At the time of writing this document, the Ministry of Education has advised us that we may open school for P5 - P7 children only. All Nursery to P4 children are online learning.

For students attending face to face in school learning, a clean uniform and a clean face mask (provided by parents) are required for every child each day. All stationery will be provided by school and your child will touch only his/her own stationery.

Drop Off

By car: Parents must drive to the drop off area near the main reception of the main building as before. Parents must not leave their vehicle. Children will leave the vehicle at the drop off area and be escorted by staff through the main reception to their classrooms.

Walking/cycling: Parents are welcome to walk/escort their child to school. Fully vaccinated parents are permitted to walk through the school site and collect items from reception.

Children in P5-P7 are encouraged to walk or cycle to school each day. If they do this please discuss with your child that they must physically distance on their journey to and from school.

Collection:

By Car: After parking, parents will leave their vehicles and collect their children from designated points outside of the school building. Parents will reach a collection area and children will walk to the parents, rather than parents to the child. This will be supervised by staff. Parents must socially distance themselves and wear masks at all times.

Walking/cycling: If you are walking to collect your child, please enter the school site via the gate opposite the golf course. You will then be guided by a member of staff to the collection areas outside of the school building. Parents will reach a collection area and children will walk to the parents, rather than parents to the child. This will be supervised by staff. Parents must socially distance themselves and wear masks at all times.

Children in P5-P7 who walk or cycle to school independently each day will leave the school site via the gate opposite the golf course.

The Head Teacher will carry out a rapid Risk Assessment. For every reported case the PDO Medical Team will be consulted to decide next steps. Contact tracing will be done to determine who has had contact with any individual testing positive. Any children or staff who had close contact with the person when they were infectious will be contacted and required to self-isolate for 14 days since they were last in contact.

If children or staff who are asked to self-isolate develop symptoms, they should get tested and inform the school as soon as possible. A register of suspected cases will be kept and followed up.

As with any confidential medical condition, the identity of any individual will not be disclosed.

Across the world, we have seen schools having to partially or fully close due to teaching staff testing positive for coronavirus. Staff Members at PDO School who fall ill will be covered internally wherever possible. If a class teacher is unable to work due to self-isolation or illness and there is no cover, your child may

• access online learning

• access paper-based learning

We will communicate this to you. Anyone in direct contact with the staff member will be notified and may be required to self-isolate.

Children should wear their school uniform to school each day. To protect the school community, a clean uniform should be worn for each attendance at school. If a clean uniform is not prepared, a temporary clean (similar) alternative will be tolerated.

On returning home, children should remove uniforms, placing them into the washing machine for immediate attention, before having a shower.

If you need to purchase a new uniform you will have to do your best to estimate your child’s size. No trying on or returns are possible due to the new regulations. We are currently developing a system for you to be able to purchase the uniform safely and will communicate this to you once it is in place.

On guidance from PDO Clinic, all children and staff, with the exception of EYFS, are required to wear face masks while in school. Your child should wear a fresh mask each day and bring a spare, clean mask in their pocket in case their mask is lost or damaged. Cloth masks are permitted, so long as they are laundered between uses and there is a clean mask each day. Masks must be provided by parents.

There is no need for your child to wear a shield/visor to school and gloves must not be worn.

‘Air Doctor’ devices are harmful for children and must not be worn in any case.

Each day before coming to school, you will be required to check your child/ren at home for signs of illness. Make sure your child does not have any symptoms, such as a fever, a new, continuous cough, the loss of, or change to, the sense of taste and smell, or significant fatigue and body ache (see below). If they have any of these symptoms they must not come to school. If their temperature is above 37.3 degrees C they must not come to school. If they have come into contact with anyone with Covid-19 or in quarantine they must not come to school.

Symptoms to look out for:

• fever

• cough

• trouble breathing

• a loss of taste or smell

• symptoms of a cold such as a sore throat, congestion, or a runny nose

• chills

• muscle pain/body aches

• headache

• nausea or vomiting

• diarrhoea

• tiredness/fatigue

We have done a full Risk Assessment for having children in school, which has been endorsed by the PDO Health and Safety and PDO Medical Teams. It will be reviewed weekly.

Physical Distancing in School

We strive to keep the number of people in your child’s Phase as low as possible by minimizing the number of people they come into contact with at school each day. Children and staff are restricted to their own corridors. Spare classrooms in each corridor ensure there will always be a safe, sanitised place for your child to learn.

School maintenance teams (Carillion) will only be allowed on site for routine maintenance after the children have gone, unless there is an urgent need. Our OIG cleaning staff will only enter the corridors once the children have gone unless there is an urgent need. They have been briefed on the requirements for full clean down between shifts, as well as deep clean procedures, should this be necessary. Deep Cleaning, which includes ULV (Ultra Low Volume) fogging, occurs monthly and at the Head Teacher’s discretion.

Temperature Checks

The temperatures of all people in the school building are checked by one of two thermal cameras we have on site, in addition to handheld IR temperature guns.

Hand Hygiene

Children and adults will be required to wash their hands, and hand sanitiser (to be used under adult supervision) is readily available in classrooms and corridors.

School:

For children who are coming into school, we will:

• Provide an environment that has been risk assessed and considered safe for reopening

• Adhere to the guidelines as set out by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, as much as we possibly can

• Support your child’s wellbeing, such as by giving them a known adult to talk to if they feel anxious or overwhelmed

• Contact you if your child displays symptoms of COVID-19, and advise you of next steps

• Inform you if staff or children in your child’s classroom show symptoms of COVID-19, and get in touch with you if they test positive and the rest of the classroom needs to self-isolate (as with any confidential medical condition, the identity of the individual displaying symptoms will not be disclosed)

• Enhance our hygiene measures, including more frequent cleaning and hand washing

• Communicate between home and school through email notices and newsletters

For any of children who are at home, we will:

• Provide remote learning that allows your child to access as much of the curriculum as possible; this may be a video lesson, online platform, or paper-based learning

• Keep in touch about developments in school through email notices and newsletters

Parents:

If my child is coming into school, I understand and agree that:

• I need to do a quick self-health assessment daily for each child coming into the school (see below)

• I need to monitor if my child or anyone in our household has symptoms of COVID-19 (i.e. a high temperature; a new, continuous cough; or a loss or change to their sense of smell/taste)

• If my child or anyone in our household shows symptoms of COVID-19, I will not send them to school and we will self-isolate for the appropriate length of time

• If my child shows symptoms of COVID-19, I will get them tested and, if they test positive, inform school and follow the PDO Medical Team’s advice about informing others

• If my child shows symptoms of COVID-19 or any illness at school, I will collect my child as soon as possible; I will wait in my car in the car park until an adult escorts my child to me (until further notice)

• I will ensure I am reachable and available to collect my child while they are in school

• When dropping off and picking up, I will adhere to the timings for my child, stay in my car and follow all guidance from PDO School

• I will remind my child not to share any stationery items with others

• I will remind my child about good hygiene practices, such as: regularly washing their hands thoroughly; avoiding touching their eyes, nose or mouth; and coughing or sneezing into their elbow or a tissue, and disposing immediately of any used tissues

• I will support the school’s procedures in ensuring a safe environment

• My child may be refused a place at school, if I do not adhere to the terms above

If my child is staying at home, I understand and agree that:

• Home Learning may take the form of video learning, an online platform and/or paper-based learning

• I will do my best to support my child to complete any remote learning work set for them

• I may be contacted by the school if my child fails to complete the work set for them

Link to the Ministry of Education Oman: https://home.moe.gov.om