Coronavirus update
Published 19/03/20
Coronavirus update — School Closure to Most Pupils
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Latest News
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Read MoreOnline Learning Resources
Published 19/03/20In the event that your son/daughter is not in school they can still access the wide range of online learning tools that they have at their disposal. This will support their learning during this time.
Read MoreCoronavirus (Covid-19) update 17th March 2020
Published 17/03/20New guidance for households with symptoms
Yesterday, the Government introduced new guidance on whole household isolation in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak:
- if you live alone and you have symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19), however mild, stay at home for 7 days from when your symptoms started
- if you live with others and you or another member of the household have symptoms of coronavirus, then all household members must stay at home and not leave the house for 14 days. The 14-day period starts from the day when the first person in the house became ill. It is likely that people living within a household will infect each other or be infected already. Staying at home for 14 days will greatly reduce the overall amount of infection the household could pass on to others in the community
- for anyone in the household who starts displaying symptoms, they need to stay at home for 7 days from when the symptoms appeared, regardless of what day they are on in the original 14-day isolation period.
The symptoms are:
- A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
- A new, continuous cough
The full stay at home guidance for households with these symptoms can be found here:
The Prime Minister’s statement from Monday 16 March can be found here:
Temporary suspension of Ofsted inspections
Ofsted is to temporarily suspend routine inspections of schools, colleges, early years settings, children’s social care providers and local authorities to reduce the burden on staff who are providing vital services to the nation in response to coronavirus.
The current medical and scientific advice is for schools and other educational establishments to stay open. If this changes and the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Scientific Adviser say closing schools, colleges, and early years settings is in the best interests of children and teachers the Department will take that step.
The full announcement made by Gavin Williamson can be viewed here:
Updated guidance on recording school pupil absences
No school will be penalised for the impact on school attendance of coronavirus (COVID-19). Please record absences as follows:
- Where a pupil cannot attend school due to illness, as would normally happen, the pupil should be recorded as absent in the attendance register and the school will authorise the absence. Code I (Illness) should be used in this instance.
- Where a pupil is in self-isolation, in accordance with latest information and advice from Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England, the pupil should be recorded as unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances in the attendance register. Code Y (Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances) should be used in this instance.
- Where a pupil does not attend school and is not self-isolating, the pupil will be marked as absent. We back headteachers’ judgement and to be pragmatic – having spoken to parents – on whether to authorise such absence, taking into account individual circumstances. We expect, in particular, headteachers will authorise absence where a pupil is not able to attend because of an underlying health condition that means they, or a family member in their household, are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus (COVID-19).
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Watch this short NHS film for guidance:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls. We appreciate your patience at this time and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible, we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends and are increasing the number of call handlers available to answer your calls.
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the hotline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Guidance for social or community care and residential settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources:
Latest Department for Education information:
Please keep your GIAS school contacts up to date
If you work in a school, please take this opportunity to review your contact information in Get Information About Schools (GIAS).
To update your record, please go to the GIAS home page, “Sign in” using your “DfE Sign-in” credentials and select GIAS from your available services here:
Read MoreCoronavirus (Covid-19) update 16th March 2020
Published 16/03/20Updated guidance for education settings on coronavirus (COVID-19)
Today, the Department for Education and Public Health England have issued updated guidance for education settings on COVID-19. This guidance will assist staff in addressing COVID-19 in educational settings. This includes childcare, schools, further and higher educational institutions.
What you need to know:
- staff, young people and children should stay at home if they are unwell with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature to avoid spreading infection to others. Otherwise they should attend education or work as normal
- if staff, young people or children become unwell on site with a new, continuous cough or a high temperature they should be sent home
- clean and disinfect regularly touched objects and surfaces more often than usual using your standard cleaning products
- supervise young children to ensure they wash their hands for 20 seconds more often than usual with soap and water or hand sanitiser and catch coughs and sneezes in tissues
The updated guidance can be found here:
Current advice remains in place: no education or children’s social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that the impact of closing schools on both children’s education and on the workforce would be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be. Decisions on future advice to education or children’s social care settings will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.
Recording school pupil absences
Where a pupil is in self-isolation, in accordance with latest information and advice from Department of Health and Social Care and Public Health England, the pupil should be recorded as unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances in the attendance register. Code Y (Unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances) should be used in this instance.
If a pupil does not attend school, despite the school operating as usual and the pupil is not self-isolating, they should be marked as absent. It is for headteachers to determine whether or not the absence is authorised depending on the individual circumstances.
Where a pupil cannot attend school due to illness, as normally would happen, the pupil should be recorded as absent in the attendance register and the school will authorise the absence. Code I (Illness) should be used in this instance.
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Watch this short NHS film for guidance:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls. We appreciate your patience at this time and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends.
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the hotline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Guidance for social or community care and residential settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources:
Latest Department for Education information:
Please keep your GIAS school contacts up to date
If you work in a school, please take this opportunity to review your contact information in Get Information About Schools (GIAS).
To update your record, please go to the GIAS home page, “Sign in” using your “DfE Sign-in” credentials and select GIAS from your available services here:
- Read More
Coronavirus (Covid-19) update 13th March 2020
Published 13/03/20Government announces move from Contain to Delay phase
Yesterday, the Government announced that we are moving from the Contain phase of the coronavirus action plan and into the Delay phase, in response to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Full details of each stage in the government action plan can be found here:
To support the delay of the spread of the virus, the Department for Health and Social Care has asked anyone who shows certain symptoms to stay at home for 7 days, regardless of whether they have travelled to affected areas. This means people should stay at home and avoid all but essential contact with others for 7 days from the point of displaying mild symptoms, to slow the spread of infection.
The symptoms are:
- A high temperature (37.8 degrees and above)
- A new, continuous cough
You do not need to call NHS 111 to stay at home. If your symptoms worsen during your stay at home period or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111. For a medical emergency dial 999.
Current advice remains in place: no education or children’s social care setting should close in response to a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 case unless advised to do so by Public Health England.
The Chief Medical Officer has advised that the impact of closing schools on both children’s education and on the workforce will be substantial, but the benefit to public health may not be. Decisions on future advice to schools will be taken based on the latest and best scientific evidence, which at this stage suggests children are a lower risk group.
COVID-19 travel guidance for the education sector
The Government has issued new travel guidance for the education sector. This advises against all overseas education trips for children under 18. This does not apply to domestic trips, or overseas trips which are already underway.
The full guidance can be found here:
Handwashing advice
The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.
Watch this short NHS film for guidance:
Educational resources
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)Please note, we are currently experiencing high volumes of calls and apologise for any wait that you may experience. To ensure that we answer your calls as quickly as possible we have now extended our opening hours to cover weekends.
If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the hotline.
Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Guidance for social or community care and residential settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Educational resources:
Latest Department for Education information:
Please keep your GIAS contacts up to date
If you work in a school, please take this opportunity to review your contact information in Get Information About Schools (GIAS).
To update your record, please go to the GIAS home page, “Sign in” using your “DfE Sign-in” credentials and select GIAS from your available services here:
Read MoreSTEM Internships
Published 10/03/20Paid internships with the Forest Learning Alliance - Click Here for an application form
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Coronavirus (Covid-19) update 6th March 2020
Published 06/03/20
This is your daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to COVID-19 (coronavirus).
The importance of hygiene
Personal hygiene is the most important way we can tackle COVID-19, especially washing hands more; and the catch it, bin it, kill it strategy for those with coughs and sneezes.
Wash your hands more often for 20 seconds with soap and hot water.
In addition to handwashing before eating and after sneezing, both children and staff should also wash hands after using toilets and after travelling on public transport.
Please help us in sharing simple and effective hand hygiene messages:
Public Health England has a dedicated webpage with a range of posters and digital materials at:
Sign up is quick, free and means you will be alerted as more resources are made available.
Educational resources
The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.
Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools:
Updated travel advice for travellers returning from Italy
The advice remains the same for travellers returning from the lockdown areas of Italy, that you should self-isolate even if you are not showing symptoms. The advice for other parts of Italy has been expanded to cover the whole country: if you have returned from anywhere else in Italy outside of the lockdown areas, you should self-isolate if you develop symptoms and call NHS 111.
The latest travel guidance can be found here:
Further information on what you should do if you are asked to self-isolate can be found here:
Department for Education coronavirus helpline
The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is now available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday)Where to find the latest information
Updates on COVID-19:
Guidance for educational settings:
Travel advice for those travelling and living overseas:
Latest Department for Education information:
- Read More
Coronavirus (Covid-19) Update - 4th March 2020
Published 04/03/20Wokingham Borough Council would like to update you on what the coronavirus situation may mean for staff working in schools across the borough.
Please note, this is a developing situation and WBC will send further updates.
The situation in the UK
The number of confirmed cases in the UK increased over the weekend. You can find the latest information about the number of cases and where they are on the Public Health England website. This site is updated daily. The Government has announced it is stepping up its planning in case the situation worsens. We will keep you informed.
The situation in Wokingham Borough
Over the weekend there was a confirmed case: a member of staff at Willow Bank Infant School in Woodley. The infected person is now in hospital. The colleagues and children with whom they had close contact have been contacted and advised appropriately by PHE. The school has closed because of the number of staff who are off work as a result of isolation advice, not because attending the school will put people at risk. Willow Bank Junior School and Aldryngton Primary School also took the decision to close - Aldryngton just for Monday March 2 and the junior school until tomorrow (Thursday March 5). These are purely precautionary measures and are not on the advice of Public Health England.
With schools closing, there could be staff from other schools affected as their own children may be off school. These staff should follow their school’s policy on Leave of Absence – section on ‘Time off for dependents’.
What does this mean for staff?
If staff have questions about coronavirus, Covid-19 and their health – such as what the symptoms are and how to stop it spreading - then you should refer to the NHS website for information.
If there are questions about the situation – such as the number of cases and where they are, and what countries are affected - then you should refer to the Public Health England (PHE) website for information.
What should staff do if they think they’ve been exposed to coronavirus
If any staff think they have been exposed to coronavirus:
- They should contact NHS 111 immediately.
- Notify their line manager.
Depending on the specific circumstances, the NHS 111 service may require the staff member to self-isolate (stay at home). If this is the case, please advise staff that this will not impact on their pay or sick-leave entitlement.
We’ve received a number of questions about what it means if you have had contact with someone who is then required to be self-isolating. Here’s an update from David Munday, the lead Public Health Consultant for Berkshire:
“Covid-19 is like most coronaviruses and we think primarily spreads from person to person via respiratory droplets, for example when someone coughs or sneezes. You catch it from someone who is showing symptoms. That’s why the most important advice is to catch your cough or sneeze in a tissue, and to wash your hands frequently and thoroughly.”
“Self-isolating is another word for quarantine. It means staying in-doors and away from other people to avoid spreading the virus. You only need to self-isolate if you have been in contact with someone who is confirmed to have Covid-19 and have been told to by Public Health England or the NHS. You don’t need to self-isolate if you have been in contact with someone else who had contact with the confirmed case. For example, Willow Bank Infant School in Woodley had a confirmed case. Staff and children who were in contact with the person have been asked to self-isolate. But if you visited the school, played with other children or talked to a parent – even if they had contact with the confirmed case – you don’t need to self-isolate.”
Here’s a summary:
Situation
Action
Someone has a confirmed case of Covid-19
Isolated in hospital and treated
Someone had contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19 while that person was having symptoms
PHE will assess how much contact there was and ask the person to self-isolate and/ or monitor closely for symptoms
Someone had contact with a person who in turn has had contact with a confirmed case (but has no symptoms and is not a confirmed case themselves)
No action needed – no contact with a confirmed case
Rest of population
No action needed – no contact with a confirmed case
What school staff should do:
Follow the Public Health England advice to:
- wash hands thoroughly and frequently using soap and water - this is the best way to kill the virus.
- catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue, and then throw it away.
- Look at making contingency plans for childcare in case of school / nursery closures affecting their own childcare arrangements.
Key Links
- Latest Information and advice - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-information-for-the-public
- Guidance for British people travelling and living overseas - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-advice-novel-coronavirus
- National Guidance for all employers and business - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/guidance-for-employers-and-businesses-on-covid-19
- Guidance for educational settings - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19
- Read More
Coronavirus (Covid-19) update March 2nd
Published 02/03/20Dear Parents
I write regarding the updated advice from the Department for Education received this afternoon and a summary of the school’s response.
- Read More
Coronavirus (Covid-19) update
Published 02/03/20Dear parents
Please see the update below from Wokingham Borough Council:
- Read More
Coronavirus Information
Published 26/02/20Dear Parents
Following the news regarding schools and the coronavirus featured nationally yesterday and today, Public Health England and DfE have updated their advice, which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19/guidance-to-educational-settings-about-covid-19 
Read MoreOngoing ParentPay issues
Published 15/01/20The school has made ParentPay aware of the low balance alert not working currently. They are working to get this fixed. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Read MoreGCE Certificates 2019
Published 06/12/19There will be an opportunity to receive your GCE certificates at an informal get-together at the school, on Monday 16th December 2019 from 2-4pm in the sixth form common room; please sign in and out at Reception on the day.
Read MorePSA Auction
Published 29/11/19The PSA Christmas Auction is now CLOSED
Winners can collect their prizes from Monday.
Read MorePSA Christmas Fayre 2019 - This Friday!
Published 26/11/19Friday 29th November 2019
Read MorePrayer Meeting - Wednesday 13th November
Published 12/11/19Dear Parents and Carers
You are all very welcome to attend our prayer meeting being held tomorrow, Wednesday 13th November, at 8.30 am in the Drama Studio. This is being led by Chris West of St Andrew's Church, Sonning.
Kind regards
The Piggott School
Read MoreChina Trip 2019 - Luzhou & Chengdu
Published 11/11/19Miss Hardy and I took 22 Year 10 & 11 pupils on a terrific trip to China during the half term holidays. After 25 hours of travelling we arrived in Chengdu to be greeted by a delegation of Chinese teachers, followed by an even bigger welcome at Luzhou High School. This was very much a theme of the 11 days we were over there, with everyone being so open; both Chinese children with Piggott pupils and Luzhou staff with Piggott teachers. We had a variety of ceremonies, speeches and other events, and were very well looked after all the way through. The pupils from Luzhou High School treated the Piggott children like celebrities and they all got on like a house on fire. We even had a camera crew and a security guard following us around, such was the occasion! The aims were for the English pupils to take in the culture of China, understand the differences and development and improve their Chinese; all of these were resoundingly met and then some.
Read MoreChildren In Need
Published 08/11/19We are holding a non uniform day in aid of Children in Need on Friday 15th November