Wednesday 15 December 2021

Letter to parents/carers from R Hunter and Test & Protect re COVID and Lateral Flow Tests (15 Dec 21)

TEST & PROTECT

15 December 2021

COVID-19 asymptomatic testing programme for school staff and pupils

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I am writing to let you know about some updates made to the process for handing out LFD test kits to the children and young people in our secondary school.

Following updated advice from Test and Protect, we are now able to hand out test kits proactively to all staff and pupils, to enable them to test twice-weekly at home and help keep our school/setting safe. There is no longer a requirement for staff and pupils to “opt in” to the programme in order to receive or pick up test kits from school. This will bring the schools programme into line with arrangements in other testing programmes in society.

Testing remains voluntary. No-one is required to receive a pack of test kits if they do not wish to, and no-one is required to take LFD tests as a condition of attending school. However, we are strongly encouraging all of our staff and pupils to do so, and to record results online, in order to identify any infections early on and help prevent our staff and children from missing school during the winter period.

At the point at which staff and pupils are provided with test kits, they will be provided with information on the programme and privacy arrangements, for example through the use of information posters and a privacy notice. By taking a pack of test kits, reading the accompanying instructions, and testing at home, the person participating will be understood to have agreed to taking part in this process.

The school will be running test kit “stalls” on Thursday and Friday so that pupils can collect kits as they leave school at the end of the day.

Please do discuss the contents of this letter with your child[ren], and continue to encourage them to do the following to help keep our school community safe:

Test regularly (twice a week) at home; and

Report all results, whether positive negative or void, at www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/coronavirus-covid-19-report-your-test-result or by calling 119.

 

Further information for parents is at: www.parentclub.scot/articles/covid-19-testing-staff-and-pupils, and more general information on LFD testing can be found at www.nhsinform.scot. Frequently Asked Questions for young people, designed in partnership with Young Scot, can be found here: https://young.scot/get-informed/national/coronavirus-covid-19-testing-for-young-people-at-school.

 

Yours faithfully,

R Hunter

Head Teacher

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