Keep Calm and Carry on Learning

Spring has finally sprung and my hill is full of beautiful cherry blossom, forsythia and a number of other flowering trees. There are also lots of different types of daffodils nodding the heads with the wind. All of which means there is the quite rustle of opening up the antihistamine packet. Itchy, watery eyes, blocked nose and mucus down the back of the throat season is upon us, well upon me at least!

This doesn’t’ mean I am sick – just allergic! I have seasonal hay fever which is triggered by the flowers in the second half of March and early April.

Which brings me to the topic that is upper most in many people’s mind. A lot of people are worried about the Covid-19 coronavirus. Over the course of the last week I have spoken to many of you about how we should not be worried. We have in maths lessons worked out the percentage of the likelihood of catching it. We have looked at some really very silly claims doing the rounds on the internet on how to protect yourselves and we have down risk assessments and washing hands will help reduce those risks.

Here is the important medical information you need to know.

The incubation period of COVID-19 is between 2 and 14 days. This means that if a person remains well 14 days after contact with someone with confirmed coronavirus, it is unlikely that they have been infected.

The following symptoms may develop in the 14 days after exposure to someone who has COVID-19 infection:

· cough

· difficulty in breathing

· fever

Generally, these infections can cause more severe symptoms in people with weakened immune systems, older people, and those with long-term conditions like diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disease. There is no evidence that children are more affected than other age groups – very few cases have been reported in children.

So, what do we plan to do next?

For those who I visit in hospital – the choice has already been made by the hospital. They have put in place measures which we are going to support. All our lessons will be skyped.

For the home schoolers, most of you home-schooling are already in social isolation to a certain extent. We shall be carrying on as normal. The only difference is that I will call in the morning just to confirm that you are happy for the lesson to go ahead.

If you are home-schooling because of anxiety issues and you are worried that I might bring the virus to the lesson - happy to skype.

If you are one of our learners who is in school, please follow the school’s advice. At the moment, there is no need to remove yourself from school. You will be less bored if you stay in school. You should only self-isolate if instructed to do so by the NHS or the NHS has closed your school. If you would still like your support lessons to go ahead while you are at home, in isolation, we will skype them.

Next week will be a normal week. However, if anyone in your family does come down with a high temperature, persistent cough and difficulty in breathing then please let me know. I will be carrying out a risk assessment every day.

So, the lesson today is: