Who is Clinically Vulnerable?

If you have any of the following health conditions, you are clinically vulnerable, meaning you are at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. You are advised to stay at home as much as possible and, if you do go out, take particular care to minimise contact with others outside your household.

Clinically vulnerable people are those who are:

• aged 70 or older (regardless of medical conditions)
• under 70 with an underlying health condition listed below (that is, anyone instructed to get a flu jab each year on medical grounds):
• chronic (long-term) mild to moderate respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema or bronchitis
• chronic heart disease, such as heart failure
• chronic kidney disease
• chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis
• chronic neurological conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease, motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or cerebral palsy
• diabetes
• a weakened immune system as the result of certain conditions, treatments like chemotherapy, or medicines such as steroid tablets
• being seriously overweight (a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above)
• pregnant women

As above, there is a further category of people with serious underlying health conditions who are clinically extremely vulnerable, meaning they are at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus. You, your family and carers should be aware of the guidance on shielding which provides information on how to protect yourself still further should you wish to.

Who is ‘clinically extremely vulnerable’?

Expert doctors in England have identified specific medical conditions that, based on what we know about the virus so far, place someone at greatest risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Clinically extremely vulnerable people may include the following people. Disease severity, history or treatment levels will also affect who is in this group.

1. Solid organ transplant recipients.
2. People with specific cancers:
   • people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy
   • people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy
   • people with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
   • people having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
   • people having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
   • people who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs
3. People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD).
4. People with rare diseases that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), homozygous sickle cell).
5. People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection.
6. Women who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired.

People in this group should have been contacted to tell them they are clinically extremely vulnerable.

If you’re still concerned, you should discuss your concerns with your GP or hospital clinician.

A message from Transport for London

“Helping London’s teaching professionals, parents and guardians, children and young people travel safely back to school, as part of the Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy, is our priority. To enable social distancing of 2 metres, public transport will have severely reduced capacity, even when 100 per cent of services are operating fully. This means public transport should be avoided wherever possible to free up the limited space available to those who have no alternative way to travel, and that those who can should walk or cycle instead. It is crucial that we act now to enable social distancing outside school gates and on London’s roads by making walking and cycling part of everyday travel plans for schools.  We would therefore appreciate your support in giving careful consideration to the following guidance …

• Parents and pupils should walk, cycle or scoot to school, wherever possible
• Introduce appropriate social distancing measures outside school gates
• Staggering the start of the school day and collection times to help reduce pressure at peak travel times (05:45-08:15 and 16:00-17:30)
• Continue to support  the STARS programme at Woodcroft. STARS is TfL’s community project to inspire young Londoners at over 1,500 schools, nurseries and colleges to travel sustainably, actively, responsibly and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling. Woodcroft is a GOLD Level STARS School. Find more information at: https://stars.tfl.gov.uk/

Note 22/5/20: There will also be temporary changes to travel for under 18s in London, as required by the Government as part of the funding deal agreed last week. TfL are still finalising the details and once agreed, Will be fully communicating this to customers before they are implemented.

For further information.

Ami Ibitson | Engagement Officer | West London Team

Local Communities & Partnerships | Transport for London

Mail:        Yellow Zone, Floor 9, Endeavour Square, Stratford, London, E20 1JN

Email:      AmiIbitson@tfl.gov.uk

Parent Consultation Meetings take place at Woodcroft on Tuesday 20th March (4.00pm to 7.00pm) and Thursday 22nd March (4.00pm to 6.00pm). If you haven’t booked an appointment please speak with your child’s class teacher or collect a letter from the office.

Due to parent meetings clubs that are run by teachers will not take place next week. Acorns will run as normal. Please see below a list of clubs affected. (more…)

Science Week 9th to 18th March

British Science Week officially started on 9th March and at Woodcroft we had an action packed week of experiments and exploration planned! Take a look at some of the highlights …

We are CLOSED on Friday 2nd March.

The Met Office currently forecasting snow all day (checked 6.00am)

Click here for the Met Office Forecast

At Woodcroft we aim to stay open as much as possible. Every day counts in a child’s education. We expect parents and carers to ensure their child attends school every day, unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances, and we follow the same principles regarding school opening. However, we must consider the safety of the school community. Due the forecast of more snow all day Friday (MET Office checked at 6.00am), in addition to the continued freezing temperatures, we feel that it is unsafe to open the school today. We also want to provide parents and carers with sufficient notice in order to make any child care arrangements. Thank you for your patience during this difficult week of extreme weather. Keep warm – we will see you on Monday.

The school looks lovely in the snow?

For more general information about our severe weather arrangements click here

We aim to make decisions that give parents and carers 24 hours notice. Unfortunately, the current weather system is very unpredictable. This page will be updated regularly. 

(This page was updated on Friday 6.00am)

Woodcroft will be OPEN on Tuesday 12th December.

The latest weather reports (3.00pm Monday) predict freezing conditions in the Edgware area on Tuesday 12th December.

Please refer to the following advice:

• Do not arrive early: Unless pupils are going to breakfast club please DO NOT arrive before 8.45am. It will be very cold.
• A delayed registration will operate:  Pupils can arrive up to 9.15am. Please take extra care and time with your journey to school.
• Wear appropriate footwear: School shoes DO NOT need to be worn. Please wear appropriate footwear for icy conditions. A change of footwear can be brought to change into if necessary.
• Restricted access: The ‘Top’ front entrance and steps will remain locked. Please only use gritted paths. Pupils will enter classes directly via corridors from 8.45am.
• If the playgrounds remain icy, dismissal at the end of the day will be from pupil classrooms. Please be patient if corridors are congested.

For more information read the Snow Procedures information distributed with Friday’s Newsletter.

Please note: The Nursery and Reception afternoon show at 2.15pm will take place as planned. We look forward to seeing lots of you there.