In accordance with the latest DPCM of 3/11 and the MIUR note of 5/11 which regulates the use of masks for adults and students older than 6 year old, even in static situations or where it is possible to maintain one metre distance as well as to ensure increasing safety standards in line with the development of the epidemiological situation, the use of masks for students and staff members in ICS is regulated as follows. 

• Type of mask
  Even though a recent MIUR communication, which has been published after the DPCM of 3/11, assumes the use of different type of masks within the school building, we consider that it is appropriate to ask families to ensure that their children wear surgical or FFP2 masks whose safety standards are easy to be recognised.
   
• Masks – requirements for school staff
  We would like to inform you that starting from November staff has started wearing fabric masks with interchangeable filters authorized by the health department, as these are masks recognized as medical devices. (Class I, Type II)
   
• Masks – requirements for Year 2 to Year 9
  We remind you that students are required to wear surgical masks or FFP2. Other types of masks are not authorized, even though they have a very high filtering power, as school operators cannot verify their standard of protection.
   
• Use of masks during physical education: on the basis of the latest communication of 2/11 from Antonia Giovanazzi, Executive Principal, we would like to clarify that use of masks is required even during PE lessons in time of transition or when the teacher explain the tasks. On the contrary, students do not have to wear masks during actual physical activities.

We will provide all students from Year 2 upwards with surgical masks that have been delivered to school by the civil protection agency.
Every Friday afternoon, just before exit time every student will be supplied with the sufficient number of masks for the coming week.

A reminder that, in accordance with the official guidelines, the use of mask is compulsory for students older than 6 years old. However, in case that Early Years and Year 1 parents would like their children to wear the mask, please follow the guidelines that have been outlined at the point ‘Type of mask’.

Instructions on how to and when to use masks for staff and students will continue to be monitored and updated as new and/or revised guidelines are issued.

Current guidelines do not require mandatory temperature check before entering the school building. However, until further notice, we will continue to monitor the body temperature of all the people who need to access the school in order to keep the attention level towards COVID-19 symptomatology high and guarantee our community’s safety. In the case of temperature above 37,5°C access to the school premises will be denied.

In order to guarantee students’ safety and wellbeing, staggered entry and exit times will continue to be in force until otherwise specified. From Friday 11th September and/or, at the end of the transition period, siblings may enter and exit school at the same time, in compliance with the start time of lessons for their specific age group: Early Years: 9:15 (Year 1: 9:00); Primary and Secondary: 8:30.

If there is a delay, students will have to stand the line and wait for their turn to enter.
Obviously, we will accommodate any children using ICS bus service who may arrive outside scheduled times. 
Parents will not be allowed to enter the school building during students’ entry and exit times.

Click here to download the timetables for Early Years, Primary School and Secondary School of all campuses. 

  In order to combine safety and prevention measures with a “normal” experience of the lunch time, we have changed as little as possible the regular routines. For some groups the lunch time will be organised in the dedicated areas (for students from Year 2 have been organised spaces in order to respect the social distancing), for other groups in their classes that will be properly aired and cleaned before and after lunch.

For Early Years children the lunch will be regularly serve at the table. For Primary and Secondary students lunch will be served at the table with disposable trays with spaces for the various dishes so as to make sure that students move as little as possible during lunch time.

Until further notice, as a preventive measure, school internal kitchens (where available) will not be used. Meals will be prepared daily at an external cooking centre managed by our external catering.

For the time being we will not be able to accept any birthday cakes or any other external food onto the school site until the authorities allow us to do so.

During the break and the outdoor playtime, as these are times when students are not able to respect the social distancing, students from Year 2 onwards will be required to wear the mask. For all the age groups outdoor playtime will be scheduled on different shifts and exclusive areas and games will be assigned to single groups.

Given the fact that outside of the school context, students mix with other children who in turn are a part of different communities for sports, training and recreational activities, in organising the extracurricular activities we believe that we must ensure the greatest possible safety, which means adopting a policy according to which every activity is organised exclusively within the “class bubbles”.
This is to limit the number of "close contacts" that will require preventive isolation in the event of a confirmed Covid case. Each site has sent its own program.

The school bus transport, according to the last guidelines, will be organised as follows:

• Check the temperature before going on the bus
• Use of the mask for students from Year 2 onwards (if younger children could tolerate it, can wear the mask as well)
• 80% usage of the overall available places apart from the 15 minutes routes when it will be possible to occupy the 100% bus seats

Cleaning and disinfection of all the school premises are the main actions that, together with social distancing, can help to prevent the spread of the virus.
ICS cleaning and disinfection protocol has been reinforced in consideration of the enhanced need for prevention and our cleaning staff has been assigned a specific job description that takes into account situations and places at higher risk, more specifically:

• High-touch points like door handles, knobs, switches, telephones, keyboards, handrails, desks and chairs
• Classrooms
• Meeting rooms
• Single work desks
• Break and lunch areas
• Bathrooms
• Air conditioners, fan-heaters and air replacement systems
• Buses

Indoor ventilation
The premises are ventilated frequently. Classrooms and other rooms occupied during the day are aired in the morning before students arrive, during each break, during lunch, at the end of the day and during room cleaning. Staff people will organize their routine in order to open the windows at least 5 minutes every hour and long before the students arrive and while they are out of the classroom: break, gym and lunch.
Classrooms should have windows open whenever possible and doors wedged open.

Disinfection
ICS will take care of disinfection:

• In compliance with the Circular nr. 5443 issued on 22nd February 2020 by the Ministry of Health and clearly mentioned in the Protocol shared on 14th March 2020, when a person who has been diagnosed COVID19 has been in the school building;
• Periodically and frequently in classrooms, lunch rooms, labs, offices, gyms and meeting rooms.

Thorough personal hygiene is a key contributor to reducing the spread of the virus. Posters illustrating the handwashing and hand-cleaning procedure are in all the bathrooms and common areas, on the understanding that washing hands with running water and soap, whenever possible, automatically excludes the need for hand sanitising gel. Hand sanitising gel dispensers is placed in the school areas far from the bathrooms and where hand washing with water and soap is not possible. Frequent cleaning and maintenance of the dispensers will be assured.

At ICS we firmly believe that each student’s wellbeing is vital to their success at school, and this remains central to our approach despite the current situation.

Early Years

As well as ensuring that the children can return to school safely, and in an environment that supports staying healthy, one of our top priorities is also the emotional wellbeing of the children. We recognise that this has been a very unsettling time for them all and we understand that there will be a range of emotions and reactions from children and families upon returning to school.
Our aim is to work with families to ensure that we are able to support the emotional needs of all of our students and to provide them with an environment where they feel comfortable, safe and happy so that they can readjust and begin to move forward with their learning journey.
Throughout July we have run summer school in 3 of our campuses which has given us the chance to see how well the children adjust to the new measures and to understand how best to organise the classroom environments in a way that supports emotional wellbeing, enquiry based learning and social interaction whilst still maintaining the recommended distance.
At ICS one of our underlying principles is positive relationships. Young children must feel safe, celebrated and supported within the learning environment in order to be able to thrive. We will be adding additional measures to our school induction, including live video calls, recorded messages, stories and songs, and the chance to come and meet the teacher and visit the classroom before school re-opens.
Parents will also have the chance to attend a virtual class meeting during the first few weeks of school in order to learn about routines and ask any questions or voice any concerns that they may have.
We understand that all children will have had their own unique experience in these months and that they will also have their unique needs when returning to school. We understand that some children may need a little more time and we will work closely with families to ensure that these needs are met.
Teachers will ensure that they communicate closely with parents using mediums such as Tapestry, Seesaw and class newsletters. Partnership with parents is vital to ensuring that we provide the best care for children and we will do our best to make sure that there is always open and honest communication.
New students will start their transition from 7th to 14th September, based on the individual transition plan that has already been shared with each new family during the one-to-one meetings with the didactic staff; transition dates and times have been defined according to the age and needs of each child. Only one parent/accompanying adult will be allowed to access the school building.

Primary and Secondary School

Our focus will be on allowing the students time to reacclimatise themselves to being back at school and in the physical classroom.
At home we encourage discussions about the imminent return to school and some of the differences that the pupils, both old and new, might expect to see in September.
Time will be dedicated to sharing experiences of lockdown and distance learning, acknowledging the challenges that the children all faced.
PSHE (Personal Social Health Emotional) is already an intrinsic element of our programme but will have particular significance in September. Our main aim will be on ensuring the wellbeing of each individual student during the first few weeks of school.
Teachers will communicate with families through Seesaw to provide daily updates from the classrooms.
If the school has particular concerns about individual children those parents will be contacted immediately.
During the first few days of school, time will be devoted to explaining the safety protocols and answering any questions the students may have. Regular reminders of safety protocols and discussions about the need for these regulations will continue throughout the first few weeks and as long as necessary.

The most common symptoms of COVID-19 in children are fever, cough, headache, gastrointestinal symptoms, sore throat, wheezing, muscle pain, nasal congestion; in the general population these symptoms are commonly added to loss or alteration of taste and/or smell.
If, when at school, a member of staff or a student presents a temperature of 37,5 degrees or other symptoms compatible with COVID-19, the procedure will be as follows:

• the referent COVID, will be informed and he/she will arrange to send the person to home;
• while waiting to go home, the subject with symptoms will be isolated in a dedicated environment (properly supervised if a minor) and will wear the mask if older than 6 years.
• the school will promptly register that a member of the community has been sent home through the relevant ATS portal

It will be the care of the person concerned or parents, for the clinical evaluation of the case, to contact the pediatrician or general medical doctor who will arrange, in case of suspicion COVID-19, for diagnostic testing and inform the department of prevention.
To support the speedy diagnosis within school communities, ATS has committed to find “swab spots” with priority and simplification access for all the students and the school staff (no booking is required, just by doing an self-certification signed by the parent of the minor or a self-certification signed by the symptomatic school staff member.)

• ‘Swab spots’ list
• Self-declaration form required to access the ‘Swab spots’

If symptoms present at home, the student or staff member must remain at home, inform the paediatrician or the general medical practitioner and promptly notify the school absence for health reasons. The pediatrician or general practitioner will proceed as above.
In case of a diagnosis of a different pathology for a student who has not done a nasal/throat swab, the pediatrician will provide the family with guidelines to be followed to return to school. In this case a self-declaration form is required to return to school (see point 15).

Considering that, in case of a Covid-19 confirmed case within the school, the school will be immediately informed by the involved subjects well before receiving the relevant notification from ATS, then the school must carefully act in order to prevent the spread of the virus, independent of the official ATS notification. For this reason we have built a process which is made of the following phases:

1. Confirmation of the case and date of the last contact
2. Tracking of the close contacts, especially for the involved teachers (in the case of the students, those students who were absent in the 48 hours which precedes the showing of the symptoms or the swab test, if they were without symptoms, are not included)
3. Preventive suspension of the in-school learning for the class and teachers involved while awaiting the ATS notification (procedure that at the moment is going on very slowly)
4. Notification for families and teachers involved
5. Beginning of the remote learning starting from the first day of suspension (primary and secondary) or starting from the day after (EY)

After having being notified of a Covid case within the school community, ATS requires isolation for the posivite subject and quarantine of those subjects who have been identified as close contacts. Students of the class are always considered close contacts (those who were present at school in the 48 hours prior the showing of the symptoms or the swab test, for those who are asymptomatic). Teachers are considered close contacts only if it is not possible to confirm the constant applying of the safety distance and the use of the mask according to the age groups who he/she teaches to and the type of subject he/she teaches.

The coming back to school of the positive subjects is regulated by a medical certification that confirms:

• A negative result of the nasal/throat swab test after 10 days of isolation for subjects who are asymptomatic
• A negative result of the nasal/throat swab test after at least 10 days of isolation for subjects who are symptomatic (the test has to be done after at least 3 days without having shown symptoms)

Covid-19 positive student
According to the guidelines provided by the Ministry of Health and ATS Milano, children who were in school in the 48 hours before the date of nasal/throat swab test of the positive covid case will be identified as close contacts of the confirmed Covid case. While we await to be contacted by ATS for the tracking of the close contacts, the students will be able to return to school after a 14 days quarantine starting from the day of last contact.
The quarantine has to be completed without showing symptoms in order to come back to school without doing the nasal/throat swab test and no medical certificate is needed

According to the latest ATS clarifications regarding the quarantine of close contacts in the Covid case in the school, we point out that:

• performing the swab immediately, before 10 days from the last contact, is counterproductive as there is a risk of obtaining 'false negatives';
• it is advisable to swab immediately only in the presence of clear symptoms (i. g. fever);
• it is advisable to contact your doctor in case of even mild symptoms;
• students in quarantine must remain isolated from the rest of the family, particularly in the moments of sleep and meals;
• the parents and other family members of the positive case classmates are NOT in quarantine; therefore, the brothers and sisters of Year 1 students attending classes not subjected to preventive measures, can regularly attend school, except for any relatives of the Covid case.

Finally, we would like to inform you that, according to current legislation, it is possible to opt, as an alternative to the 14-day quarantine, for a quarantine period of 10 days from the last contact with the positive case that has passed without symptoms; in this case the readmission takes place after a negative antigenic or molecular swab test must be performed from the 10th day onwards. 

Instruction to return after 10 days and after a negative swab test
From the first cases handled we are receiving reports of differences in attitude from pediatricans regarding the count of quarantine days.
For this reason, starting from this reported case series, we will follow the following procedure:

• after the school reports the confirmed case and the date of the last close contact, the family contacts the trusted pediatrician to obtain information
• the family carries out the swab following the instructions of the pediatrician 
• the family informs the secretariat of the student's early return upon presentation of the pediatrician's certificate of safe return to the community.

The certificate must show the date of the last contact declared by the school and the date of return to the community.

Staff positive
If they wear mask and maintain social distance, no close contacts.

Quarantine of a student or school staff member who has been identified as close contact of a confirmed Covid-19 case who is not part of the school community (e.g. football team mates) does not cause any quarantine for the other school community members.

ATS protocols are constantly updated with regards to the epidemiological situation and in order to simplify the consequent procedures. In accordance with the ATS guidelines, starting from 16th November, the school considers it appropriate to adopt a stricter safety protocol, introducing a self-declaration form in order to enhance the monitoring of the reasons of absences, in those cases when the law does not require a medical certificate to return to school.

• Returning to school after days of absence due to individual reasons:
• Absence due to personal reasons → SELF-DECLARATION FORM
• Absence due to health reasons in case that the pediatrician/doctor do not consider that those symptoms are Covid-19 related → SELF-DECLARATION FORM
• Absence due to isolation after having tested positive for Covid-19 → MEDICAL CERTIFICATE RELEASED BY THE PEDIATRICIAN/DOCTOR
• Absence due to symptoms for whom the pediatrician/doctor has prescribed a nasal/throat swab test whose result has tested negative → MEDICAL CERTIFICATE
• Absence due to close contact with a positive Covid case outside the school → MEDICAL CERTIFICATE
• This last case needs particular attention as the school is not able to identify the date of last contact of the student/staff member with the Covid case. Even though this is a case that, according to the latest guidelines, does not require a medical certificate to return to school after a 14 days quarantine, the school considers it appropriate to implement increasing safety standards in order to raise awareness to the whole school community on this difficult situation. For this reason, in case of a student/staff member experiencing this situation they must contact the pediatrician/doctor, make sure that the quarantine period is appropriate and ask for a medical certificate to return to school. In case that the pediatrician/doctor does not release a medical certificate, as it is not required by the law in case of returning to school after a 14 days quarantine, then please email the secretary’s office which will provide you with a self-declaration form.

N.B. We always ask you to notify your child’s absence to the secretary’s office by 9.30 of the first day of absence. Then the school office will inform you if the child needs a self-declaration form or a medical certificate in order to return to school.
Returning to school after a quarantine where the whole class is involved (due to close contact with a positive Covid case within the school):

• Returning to school after 10 days quarantine from the date of last contact with the Covid case with a negative result of the nasal/throat swab test → MEDICAL CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE PEDIATRICIAN/DOCTOR
• Returning to school after 14 days quarantine from the date of last contact with the Covid case that has been completed without showing symptoms → NO MEDICAL CERTIFICATE/NO SELF-DECLARATION FORM ARE REQUIRED

Returning to school after being notified as positive Covid case, see 13. Case Management-Covid19 

According to the development of the epidemiological situation, the protocol which regulates communications about the Covid-19 cases has been updated considering the new measures regarding the use of masks within the school building and in order to reduce the number of emails. The protocol has been updated as follows:

• Positive Covid case which involves a student or a teaching staff member which determines the tracking of close contacts and class quarantine; the case is reported to the whole affected community
• Positive Covid case which involves a student or teaching staff member which does not determine tracking of close contacts or class quarantine; the case is reported only to the affected class
• A student who has been quarantined after being identified as a close contact of a Covid-19 case who is external to the ICS community (e.g. parent positive); the school notifies anonymously ONLY the affected class

Finally, we will not send out any communication in case of:

• A positive Covid case which involves a non teaching staff member which does not ever determine close contacts within the school community (considering the assignment and work place of this staff member);
• prevention actions which the school and its attending people naturally do to preserve the school community (i.e. case of a student or teacher who has been sent home or stayed at home after showing symptoms that could be due to Covid-19 or self isolates in advance because is a potential Covid-19 case close contact).