Since the start of June, the schools have slowly started to take in learners again. The schools have government requirements to ensure overall safety of the learners as far as possible, but parents might still be anxious to send their children back to school. This is a personal choice not to be taken lightly, but if you do decide to send your child back to school, here are a few precautionary measures you can take to help aid your child’s safety.
Communicate with the school
During such a worrying and disruptive time, it’s natural to have a lot of questions. Some helpful ones you may want to ask the school include:
- What steps has the school taken to help ensure the safety of students?
- How can I support school safety efforts, including through parent-teacher committees or other networks.
- If my child has fallen behind, do they have supplemental assignments he / she can do at home?
Prepare your child properly
You cannot monitor your child’s activities when they are at school, so it is best to properly prepare them, to help them stay as safe as possible. This will not only keep them be physically safe, but also to help alleviate any fears they might have of returning back to school during the pandemic. Here are a few safety measures you can teach your child:
- Teach and model good hygiene practices. Instil in your children that they must:
– Wash their hands regularly for at least 20 seconds. If they can’t wash their hands, they must use 60% alcohol based hand sanitizer or alcohol wipes.
– Always wear a face mask. It is a good idea to pack an extra facemask they can have as backup, especially if the school does not supply a face mask for your child
– Keep their distance from anyone displaying symptoms.
– They must avoid touching their face at all times.
– Cough or sneeze into a tissue or a bent elbow.
– Not share cups, eating utensils, food or drinks with others.
– If they feel ill, alert a teacher immediately and ask to be sent home. - Encourage your children to ask questions and express their feelings with you and their teachers. It is best to give your child the facts and to reiterate that their actions will not only keep themselves safe, but also their fellow classmates and teachers.
- Teach them to not stigmatize their peers or tease anyone about being sick; remember that the virus doesn’t follow geographical boundaries, ethnicities, age, ability or gender.
After School
Break times, children won’t be able to socialise and play with their friends as usual. Encourage your child to play outdoors—it’s great for physical and mental health. Take a walk with your child or go on a bike ride.
They might also feel emotionally impacted by not being able to interact with their friends during or after school. Let them reach out to friends via phone or video chats.
Give extra support to your child at home by creating a routine around school and schoolwork. This can help if they are feeling restless and having trouble focusing.
What to do if your child’s school or one of your children has contracted COVID-19? That is when it is a good idea to call in the professionals to do a microbial fogging – but make sure they are using ULV cold fogger equipment and registered products! Done properly with the right product this service can literally eradicate the entire organic viral load in the premises. Fogging gets the antimicrobial solution into every nook and cranny where no amount of hand wiping can possibly reach. The Microbial part means the fog is applied in a tiny microscopic particle size – as small as the virus – so there is a complete eradication result without any gaps. If you or your child’s school want to book a microbial fogging treatment through Service Master, Contact Us, you can be assured that we use the best, most effective, registered microbial fogging products on the market!
