March 6th, 2020

Dear Parents / Guardians,

We are monitoring the COVID-19 situation very closely to ensure that we keep our school community safe. We will continue to follow the guidelines provided by the Government of Bermuda and the Department of Health, and other global resources including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
 
With the Easter holidays coming up, we know many families and staff will be travelling. We strongly encourage BHS families to follow the CDC guidelines and avoid travel to countries which are listed as Level 3. As of today, these countries are as follows: China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. We would also recommend that there be no non-essential travel to Level 2 countries.
 
You can see the CDC recommendations for travel 
HERE.

As far as school trips are concerned, we have cancelled the trip to Japan. The organisers of the UN-UNIS conference in New York have now disallowed student participation from all schools outside of the USA. Currently, the Year 6 Washington trip is under review. We will let parents know by March 20th, if it is cancelled.
 
We do not require parent / family travel information at this time, but this may change as the situation demands. We are relying on the government controls put in place at ports of entry. If you or any members of your household present with symptoms and receive a positive diagnosis, BHS needs to be immediately informed. 
 
We are developing contingency plans in the event that a school closure is mandated, including how we will deal with this year's I/GCSE and IB examinations.

We have implemented extra hygiene measures at school which include:
  • Proper hand-washing posters in all bathrooms
  • Reiteration of good hand-washing protocol to all students and staff
  • Increased sanitizing of classrooms, including doorknobs and surfaces throughout the School
  • Encouraging all students / staff to stay home, if they are unwell
HERE is a simple infographic from the CDC on how to stop the spread of ALL germs, and we recommend following these guidelines. We are also following this protocol at BHS.

Further, we encourage everyone to follow the
  • Wash your hands frequently
  • Maintain social distancing
  • Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
  • Practice respiratory hygiene
  • If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early
  • Stay informed and follow advice given by your healthcare provider
At this time of year, colds and the flu are common. Please monitor your child's temperature closely and if it is above 100.4F you must keep her at home until she is fever free for 24 hours.
 
We thank you for your cooperation. We will continue to monitor reports and provide updates as necessary, to do our part to keep everyone safe and healthy. 

If you have any concerns, please contact me [email protected] and / or the Community Health Nurse, Ms. Khamani Fox [email protected]
 
Yours sincerely, 


Linda Parker
Head of School