Hygiene

With Coronavirus dominating the news, we have of course been reviewing the risks to our school community and ensuring that we all have possible measures in place to promote and safeguard the welfare of our pupils, parents and staff.

This week, children have been reminded in assemblies and/or class time about the importance of good hygiene and about how they can help themselves by adopting good hygiene habits for life. It is important that these habits are reinforced consistently at home and at school, so I would like to share with you the areas on which we focus and ask parents and other carers to convey these messages at home too.

Hand Washing

By far the most important hygiene measure is proper hand washing. Children are asked to wash their hands in the mornings, after using the toilet, before and after eating, and at the end of the school day. It may be appropriate for them to wash their hands at other times too.

The key message here is to wash hands properly. Children are often in a rush to get to the next exciting thing – particularly food! – and do need reminders and encouragement to wash their hands thoroughly, using the hand soap provided. Pupils have been shown this short ‘Germ Smart’ handwashing video which explains exactly what they should do when washing their hands. Please do watch this and ensure that your children follow these procedures when hand washing or using hand sanitising gel.

‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’

We use the mantra ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’ to teach children how to sneeze or blow noses into tissues and then throw those tissues away promptly, followed by a thorough hand wash to kill any germs. This short video is a useful reminder of how to catch, bin and kill germs that could be transmitted through sneezing or touching your face and then touching other surfaces.

Thank you for your support in continuing to share these resources with your children. Perhaps the most important thing is that all adults lead by example, modelling good hygiene practices whenever you can so that your children see good hygiene as a normal, essential part of life. Children ‘learn what they live’ and will, almost unknowingly, adopt the behaviours they witness regularly. So every time you wash your hands properly or ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it’, you are doing something good not just for yourself but for your children too! 

Mrs. Drummond