RB HEALTH AND HYGIENE POLICY DURING COVID-19

As Royal Britannia Kindergarten and School prepares to gradually reopen its campus to faculty, staff and students, new health policies and hygiene procedures are being implemented to ensure the highest standards of health and safety for our community members. Please help keep our community safe by adhering to the following health guidelines:

General Illness

All faculty, staff and students must meet the following requirements to attend school:

Can energetically participate in classroom activities, recess, PE class

Is FEVER-FREE (temperature below 37.5C or 99.5F) for a minimum 48 hours without use of fever-reducing medication (Paracetamol, Tylenol, Ibuprofen etc.)

Faulty, staff or student, nor any household member or close contact person, has not been diagnosed with active Covid-19 disease

Faulty, Staff or student, nor any household member, does not have any symptoms of Covid-19 such as fever, dry cough, breathing difficulties, body/muscle aches, stomach ache, loss of taste and smell

No nausea/vomiting/diarrhoea for a minimum of 48 hours without use of medication

Has no acute cold symptoms (coughing/sneezing/sore-throat) that would be disruptive to the classroom environment or require cold medicine throughout the day

No red, inflamed or discharging eyes

No acute skin rashes or eruptions

No suspected scabies or impetigo

No earache

No swollen glands around jaw, ears or neck

No weeping skin lesions unless protected and diagnosed by doctor as non-infectious

No other contagious disease or symptoms suggestive on an acute illness

Fever

Faculty, staff or students with a temperature of 37.5 or higher will be sent home from school and must NOT return to school until they are FEVER FREE for at least 48 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication (Paracetamol, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, etc.).

Quarantine Room

Faculty, staff or students with fever or other symptoms of COVID-19 will be held in a designated quarantine room (not in the nurse’s office) until they can be picked up by their parents/guardian.

Flow Chart: When is it ok to come to School?

Return to School After Illness / Fever

Parents must check the temperature of returning students BEFORE leaving home on the day of return to school.  This also applies to faculty and staff.

In the event of suspected Covid-19 infection, the recommendations of the local health authorities must be followed, including the numbers of days of isolation.  Faculty, staff or students must be cleared by their doctor prior to returning to school.

Faculty, staff or students will be checked at the nurse’s office immediately upon arrival to school, before going to the classroom. Students who arrive with fever of 37.5 or higher or have taken fever-reducing medication will not go to the class, and parents will be notified to pick up their child immediately. (If the child is returning after illness, parents ideally should be waiting outside school and immediately available should the child need to return home).  In the case of faculty or staff, they will be sent home.

When the child returns to school, he/she must be fit enough to participate in all activities. Exception to the rule: If there is a restriction from some activity (recess or PE) there MUST BE A DOCTOR'S NOTE explaining why and for how long. (For example, exclusion from PE because of a broken limb.)

ENHANCED RB HYGIENE PLAN

In addition to the new health policies, RB has also developed an enhanced hygiene plan. New measures include:

Classrooms/Hallways

Classroom furniture will be rearranged so that desks have a minimum of 1.5m space between.

Windows should remain open as much as possible, at a minimum opened between classes.

Hand sanitizer will be available in all classrooms.

Students are not to share common supplies (such as pencils, rulers, papers, etc.).

All faculty/staff will be required to be wearing a mask which covers mouth and nose upon their arrival on school property.

faculty/staff will be required to wear masks covering their mouth and nose at all times when in indoor common school areas, such as hallways, entrance ways, library, bathrooms, etc.

Inside classrooms, when students and teachers are seated at their appropriately 1.5m social distance spaced desks, they may remove their mask;

Teachers around students and moving about the classroom, or in closer proximity (less than 1.5m) with others, will be required to wear a mask.

During outdoor recess/break, masks may be removed provided the required minimum 1.5m distance is maintained between individuals.

Students will be permitted to use bathroom facilities one student at a time.

Students and faculty are to use the Right side of hallways and stairwells for traffic to flow in one direction and to minimize face to face direct contact.

General Hygiene

As the Nurse’s Office has the potential to become a higher risk area, students are discouraged from visiting for minor ailments. Teachers will be supplied with plasters/band aids for minor injuries and throat lozenges.

All faculty/staff and students must take their temperature before leaving home in the morning. If the temperature is 37.5 or above, you must stay home.

Please follow guidelines as per the updated School Health and Hygiene Policy During Covid-19  noted above.

There will be designated division entrance/exit ways to ease traffic flow, minimize contact, and be in a one-way direction as much as possible.

There will be hand sanitizer at every building entrance that everyone must use when entering and leaving the buildings.

Everyone is encouraged to frequently and thoroughly wash their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 30 seconds:

• At least every 2 hours
• After using the toilet facilities
• Before and after eating
• Before using common items in classrooms (such as Ipads, markers, rulers, etc)
• After cough/sneeze/blowing nose
• After any contact with garbage or animals
• After returning from outside learning, trips, recess, etc
• Turn off water and open door using a paper towel, then dispose of paper in garbage as leaving
• Coughing/sneezing should be done into a disposable tissue (and then hands washed) or into the elbow or shoulder in a direction away from others.

Food Service

Students are to bring lunch from home or have a packed lunch from ordered in advance. Students are not permitted to share food.  To ensure adequate distancing, there will be limited seating in the cafeteria. Social distance rules of 1.5m apply. There will also be other places available, such as the Courtyard or Garden.

Purchased lunches will be picked up by faculty or staff from the cafeteria.

Parents must drop off their children outside of school grounds at the Main School entrance Drop-off Zone. Please, no carpooling.

Parents will not be permitted on to school grounds without prior appointment, and only for official school business. 

RB school bus: students will be appropriately spaced while riding the bus. Family members may sit together, otherwise one student next to the window in every other row. RB bus service is only available for students registered for regular school bus pick-up/drop-off

Bus drivers and all students must wear masks on the bus. 

Bus drivers will have disinfectant supplies and will disinfect the bus after each use.

While not recommended, as a last resort, faculty and their children, RB students, may take public transit to school. Students and faculty will be expected to wear a mask on public transport. 

Sports/Music Guidelines

Currently, according to ministry of health authorities, sport, practical music, band, choir, drama classes are prohibited due to the increased risk of disease transmission

Flow Chart: When is it ok to come to School?