18^th December 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

The safety of all members of our school community is paramount and we remain committed to ensuring our school is as safe as possible throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to continuing concerns with regard to the high rates of Covid-19 in the community and wider Ipswich area, we have been working with Suffolk Public Health to arrange for all staff, pupils and families to be tested for Covid-19 over the Christmas period. To ensure the testing is accessible to all members of the school community, we have arranged for this testing to take place at the school.

In conjunction with the other measures we have in place through our extensive risk assessment, these tests will help pupils and staff to be able to come to school confidently when the new term begins and will reduce the likelihood of potential class closures.

Up to one third of people who have Covid-19 have no symptoms, so this testing will help people to find out if they have Covid-19 and need to self-isolate.  Making the test available to the whole school community, will potentially save lives and help keep our school open.

Although the test is voluntary, I would strongly encourage everyone in our school community to have a test. Our staff and their families are also included in the testing.

Testing will be available for all pupils at school and the other members of their household on the following dates:

Wednesday - 30^th December 8am to 1pm

Thursday - 31^st December 8am to 1pm

Saturday - 2^nd January 8am to 1pm

Sunday - 3^rd January 8am to 1pm

Monday - 4^th January 8am and 4pm

Parents/carers will need to book a time for their family’s test by phoning: 0333 772 6144 and quote code L5T051. Please be patient when calling, as the lines may be busy. The phone lines will be open from 8am – 8 pm and parents can start booking from Saturday 19^th December.

When making a booking, parents/carers will need to give the following information for each person who is going to have a Covid-19 test:

• Name
• Date of birth
• NHS number (you can find this on prescriptions, doctors/hospital letters or by contacting your GP surgery and has 10 digits for example - 485 666 3456)
• The mobile number you would like your result to be sent to. For children under 16, the mobile number of a parent/legal guardian must be provided for this purpose.

To enable school to manage getting the results to you quickly and effectively, we ask that you give consent for the result to be shared with us. Results will not be shared with anyone else outside of the school. We will assume that you are happy with this unless you notify us otherwise.

On the day of your appointment time, please come to the Marlow Road car park where a testing centre will be set up.  Please do not arrive too far ahead of your appointment time and please maintain social distance from other families at all times. Please wear a face covering and follow the instructions given to you by test centre staff.  Please note, children under 16 must be accompanied by a parent/legal guardian during the test.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very happy and safe Christmas and do hope you will be able to support us with this testing process in order to help keep our school community as safe as possible as we embark upon the new year at school.

Yours faithfully,

Mrs Hall

Headteacher