Dear Parent,
You will appreciate the measures to counter the spread of the Coronavirus have been widened significantly. Advice from the Scottish Government and Health Protection Scotland continues to guide our response.
I realise this is a very worrying time for everyone but please be reassured that the Council and Forrester High School are doing all it can to protect and support our community. I want to reassure you that the health and wellbeing of all our colleagues, pupils and partners is of paramount importance.
The updated national advice is that anyone living in the same household as a symptomatic person should self-isolate for 14 days. The most common symptoms are recent onset of a new continuous cough and/or high temperature.
Parents/carers of children and young people with underlying health conditions should seek advice from NHS Inform and consider self-isolation.
All colleagues who are pregnant or over 70 years are making immediate plans to work from home and they will stay in touch with their line manager until further notice.
If a colleague has an underlying health condition, they will speak with their line manager today and some guidance will be given as to whether to work in school or at home.
All school trips, including day trips and residential events/experiences arranged up until the end of the session, will be cancelled or postponed. This includes our planned Activities Week, London Dance trip, London/Paris trip, and any other trips such as Duke of Edinburgh training and expeditions. We are working with our providers and insurers and will let you know as soon as we can regarding postponement or refunds. We are cancelling our extra-curricular activities and moving to more theory-based learning in PE.
We are continuing to prepare for online learning opportunities and these arrangements should be followed if a national decision is taken to close schools. In the meantime, schools remain open. Please note that should your child need to remain at home, all pupils have been shown where work can be accessed, and they can contact staff through systems such as Office 365 if they require help or feedback.
Below are the very latest links to the Coronavirus advice on the NHS Inform website and for educational settings which you may find helpful:
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19
Obviously, this is an extremely dynamic situation which is under constant review and we will update everyone should any advice change.
We appreciate this is an uncertain time for everyone but please be reassured that the School, in conjunction with the Council, are doing all they can to minimise any impact.
Kind regards
Martin Ennis
Acting Head Teacher