ongoing support to any pupils and staff and local public health
and education partners will continue to liaise with the school and provide advice when
needed.
Thank you for your continued support and cooperation throughout this difficult period.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Justin Varney
Director of Public Health
