BSA England update, 31/12/20: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - school arrangements for January No images? Click here Dear members,Yesterday (December 30), several announcements from the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Education (DfE) were published. Additionally, BSA and ISC received a further briefing on the testing procedures being rolled out next week.ISC’s comprehensive briefing is attached to the end of this update for reference, which relates equally to state boarding members. The key guidance is the updated "Return in January" guidance. The main “Full Opening” guidance has also been updated, essentially to update procedures for the particularly vulnerable. Schools are reminded of the “Contingency Framework” which is now being more widely referenced. The main aspects of yesterday’s updates are below, but BSA has been advised it is highly likely that there will be additional changes before the full anticipated opening for secondary schools on January 18.
Best wishes,
ISC update: December 30, 2020Dear colleagues, Please find below an update from the ISC following much speculation over school arrangements for January during the Christmas holiday period. We outline what is known as of 9pm on Wednesday 30 December. Kind regards, --- Schools reopening in January Gavin Williamson said primary schools will continue to open fully to all pupils from the week of 4 January, with the exception of some schools in areas with high rates of COVID cases where the Government’s contingency framework will apply. In those areas, primary schools will only be open for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, with remote learning provided for all other pupils. Further guidance on implementing the contingency framework in primary schools is here, with the list of affected areas in Annex A. The list of areas will be reviewed on 18 January. The arrangements for schools with secondary age pupils are now as follows:
Mass COVID testing in schools A DfE alert to schools today provided the following information: Delivery of lateral flow test kits from 8am on Monday 4 January You will need to ensure that someone is on-site to receive delivery of your testing kits from 8am on Monday 4 January from Parcelforce or Royal Mail. Testing kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) will be delivered in large crates containing up to 1,000 testing kits, PCR tests and PPE to get you started. You will need to consider where to store these, making sure they are stored between two and 30 degrees celsius. Additional supplies will be delivered over 4, 5 and 6 January. You may therefore receive two deliveries on Monday 4 January. These supplementary deliveries will be made by Brakes and Bidfood. Please do not reject any deliveries. If you have surplus supplies of test kits, we will tell you how this delivery can be returned at a later date. Guidance on the coronavirus (COVID-19) testing programme for secondary schools and colleges We have created a schools and colleges document sharing platform for asymptomatic testing. This area contains additional information to support school and college staff and has been updated to include the following resources:
Register a team leader for your school or college rapid coronavirus (COVID-19) test site Please complete the registration form to register a team leader. You can only register one team leader at a time using the registration form. To register multiple team leaders, please complete the form as many times as needed. Team leaders will need to be registered before you can start testing from 4 January. Further details can be found in the 'how to guide'. Webinars on testing in secondary schools and colleges Webinars will be available on the following dates (click on the link to join):
We strongly encourage schools and colleges to attend these webinars. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you can watch a recording by clicking on the same links above used for joining the live event. ISC coronavirus FAQs |