Help Our Community Stay Healthy

Although the cooler months are behind us, it is important that we all use a commonsense approach to health and safety guidelines to help reduce the risk of transmission of illnesses throughout our school community this term.

NSW Health has indicated that there is a high incidence of several illnesses in the broader community at the moment:

• Whooping Cough (or pertussis)
• Respiratory illnesses, such as ‘walking pneumonia’, COVID and RSV
• … and a nasty viral gastroenteritis on the rise too!

Help Reduce the Spread

To reduce the spread of all illnesses, it is important that all staff and students:

• Wash your hands thoroughly and often with soap and running water for at least 20 seconds and dry them with a clean towel.
• Stay at home when sick with acute symptoms of any of these illnesses (such as a runny nose, sore throat, fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhoea etc)
• Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and sneeze into your elbow instead of your hands.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth.

If your daughter is unwell, please notify the school and include any relevant information in the absence note you provide. This can be submitted directly via the SCEGGS App or by emailing absences.

Further information about all of these is available from NSW Health, including information about recommended vaccinations can be found here.

Rest is Best

Health advice is that staff and students who are sick should always stay home to rest and recover properly. This allows people to look after themselves and it avoids putting others at risk of getting sick too.

We all have an important part to play, so please help us keep everyone in our community as safe and well as possible this term!

Holly Gyton
Deputy Head of School