www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here Dear members Please find below guidance for boarding issued by the DfE in the past 30 minutes, covering Y6 boarding at schools in England. We will distribute again with our newsletter tomorrow morning along with our own comments. Best wishes
YEAR 6 PUPILS IN BOARDING SCHOOLS: Q+APurposeThe Government has asked primary schools, from the week commencing 1 June 2020 at the earliest, to welcome back children in Nursery, Reception, year 1 and year 6. This is alongside the priority groups – the vulnerable children, and the children of key workers – for whom education settings continue to be open. This Q+A is for boarding schools that cater for year 6 pupils, as very few younger children board. Further guidance in relation to secondary schools and years 10 and 12 will follow. How can boarding schools manage their boarding houses when year 6 pupils return?The Government’s guidance on isolation for residential schools https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-isolation-for-residential-educational-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-isolation-for-residential-educational-settings applies to mainstream boarding schools. This guidance recognises that what constitutes a household may be complex. Sharing kitchens, bathrooms and sleeping spaces are important considerations. The guidance states that it is important to decide whether the whole setting should be treated as a single household or as multiple households. For example, where residential provision is spread across several, separate buildings, the school may wish to treat these as different households. The guidance provides advice on how to manage isolation in the case of a symptomatic student or staff member. In addition it provides some general advice on maintaining staff ratios at a safe level to protect children and young people, considering the maximum number of children or young people that can safely be accommodated in each setting, and managing visitor policy. These households, in contrast with other households, will almost always need to have staff and other professionals arriving and leaving. Boarding schools might find it helpful to refer to the Department’s guidance on protective measures at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings Sport - What sports can students play when they return?As part of the relaxing on rules on exercising, government has indicated that tennis, golf and some outdoor water sports are permitted, but only in accordance with guidance on social distancing. Current restrictions on indoor facilities (dry or water-based) will remain in place until the end of May at least. What about the use of PPE in boarding schools?The majority of staff in education, childcare and children’s social care settings will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain distance of 2 meters from others. PPE is only needed in a very small number of cases:
Where PPE is recommended, this means that:
When PPE is used, it is essential that it is used properly. This includes scrupulous hand hygiene and following guidance on how to put it on and take it off safely in order to reduce self-contamination. When can international students return?Once international travel resumes, international boarders should follow the rules on self-isolation for international travellers that are in force at the time they arrive. The Government will continue to monitor worldwide border, travel and public health restrictions and hope to resume normal services as soon as we are able to. Further guidance on this will be set out in due course. How can the boarding pupils be managed in the educational setting?and at sets out the arrangements to be followed to keep groups of pupils apart. Boarding schools should adopt the same practices for children who are boarding as for day pupils. Each setting’s circumstances will be slightly different. Any setting that cannot achieve these small groups at any point should discuss options with their local authority or trust. This might be because there are not enough classrooms/spaces available in the setting or because they do not have enough available teachers/staff to supervise the groups.
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