Dear Parents
Asymptomatic testing for students on return to school in January
Testing remains important in reducing the risk of transmission of infection within schools especially with the new Omicron variant. As children and young people will have potentially mixed with lots of other people during the Christmas holidays, all secondary school students and post-16 students will be offered an onsite lateral flow device (LFD) tests, on their return in January.
Please can everyone complete the form below to let us know if you plan to test your child at home, would like your child testing in school or if you do not consent to your child being tested.
At Birch Wood we are requesting that as many secondary age students as possible are tested at home before they come in to school on Tuesday 4th January. If possible, please do the test and complete the form in the link below before 4pm on Monday 3rd January, as this will really help with our administrative processes. This is to prevent students mixing before a test has occurred.
Please complete the form in the link below when you have tested your child. Your support with this will really help the smooth running of school at the beginning of term.
We will only test your child in school on the first day back if they have not been tested at home on Monday 3rd January 2022.
We will not be having a phased return to school due to the issues this may create for some families with childcare and transport.
We would greatly appreciate it if secondary age students can continue to test twice weekly at home.
We recognise that self-swabbing may cause significant concerns for some children and young people with SEND. Birch Wood will retain minimal testing capacity on site so we can offer testing to students and families who are unable to test themselves at home.
Testing is voluntary and no child or young person will be tested unless the appropriate person has given informed consent.
If you have any questions/ concerns please email Nicky O’Dare
Yours sincerely
Nicky O’Dare & Rebecca Gray
Health & Wellbeing Officers