This information has been e-mailed to all parents
Coronavirus (COVID-19):
Information for parents and carers of school-age children
What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
One, or more, of the following:
• High temperature – this means feeling hot to touch on the chest or back
• New, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more
coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
• Loss of change to smell or taste – meaning not being able to smell or taste anything or things smell or taste different to normal
What should I do if my child has these symptoms?
If your child (or anyone who lives in the same household as your child) has any of these symptoms, you:
• Must not send your child (or any children in your household) to school. If your child develops
these symptoms whilst at school, they will be sent home
• Inform the school as soon as possible
• Get a test for your child (and any of your household who have these symptoms)
• Make sure that your child self-isolates straight-away: Stay at home, stay at home - easy read
and NHS self-isolation
• All household contacts (including siblings within the household) should also self-isolate. (The
length of isolation period is dependent on the examples set out below).
When must my child stay away from school (or be sent home from school?)
Your child must stay away from school (or will be sent home from school) if:
• They have coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms
• Have tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 10 days
• Are in a household (or support bubble) with individuals who have been tested positive for
coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 14 days
• Have been contacted through the NHS Test and Trace programme and been advised to stay
at home
• They are a close contact of a confirmed case (either within the school or from outside of the
school – including if the confirmed case is a sibling within the household) – they will need to
self-isolate for 14 days
How long should my child self-isolate for?
Below are different examples and scenarios for self-isolation:
Example 1: Your child has COVID-19 symptoms but hasn’t had a test yet or doesn’t get a test
• Your child must self-isolate for 10 days from when their symptoms first started. They cannot return
to school within this time-frame even if these symptoms stop. After the 10 days, they may return to
school if well, and have not had symptoms for 48 hours. Other members of the household must
continue to self-isolate for 14 days, unless there is a test – see below for more details.
• If your child then tests positive, they must continue to self-isolate for 10 days after their symptoms
first started. All household contacts will also need to isolate for 14 days.
Example 2: Your child has COVID-19 symptoms but the test result is negative
• Inform your school of the outcome (negative) of the test result immediately.
• Your child can return to school when well. If they have had a high temperature, they can return to
school 48 hours after their high temperature has lowered and returned to normal.
• Other members of your household can stop self-isolating (unless they are a contact of someone
else tested positive – see example 4) as soon as the negative result is received
Example 3: Your child tests positive for COVID-19
• Inform your school of the outcome (positive) of the test result immediately.
• Following this positive test result, you will receive a request by text, email or phone to log into the
NHS Test and Trace service website and provide information about recent close contacts.
• Your child must self-isolate (and not return to school) until the latest of all the following:
• 10 days after the onset of their symptoms (or 10 days after the test date if they are asymptomatic)
• The time at which symptoms, other than cough or loss of smell / taste, are no longer present
• If suffered from diarrhoea and / or vomiting, when the individual is 48 hours free of the symptoms
• 48 hours after their high temperature has lowered and returned to normal.
• All household contacts will also need to isolate for 14 days.
Example 4: Your child is a contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 (e.g. in school
context)
• Your child must self-isolate for 14 days from when they were in contact with the person who tested
positive. The reason for longer self-isolation is to allow for the incubation period.
• If your child then has a test and the test is negative, they still need to isolate for 14 days.
• If they develop symptoms and test positive for COVID-19 test, then example 3 “over-rides” example
4 and so their self-isolation is re-set to be 10 days from when their own symptoms first started (see
example 3).
• Other household members do not need to self-isolate at this stage unless their child or anyone in
the household starts to develop symptoms.
Note that the examples above can be used for other household members (including you, as a parent)
by replacing “your child” with the name of the household member and the knock-on impact for other
household members. For example, if any member of your household develops COVID-19 symptoms,
your school-age child will need to self-isolate and not come into school. You will need to keep your
school up to date on developments and when your child will be able to return to school.
How can my children (or others) get a coronavirus test and where do we go?
You do not need to go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Tests can be accessed:
• On-line through online portal or
• By phoning 119 (lines are open 7am to 11pm)
The local testing options are:
• Ricoh Regional Testing Centre - drive through testing – via online portal or phone 119.
• Moat Street Car Park – mobile testing unit – drive through – via online portal or phone 119.
• Broad Street, Foleshill (next to Broad Street Surgery) – local testing service - via online portal or
phone 119.
• Home testing – via the online portal.
We recommend using a testing site options (Ricoh Regional Testing Centre, Moat Street Car
Park or Broad Street, Foleshill) for a quicker process. We recommend that where there are
challenges booking a test (due to the national context), that you repeatedly attempt to book at
test locally – even though this may take some time.