Re: COVID-19 Coronavirus
Dear Parent/Guardian,
I wish to inform you that Lurgan Junior High School continues to act on the advice of the Public Health Agency and other bodies in connection with the above and, consequently, school remains open to pupils and staff until instructed otherwise by the authorities. You can find the most recent update from the Public Health Agency here https://www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/covid-19-coronavirus. Separate guidance for educational settings is also being followed by the school in liaison with our Board of Governors.
This week, time has been devoted in class to making pupils aware of this advice and we have also shown related videos which demonstrate best practice in hand washing. Posters have already been displayed around the school, including corridors and bathrooms, and these have previously been communicated to parents on our Facebook page.
All our sporting matches have been cancelled, as have after-school practices in line with advice from sporting governing bodies. Netball NI have stated that they will continue, however, this will also be kept under review daily.
The PHA update includes the latest advice, as well as general guidelines on approaches that can be taken to prevent the spread of any infection as well as more information on what to do if your child is unwell.
If any member of the school community, whether parents, pupils or staff, has recently travelled to a higher risk area (please see classification of higher risk countries and towns in prior link), the advice is to self-isolate regardless of whether symptoms are present or not.
Anyone who has travelled to a lower risk area (or one of the countries stipulated as lower risk in the prior link with associated dates of travel) does not need to undertake any special measures unless they have a cough, or fever (temperature above 38˚C), or shortness of breath. If you do experience any of these symptoms, please contact your GP by phone and stay indoors.
If you are concerned about someone in your home displaying symptoms, it is recommended that they do not attend school and that as parents/guardians, you should contact the NHS 111 helpline.
In the event of a school closure, staff will continue to work to ensure, as far as possible, that pupils can continue with their learning. Staff members will use the ‘Show my homework’ app and, where applicable, ‘Google Classroom’ to post work for your child. All pupils in school already access SMHW, and where used, pupils are already familiar with Google Classroom. Pupils have also been reminded to update their SMHW passwords today. Your child should structure their day as per their timetable and complete the work set by the teacher for that lesson or for a series of lessons.
Depending on the timeframes, Year 10 Assessments may need to be postponed to a later date, however, should this be the case, you will be informed of this as soon as possible and as soon as new dates are known. In the meantime, pupils are advised to continue with their revision in preparation for assessments.
We will continue to act on the advice from the appropriate government and health agencies, as necessary. Any new information for parents will be communicated to you via text message, through the school’s Facebook page and the school’s website front page. The website can be accessed at https://www.ljhs.co.uk/. Please check these sources of information regularly for updates.
Thank you very much for your continued cooperation and support.
Yours faithfully,
J McCoy