COVID-19 statement

From 1 April 2022, the Government removed the health and safety requirement for every employer to explicitly consider COVID-19 in their risk assessments. The intention was to empower organisations to take responsibility for implementing mitigations that are appropriate for their own circumstances.

William Patten is following Government guidance Living with COVID-19, which was updated in May 2022.

At William Patten we encourage everyone to adopt safer behaviours to reduce the risk of infection. Precautions remain particularly important to those who are at higher risk if they catch COVID-19. The majority of people previously considered clinically extremely vulnerable are now advised to follow the same general guidance as everyone else as a result of the protection they have received from vaccination.

At school, we aim to reduce the risk of catching and passing on COVID-19 by:

• Encouraging those eligible to get vaccinated
• Ensuring adequate ventilation in classrooms and the building as a whole
• Regular CO2 monitoring in classrooms and offices
• Encouraging everyone to try and stay at home if they have COVID-19 symptoms
• Washing hands / using hand sanitiser regularly and adhering to the following advice to ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’.
• Continued additional cleaning of toilets and high touch points such as door handles and handrails throughout the day
• Allowing children andmembers of staff to wear a face covering if they wish
• Providing FFP2/3 masks for staff who were previously classified as clinically extremely vulnerable or otherwise at significantly greater risk, and any member of staff who is anxious about their situation.

Those staff whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19 despite vaccination will undertake individual risk assessments.

Please look at the NHS website for more information on COVID-19 symptoms in children and what to do COVID-19 symptoms in children and COVID-19 symptoms in adults and what to do COVID-19 symptoms in adults

Should the situation change, we will review the procedures we have in place.