It’s been a beautiful week here at Discovery College with the sun shining and the breeze blowing throughout the day. Students and teachers are definitely back into the full swing of things and it’s a nice feeling to be returning to some level of normality.
With that said, one of the things that often happens when we return to school each year is a few weeks of coughs, colds and runny noses because we’re bringing people back together after a period of time away. The same thing rings true after holiday breaks. Even though travelling was off the table for our mid-term break, it was still an opportunity to venture to new places in Hong Kong and interact with different people.
The last week has seen an increase in students with runny noses, coughs and the occasional fever. It has also seen an increase in absences. This means as a community we’re taking the necessary precautions to help keep our wider community healthy.
We’ve done an amazing job as a community with daily temperature checking and being vigilant against signs of sickness. Our heavy use of hand sanitizer and masks, though, means that students with cold symptoms end up with wet, unpleasant masks that provide a home for germs to stay and the children stay sick longer. Before sending your child to school with a runny nose or other symptoms of a cold, please consider if your child is able to actively and mindfully change their masks regularly, blow their nose and take care of the general hygiene needs that are linked to handling a cold to prevent it spreading to other members of the community.
My rule of thumb with my own child is to err on the side of caution. Earlier this week we went back and forth if he was ready to return to kindergarten after a Sunday full of snot. We thought he’d probably be fine but I thought about what if he happens to spread something to the rest of the community. We ended up giving him that extra day to fully rest and recoup, which meant he was ready to return to school healthy on Tuesday.
Thank you for your consideration and working together to keep our community safe and healthy.
Enjoy the weekend.
Josh Blue
Head of Primary