Victoria School
"Working Together for Success"
Victoria School
Working Together for Success
Latest News
See here for the latest news and updates
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Face Coverings to be used on School Transport fby pupils aged 11 and over unless exempt
Mon 30 Nov 2020Updated guidance on the use of face coverings when travelling to school or college
Face coverings are an important measure in reducing the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19), particularly in enclosed spaces. Children aged 11 and over are required to wear a face covering on public transport in England, unless exempt for health, age or disability reasons.
From 2 December, in accordance with advice from Public Health England, children and young people aged 11 and over must wear a face covering when travelling on dedicated transport to secondary school or college, unless they are exempt.
Schools should support local authorities in promoting the use of face coverings when travelling to and from school or college and help them to resolve any issues of non-compliance where appropriate.
The ‘Hands. Face. Space.’ campaign urges everyone to continue to wash their hands, cover their face and make space to control infection rates. The NHS has released a ‘Hands. Face. Space.’ video that may be a useful resource when communicating the importance of wearing a face covering on transport directly to children and young people.
Further information on face coverings can be found in our guidance on transport to school and other places of education: 2020 to 2021 academic year.
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COVID Update 30/11/20
Mon 30 Nov 2020We have had a further 3 staff test positive to COVID. All are from MSI. The total now stands at 14 staff and 2 pupils. The classes affected are LOR, LJA, RKH (all in 14-19) and the MSI Department.
Isolation for the first bubble (LOR/LJA) will come to an end later this week and for MSI early next week.
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COVID Update 27.11.20
Fri 27 Nov 2020We now have 13 positive cases in school - 2 pupils and 11 staff across the MSI Unit and 14-19 classes: LJA, LOR and RKH, with some pupils and staff from LBW also isolating due to exposure to potentially infectious persons prior to their symptoms occurring.
REMINDER: Please observe social distancing and wear a mask if you are at school to drop off or collect a child. Do not attend if you or a household member are unwell, have COVID symptoms or are awaiting a COVID test.
Hands - Face - Space
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Be Empowered Workshop – Early Support Programme for SEND Parent Carers
Thu 26 Nov 2020Every Wednesday evening from 6pm-9pm for 6 weekly sessions
Starting Wed 6th Jan 2021, and then continues on Wed 13th Jan, Wed 20th Jan, Wed 27th Jan, Wed 3rd Feb and finishes on Wed 10th Feb 2021
We warmly invite you to join in a series of evening online workshops that have been written and led by trainers who are parent/carers of a child with additional needs themselves.
These workshops are for parent/carers of children and young people of any age, with any additional need, following diagnosis. They are an attempt to support parent/carers through times of change and at whatever stage of the journey participants may find themselves.
If you are interested in accessing these evening workshops online, you will need to have a laptop/computer/smartphone with a camera.
Please note, due to increased demand we may not always be able to offer places automatically. If you are placed on a waiting list, you will be offered a space on a future set of workshops this academic year.
Please apply by completing and signing the attached booking form and consent to either
Sarah Adams (Early Years Inclusion Support)
Sarah.Adams@birmingham.gov.uk Tel: 07827 082751
or Oenca Fontaine (Parent Engagement Consultant) Oenca.Fontaine@birmingham.gov.uk
Deadline for receiving bookings is Friday 11th December 2020!
https://primarysite-prod-sorted.s3.amazonaws.com/victoria-school/UploadedDocument/7a8dc778a0504d138fcc89562d8eb1c2/online-evening-bew-booking-form-jan-feb-2021.docx
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COVID update (and Christmas decorations!)
Thu 26 Nov 2020We have had 2 further staff test positive to COVID today, bringing the total to 9 staff and 2 pupils, all within the MSI Department and LJA/LOR Bubble in 14-19. Several staff and pupils are awaiting test results. Public Health advice continues to be that no further action is needed beyond closing the affected Bubbles for the isolation period and deep cleaning the areas they have used at school.
On a lighter note, we feel that we all need some Christmas cheer to brighten up this worrying time so the Christmas tree will be going up in the Hall on Monday and the "Tele-Shopping Quality Victoria Christmas Market will be going ahead". The children will still enjoy Christmas Dinner and the Play and Pantomime will be shown by Zoom.
If you are looking for something crafty to do with your children at home, additional red and gold home-made decorations would be welcomed for the tree.
Stay safe and well.
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COVID Uppdate
Wed 25 Nov 2020We now have 9 positive COVID cases at Victoria - 2 pupils and 7 staff.They are all contained within 2 bubbles: MSI and a bubble of 2 14-19 classes: LOR and LJA.
2 Bus routes are also cancelled with pupils, drivers and guides self-isolating as the 2 children had each travelled to school on transport on Friday.
Public Health England (West Midlands) advice continues to be that because all positive cases are within the 2 isolated bubbles, we do not need to take further actions other than to deep clean the classrooms and shared spaces that these classes have used.
Interestingly, the range of symptoms has been diverse and not the usually recognised COVID symptoms. One child is completely asymptomatic. Fortunately, none seem to have severe symptoms.
I am very grateful to the office staff at Victoria who have been absolutely magnificent in keeping records of affected individuals, close contacts and isolation dates as well as contacting parents to explain why their child needs to isolate.
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COVID - Public Health England Advice
Tue 24 Nov 2020I have been in contact with the DfE and Public Health - West Midlands both by email and phone today. They are satisfied that the current COVID cases are all contained within the 2 bubbles that are already self-isolating. Therefore, no further action is required at this time. I shall keep you informed should there be any more cases or if the advice from PHE changes. -
Three more positive COVID cases
Tue 24 Nov 2020Unfortunately 3 more staff have tested positive to COVID. They are all from the 2 bubbles that already closed and in household isolation. These two bubbles are the MSI Unit and 2 classes in 14-19. We now have 4 staff and one pupil with COVID. Public Health has been notified and I am awaiting further advice. We had 3 shared areas in the school that were in use by individual classes with thorough cleaning in between uses. While I have no reason to suspect that these spaces were in any way involved in the transmission of the virus. I have closed them until further notice to err on the side of caution. The spaces are: hydrotherapy pool, Softplay and Snoezelen.
Can I please urge all parents and carers to use your social networks to encourage any families who are not yet signed up for the School App to do so, so that they receive all notifications via the App as it is our main mode of communication, especially as we now have many children not in attendance at school. Thank you.
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Two Positive COVID tests in school
Mon 23 Nov 2020Unfortunately, we have had 2 confirmed cases of COVID 19 at Victoria School, one a staff member and one a pupil. We have no reason to think that these 2 cases are linked. Both cases have been reported to the Department for Education and Public Health England (West Midlands). We have followed all guidance and the prescribed flowchart for responding to cases of COVID.
Two "bubbles" and one transport route have been closed for the 2 week self-isolation period. All affected families have been notified by phone. All pupils who are unable to attend because of these closures will be provided with remote learning. Thank you to affected families for your understanding.
Everyone in the school community must follow Government guidance and the rules of self and household isolation, remembering to maintain social distancing when possible, using PPE, covering the face and washing hands frequently. No-one with COVID symptoms, awaiting a COVID test or with a positive test result, should come to school, nor should anyone who lives in a household with someone who has symptoms, is awaiting a test or who has had a positive test. Please phone the school if you are unsure about how long you need to isolate for.
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COVID Symptom Study
Thu 19 Nov 2020Hello parents of Victoria School
We have some exciting news to share.
Victoria School has partnered with the COVID Symptom Study to help make sure our students are as safe as possible as we head back to the classroom, whilst doing our part in creating the world’s largest scientific dataset of COVID-19 in children.
We are asking parents to join the COVID Symptom Study now, by downloading the free app and taking less than 1min a day to report how your child/children are feeling each day. With parents reporting daily via the app, the app will provide a powerful tool for helping the school and parents understand COVID in the community and help keep our students safe. Importantly, the information you report will be invaluable to critical scientific research into COVID in children and for public health purposes - the Study will be sure to share any findings from their research with you.
So we are asking parents to download this app as soon as possible. The app is available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Simply create a profile for yourself and for your child/children. To join our school network in the app and receive personalised COVID insights about our school, go to Edit Profile for your child’s profile > School Network > enter our school’s Unique School Network Code (see below) > select the Bubble that your child belongs to.
Our Unique School Network Code is BPFS371.To avoid outsiders joining, please do not share this code with anyone who is not a parent of our school.
For more information including full instructions on how to join and use the COVID Symptom Study app please head to: https://covid.joinzoe.com/schools
What is the COVID Symptom Study app and why should you use it?
The COVID Symptom Study app is a not-for-profit initiative that was launched at the end of March 2020 to support vital COVID-19 research. The app was launched by health science company ZOE with scientific analysis provided by King’s College London. Now, with over 4 million contributors globally, the Study is the world’s largest ongoing study of COVID-19.
The app also provides unique insight on asymptomatic and symptomatic information across the UK which builds into a larger picture for the government and captures information not covered by other means. The Government has been so impressed with the data and research being produced it is now funding ZOE to continue the great work.
All data collected in the app is used anonymously for informing other parents in your child’s school and your child’s school, and anonymously for research and for public health purposes only. ZOE takes data security and privacy very seriously and enforces best practices to ensure all data is protected. ZOE is required to protect all data by law. As the work that ZOE does takes place in the UK, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation applies.
For our school’s Covid updates, please see: www.victoria.bham.sch.uk
Warm regards
Julie Fardell
Executive Head Teacher
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