Sandbox Safety Zone in School Programme – Day Schools – Update

Thursday 16th September 2021

Sandbox: Safety Zone in School Programme – Day Schools – Update

Dear Parents and Students

I would like to thank you all for supporting the opening of our school for Term 1 of this academic year. We all hope that the online learning will be for a limited time, and we can soon welcome your children back on to campus. I fully understand that beginning Term 1 online is not ideal, and we are all really looking forward to welcoming the children back onto the campus.

Last week, I wrote to you and mentioned that Bangkok Prep will be seeking approval to open our school by using the Sandbox: Safety Zone in School programme whilst some children may wish to continue learning at home. I would like to inform you that we have sent our request to the relevant authorities, and we are expecting approval to open in the near future. This means that we could have small groups of children coming onto our campuses under certain COVID-19 preventative measures. We have requested to begin this hybrid model on Monday 27th September, but we are waiting for final approval from the relevant authorities.

Although, I have previously listed some COVID-19 preventative measures that will be required when international day schools open, I would like to make you aware of a few additional details (announced on 15/09/21) with regards to the preventative safety measures that need to be in place in all day schools in Bangkok:

• All staff and students will need to take an Antigen Test Kit (ATK) twice a week (Sunday and Wednesday evenings) and send their results to the school so we can ensure the safety of our community. For younger children, parental assistance may be required.
• All staff and students will be required to take the ‘Thai Safe Thai’ risk assessment survey each day. For younger children, parental assistance may be required.
• Access to school campuses will be permitted with the presentation of a ‘School Pass’. This School Pass will be automatically issued upon successful completion of the negative ATK test and Thai Safe Thai completion.
•  Parents/students who wish to purchase uniforms, collect a transcript/school document or make a school fee payment, please email info@bkkprep.ac.th beforehand as these activities will have to be scheduled by appointment only.
• Lunch will be pre packed and sealed hygienically. Alternatively, children can bring their own packed lunch.
• When the children are in school they will be taught in ‘bubbles’. This means they are part of an identified and contained group.
• Bangkok Prep will have an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) approved by the relevant authorities. This ERP sets out the procedures in case of an emergency. For example:

Monitoring the recovery and treatment of any confirmed, positive COVID cases.

1. Students – If a student arrives at school with a high temperature; or experiences a high temperature during the school day they will go with the nurse (accompanied by a teaching assistant for a younger child), to rest in the COVID-19 Medical Isolation Room until they are collected by their parents. The nurse will notify the Primary or Secondary Coordinator who will contact the parents to collect them immediately from the COVID- 19 Isolation Room. The COVID Action Team (CAT) will contact their parents or guardians to follow up on the situation. Parents must come to collect their child immediately and we recommend they take an ATK test. If the ATK results are positive then we strongly recommend that the student be taken to a medical facility for a RT-PCR test for confirmation of the result. This test result must be sent to Miss Pang (HR) ASAP.

Further details can be found in this link to the Parents Section – COVID-19 Updates section on Firefly. You may be interested to read the Bangkok Prep COVID Action Plan and the Bangkok Prep Proposed COVID Measures for Sandbox: Safety in School presentation.

A whole school survey will be shared with the community shortly to register student interest in the option of returning to school during the Sandbox: Safety Zone in School programme. It will also be an opportunity to ask some questions about this programme.

Following the results of this survey, I will be hosting some forums to provide any relevant updates and answer some questions from the survey.

We will continue to do everything we can to minimize any risks to staff and children. I will notify the community once we are granted approval and I will share the list of all the details and requirements.

We have a very exciting year ahead of us and I am sure that the forthcoming high quality learning experiences will allow our students to continue to flourish!

Warm regards

Duncan Stonehouse

Head of School