Updates from APEEEL1

  • Making COVID 19 rapid tests easier: Procedure now weekly instead of yearly

    A big improvement: students present to teachers their rapid test consent forms which are valid for the whole school year,

    Not perfect yet: parents through APEEEL also claimed electronic – through sms as the data protection consent – instead of the current paper form.

    The parents through APEEEL succeeded with the claim: signing weekly the rapid test consent to be valid the whole school year.

    We summarise here the new procedure emailed by the school on 23/11/2021:

    • Primary and Nursery:
      1. Parents complete this consent form in paper and give to the students
      2. the class teacher will collect the declarations of participation.

    In case of withdrawal: parent emails to teacher and teacher will hand back the consent form to the parents for destruction.

    • Secondary:
      1. Complete the form in paper and the student presents it weekly
      2. Students present it to the teacher each week to receive their test kit (1 test at school, 1 test at home). Students keep the declaration with them for the following week.

    In case of withdrawal parents/students can destroy the declaration of participation that the student keeps anytime.

    Nevertheless, the procedure is not yet satisfactory. APEEEL will keep claiming electronic forms – through sms as the data protection consent – instead of the current paper form.

  • COVID-19 At School

     COVID statistics

    Our school releases weekly COVID-19 statistics on their website.

    The school presents very stable data (as of end October).

    The last report highlights are:

    • 0 positive cases
    • 1 quarantine case
    • Very low infection rate among students particularly compared with national schools.
    • The rates of our student’s participation in the school rapid test decreases along the weeks

     APEEEL1 actions

    APEEEL1 requested the school to modernise the current testing consent procedure: weekly, on paper and signed by the parents. This old-fashioned procedure is one of the causes of the lower and lower school rapid test participation.

    APEEEL1 asked the school:

    To move to a simplified electronic procedure using a yearly consent electronic form, like the data protection one parents authorise once per year in sms.

    To take the necessary steps upon the Ministry of education to find a common solution for certification of self-tests. Teachers in public school are qualified to supervise and certify rapid COVID tests in their classrooms, contrary to our schoolteachers nowadays.

     Curiosities

    1. Around 70 students were vaccinated at our school on 26/10/2021 as part of the Ministry of Health vaccination programme
    2. The school confirmed that it is surprising how many Secondary students keep their masks on during the lessons, even if they no longer have to wear them.

     

     

  • February half term: Return to school

    Dear Parents,

    We hope you have spent a relaxing and enjoyable Carnival holiday and are awaiting the beginning of school next week. We hope that in situ learning for our children can continue for as long as possible. However, with the further spread of the more contagious Covid-19 variants in Luxembourg we need to be extremely prudent. We would therefore like to take the opportunity to remind you of the symptoms in the presence of which we must not send our children to school:

    • at least one of the following major symptoms: fever, cough, breathing difficulties, chest pain, loss of taste and/or smell without apparent cause OR  
    • at least two of the following minor symptoms: muscle aches, fatigue, rhinitis (stuffy or runny nose), sore throat, headache, loss of appetite, watery diarrhea.

    It is a year since the first Covid-19 cases were registered in the European Schools. We are sure that the above precautions are obvious to most of you but we still hear reports of children being sent to school with such symptoms so we ask you all to do your part to minimise the risk of the virus spreading within the school community.

    You can be assured that the Parents’ Association is in regular contact with the school management to address the ever-developing issues related to Covid-19 and its consequences for distance-learning and school life.

    We wish you a smooth resumption of school activities and many weeks of in situ learning.

    Kind regards
    John Coughlan
    President, APEEEL1

  • Distance Learning

    OSGES have implemented a policy for all European Schools. This means there are clear guidelines in place for our school and a reference document for what parents should expect from distance learning. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Interparents for their hard work in pushing this policy through.

    The policy can be read here: https://www.eursc.eu/BasicTexts/2020-09-D-10-en-3.pdf

  • COVID : Questions relating to self-isolation of P1 classes

    Following on from the school’s recent communication (October 2020) regarding isolation of classes, our VP Primary took the opportunity to compile a list of questions from our parent community to send to Mme Ribic. You can see attached her replies in italic. 

     

    Covid questions to the school:

    Why self-isolate all the 13 classes across all sections? Is it a general policy that will be followed in case of isolated positive case?

    For organisational reasons, we cannot isolate only some classes of one level Therefore the isolation concerns the whole level.

     

    Why continue with mixed classes (L2, religion) during self-isolation, it seems at odds with self-isolating principle. Maybe those classes could be suspended (policy in Lux II school – copy below) or suspended at least for the pupils of L1 class of the infected pupil?

    Mixed classes means that the P1 children can follow the L2 lessons or any other course that is only in the P1 level. However, there are no classes where the P1 children are mixed with children from another level. Therefore we are in the process of adapting the religious and moral lessons.

     

    Are you implementing any extra disinfection to the affected classrooms? What about extra disinfection in the cantine?

    The disinfection in the canteen is done anyway – the tables or the area used by the P1 children at 12.00 noon has not been used before.

    The L2 classrooms used by several levels will be disinfected by the L2 teachers (materials and tables).

    Apart from that, additional disinfection is not necessary, because we wash our hands more often and always wear the masks anyway.

     

    Has CPE been notified by the School? Do you know what are the measures taken there?

    The CPE is informed and we are also in contact. However, it is at the discretion of the CPE to make adjustments.

     

    Have the monitors of extracurricular activities been notified? Most of the classes are mixed P1 and P2.

    We are also in contact with the Periscolaire. We will receive further information in the course of the day. Again, it is the Periscolaire, not the school, that must take action.

     

    Could a separate gate be opened for the concerned group in self-isolation, this week and every time a self-isolation scheme happens, to limit even more mixing of children from different year groups?

    We will be happy to discuss this with our security officer.

     

    Does the infected pupil have a sibling and how the self-isolating is handled in that case? (sibling stays at home?)

    The parents of the infected child will receive instructions from the Ministry.

     

    Will the contact tracing be implemented among the close contacts and in the L1 class of the infected pupil?

    This question will be answered individually with the help of the Ministry’s feedback.