We hope everyone has had a relaxing and healthy summer break and is ready for our new school year to begin. For the families in our holiday care weeks, the settling-in is already underway and the children are finding familiarity with their new routines.
With this initial newsletter we want to inform you of our current safety protocols, our protection concept in place, and how we structure our daily routines with the reality of Covid-19. This is certainly of particular interest to our new families joining us in the first term.
All staff members in the Early Years and Pre-School classes will remain fully masked while indoors for the next weeks. Given the high case numbers of Covid-19 within Switzerland, and the nature of summer travel in an international school setting, we will continue our mask mandate for the protection of children and staff. During time spent outside, staff members can remove their masks if a distance of 1.5 m can be maintained between adults. While we aim to move toward greater mask free time while indoors, masks ultimately provide the best protection for all and can help our groups to remain open in the case of any positively tested staff members or children.
We greatly appreciate your support in maintaining a healthy and safe school environment and therefore ask you to please read this newsletter closely to stay well informed, and reassured, of our expectations and policies. After nearly a year and a half of Covid-19 as a daily reality in our school routines, we are grateful for the strong partnership and the conscientious, respectful relationships we have with our parents.
Our Information Evenings will take place as planned in Uetikon, Zollikon, and Zurich. The dates and times are listed above in Upcoming Events.
We will, however, not begin with a general introduction with all parents, to minimise the time spent in a large mixed-parent group. Parents can therefore directly join their child's class presentation in the respective classrooms. We ask that this evening's attendance be limited to one parent per family. All presentations will be uploaded to the parent section on our website.
As parents are not yet permitted within the classrooms (active settling-in is the exception), this will be a wonderful opportunity to see the individual learning centres, displays, and general classroom atmosphere.
All parentsand staff will be required to wear masks for this event.
Following recommendations from the local school authorities and KibeSuisse we can confirm that the following measures will be in place at the beginning of the new school year.
All previously implemented hygiene measures including regular hand-washing and disinfecting of main surfaces in classrooms and communal areas will continue to remain in place.
When entering the school building, parents are required to wear a facemask for the duration of their time inside the school.
Parents are not permitted inside the classrooms unless their presence is needed for active settling-in.
Staff members will wear a mask while indoors.
Children should not share snacks or drinks. Birthday cakes/treats should come pre-packaged.
Excursions will be allowed to take place again, though each one will be specifically risk assessed with measures implemented to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Public playgrounds can once again be used during outside times.
Children with the following Coronavirus symptoms: sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath - with or without a fever, or muscle pain and/or a sudden loss of sense of smell and/or taste are required to stay at home and contact a doctor.
Additionally, if a child showing any of the above mentioned symptoms has a sibling at any Tandem IMS location, we also insist that the sibling/s is/are kept at home.
If the child takes a Coronavirus test and receives a negative result, they will be able to return to school as soon as they have been symptom-free for 24 hours. For other illnesses, including: fever (38.2°C or higher, vomiting and diarrhoea, children must be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school.
Children who are ill at school will have their parents called and the child must be collected.
If any children, or their direct family members, test positive for Coronavirus, the school must be informed immediately. The Contract Tracing team will then be informed by Tandem IMS to assess the situation and to decide any necessary measures.
All Tandem IMS Parents can only send their children to school if they can commit to the following:
My child and all other persons living in our household have no symptoms of Covid-19: sore throat, persistent cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever (38.2°C or higher), loss of sense of smell and/or taste or body aches.
No member of our family, or a person who our family has been in close contact with, is planning to take a Covid-19 test or is awaiting a Covid-19 test result (either due to having symptoms or because of having been in contact with a person who has tested Covid-19 positive).
For all other details regarding our Covid-19 protection concept and sickness policy chart, please click here.
A great way to stay connected with us is via our social media channels. On Instagram and Facebook you get the latest information and see various activities we do. On LinkedIn you find topics regarding education.