Dear Parents,

Further to the email that was sent late last week from the Directors and Principals of El Alsson, this group have met again this morning and made the following decisions centered on well-being and safety of the children, families and staff in our school. All overseas trips will be cancelled for the remainder of this school year. Other internal residential and day trips will also be postponed or cancelled with immediate effect. The trips listed below are affected:

• Cross School MUN Trip to Greece- cancelled (meeting on Tuesday is cancelled)
• Cross School MUN Trip to El Gouna- cancelled
• Cross School Under 14 Football Trip to El Gouna
• British School Year 6 Desert Trip- postponed
• British School Year 4 Trip to Alexandria- postponed
• American School Grade 3 Trip to Alexandria- postponed
• American School Grade 5 Trip to Sharm El Sheikh- postponed
• American School Grade 2 Trip to Wellsprings- cancelled
• British School Year 3 Trip to Wellsprings- cancelled
• British School Year 5 Trip to Elsewhere Park- cancelled
• British School Year 5 Trip Ras Sudr- cancelled
• Cross School Football Tour to MedCup in Italy- cancelled
• British School Year 8 Trip to France- cancelled
• American School Senior Trip- postponed
• British School Year 12 Trip to Hurghada- postponed to Year 13
• American School Grade 7 Trip to Italy- postponed
• American School Grade 8 Trip to Fayoum- cancelled
• Cross School Early Childhood/Early Years Trip to Hakkawy Film- cancelled
• British School Year 11 Trip to Brussels and Amsterdam- cancelled
• British School Year 10 Trip to Italy- cancelled
• British School Year 7 Trip to Wellsprings (Beit el Wadi)- cancelled
• British School Year 8 and 9 Trip to Wellsprings (Sharm El Sheikh)- cancelled

Further details on the next steps with all these trips will be made known to parents who are involved in these trips once we have them from the travel companies and providers.

In addition, the following whole school events have also been cancelled or postponed:

• Senior Sports Days (11^th and 12^th March)- postponed
• Carnival (28^th March)- cancelled

All other planned events, including class assemblies, the Senior production of Beauty and the Beast, the Mothers’ Day event and participation in the World Scholars Event in Cairo will continue as planned. Guidance has also been sought from the British Council and examination boards over the potential contingencies from the upcoming IGCSE/GCSE/AS/A2 Examinations in the British School.

The school has also taken the following precautions in addition to those outlined in the email sent last week. All students and staff who have attended the American School Grade 11 Cruise Trip will be asked to stay away from school until there is consistent evidence that they are not infected with Covid-19. This is in line with the guidance that the school has received from the Ministry of Health in Egypt and other authorities around the world. We are also checking the health of staff and students who have returned from school run overseas trips to Hungary and Spain over the half term break. All staff who have travelled overseas over the half term break, regardless of their destination, will also be checked.

The school has also set up isolation facilities and will be triaging students to separate medical and trauma cases as they are presented by pupils and students. Further equipment to aid this identification and maintain high levels of sanitation within school has also been purchased.

As parents can appreciate, this is a very fast-moving situation that will provide many challenges and developments. The school is committed to protecting the children, staff and families and will pass on information to parents when information becomes available. We urge all parents to work with the school to maintain a proportionate response to the challenges that we face and to support the school during the coming days and weeks. It is important that children attend school at all times as lessons and curricula will continue as planned. It is very much business as usual within the core elements of our school.

Kind Regards

Allison Fleet, Colin Rogers, Soumaya Amr, Karim Rogers and Matt Topliss

El Alsson Directors and School Principals