Message from the Head of School: COVID-19 UPDATE 16.03.2020

Monday 16th March 2020

Dear Parents, Guardians, Staff and Students,

As the COVID-19 pandemic becomes more prevalent around the world, then we as a school, will continue to focus carefully on ensuring the health and wellbeing of our school community. Our primary concern is to protect our community.

However, our school community also has a collective responsibility to follow the virus prevention guidelines set out by the school and the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH). Please remember that if your children are engaged in activities outside school, such as extra lessons, tutorials or sporting activities, where they come into regular, close contact with others, please request that these third parties confirm they have not been travelling or transiting through our high-risk countries, nor have they been in close contact with anyone who has, within the previous 14 days.  If your child has a sibling attending another school that has closed due to a confirmed case or a PUI (Person Under Investigation) within their school staff or students, you must keep your child at home and they will have to follow the 14-day quarantine.  If you have any children who are alumni and returning from high-risk countries, they must also follow quarantine procedures.

It is very important that the self-quarantine procedures also apply to all that have close contact with anybody that has a confirmed case of COVID-19 virus. At this point, I would like to confirm that there are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Bangkok Prep.

However, we have had a few cases of parents and children that have taken the decision to self quarantine because they have been in contact with others that are a potential risk. I would like to thank these members of our community for acting with honesty and integrity and in the best interests of our school community.

Understandably, the Ministry of Education and OPEC are being very strict, and we will be required to close the school if any of our students or staff have been exposed to the virus and come to school, even if through a third party.

I would like to reassure the school community that our school housekeeping staff are continuously cleaning and wiping down surfaces with disinfectant that can destroy viruses. In addition, we engage in deep cleaning during the weekends and additional comprehensive sprays of anti-virus disinfectant by our ‘Space Suited’ team.

I would also like to remind everybody to regularly wash their hands or use the hand sanitisers located throughout the school.

Please be honest about where you have been and keep track of the countries on our list and with whom you have come into close contact. The health and safety of all of us, in large part, relies on the honesty and willingness of members of our community to strictly follow the announcements made by the school and the government. Please regularly check the on the website to monitor the places on the school’s high-risk list. We are also regularly adding to the FAQs on this page, do email us if you have a suggestion for this section.

High-Risk Countries

The Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) have announced additional places to those we have already listed on our website as high-risk countries. We have added these countries to our high-risk list. The areas included in the self-isolation requirements are now: Italy, Iran, Korea, mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, South Korea, France, Japan, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, USA and the UK. If you have travelled from or transited through or been in close contact with someone who has travelled from or transited through these places, you are subject to a 14-day self-quarantine. Please contact the Primary or Secondary Office if your child(ren) need to be quarantined.

Dangerous disease areas – Territories outside the Kingdom of Thailand defined as ‘Disease Infected Zones of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak’ announced in the Royal Thai Government Gazette on 5th March. These include Mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong, South Korea, Italy and Iran which are considered to be dangerous disease areas. People who have travelled from / transited through these places have to go mandatory quarantine and report electronically every day to the MOPH for 14 days. If they develop any symptoms, they have to go into a government organised quarantine.

High-risk disease areas – Places that are on the school’s list of high-risk countries. Following recent government announcements and updates, these places are now: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, UK, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, US, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, France and Germany.

Children on self-quarantine will be expected to participate in continuous learning. We apologise for the inconvenience this has, no doubt, caused some families and also thank you for your patience and support.

Primary Office – Khun Toom: supaksirip@bkkprep.ac.th

Secondary Office – Khun Bo: kingkarnp@bkkprep.ac.th

Temperature Checks

A reminder that additional temperature and travel detail checks, for all visitors to the campus, are ongoing. Thank you for being patient if there are some delays when entering school. Please also take temperature checks at home before you send your children to school and if they do have a fever, you must keep them at home. Taking your child’s temperature at home also enables you to monitor any changes daily. A reminder to also monitor any of your staff who accompany your children to school, to make sure they are well.

As the situation continues to evolve, we will endeavour to communicate with you by email, SMS and social media. This is to ensure as many people as possible directly receive the message should it become necessary to put further precautionary safety measures in place.

Holiday Advice

The Songkran holiday period is nearly upon us and there is also a long weekend in May. It would be very wise that you avoid travelling to any of the high-risk countries. This will include any countries added to the list by the date of your return to Thailand. If you do visit one of these countries or come into close contact with someone who has, your child(ren) again you will be subject to a 14-day self-quarantine.  It is very important to note that other countries may be added while you are on holiday, making them also subject to quarantine. Our advice would be to take Songkran holidays in Thailand, if at all possible This is particularly applicable for those families who have children about to undertake the IGCSE or A Level examinations where dates are set by the examination board externally.

The Summer Holidays are commencing at the end of June. I would like to think that the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have subsided by this time; however, we need to be prepared in advance for a longer term impact on global travel. Therefore, if you are planning to travel outside of Thailand for the June to August holidays, consider booking ‘flexitickets’. You may need to adjust your return date to ensure your family can clear any quarantine requirements before we return to school on Thursday 20th August 2020.

My advice is to return to Thailand by Tuesday 4th August thus allowing sufficient time to self-quarantine if necessary. Be sure to check the details of any travel restrictions at your planned destination too. Your child(ren) will not be able to return to school until the required self-quarantine has been fulfilled. Some extra research and flexibility over the next few months will help us all to stay together and stay healthy.

Warm regards

Duncan Stonhouse 

Head of School 

Please see more information about our Online Learning procedures here:

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL: Home Learning and Innovative Online Learning