www.boarding.org.uk No images? Click here Dear membersThis week’s Covid-19 communication covers:
As ever the update is issued by BSA in conjunction with our partners BAISIS and ISC. BSA reminds all schools that it is not a medical, statutory or legal authority and any advice is given on that basis. A.1: What has changed There are now 367,161 reported deaths worldwide, and the concern about the rate of infection in South America is growing. With continuing difficulties in the USA, the Americas accounted for well over half of yesterday’s confirmed cases. Elsewhere in the world there remain significant clusters of cases in Russia and India, with significant further clusters or levels of community transmission in much of the Middle East. Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and also in certain parts of Europe, especially France and the UK. The rate of both reported cases and recorded deaths in the UK continues to slow but reportedly not as swiftly as some experts had hoped. As of yesterday, there were 38,489 reported deaths, compared to 36,914 last week. A.2: Covid-Safe Charter The concept behind the Charter is that it is a voluntary code which schools can adopt, with the aim of giving reassurance to international boarders and their parents that schools have done everything they can to ensure their safety when they return. Schools can choose whether to adopt the Charter, with the only stipulation being that those which decide to do so must meet all of the requirements. BSA has also produced a template letter to which schools may add their own logo and details as appropriate, which international pupils can use as a way of demonstrating that they are travelling back to a BSA member school. Today BSA issues a logo to accompany the Charter, please click here to download the logo. This can be used by any schools which have adopted the Charter, and BSA advocates using the logo as a button which is linked to the full Charter. As highlighted last week, laws, guidance, and regulation vary from country to country, and nothing in the Covid-Safe Charter is designed to override local protocols, but in certain areas the expectation is that schools will go beyond local guidance, with the particular expectation that pupils will not be prevented from wearing face-coverings. To be clear, BSA is not advocating that pupils must wear face-coverings, just that they must be allowed to if they wish to. This is a key factor for international pupils in being confident enough to resume their studies. As the pandemic response develops, BSA envisages that the Charter will evolve in the following ways:
A.3: International travel
It has also been confirmed that a number of Visa Centres are now reopening, which will assist schools and the families of new international pupils for next term. The DfE has also confirmed that schools will be deemed as suitable accommodation for any quarantine requirement, and this has also been confirmed by the Scottish Government, subject to Home Office requirements being met. BSA is grateful to ISC and SCIS for their assistance in gaining this information from the relevant authorities. BSA advises schools that it is entirely possible that any arrangements might have ceased before pupils return, so any schools planning to get pupils back early in order to satisfy any quarantine rules must be clear with parents what the arrangements are, as travel will need to be booked, and can probably not be subsequently changed. For clarity, it might be preferable to commit to an earlier restart for international pupils regardless of whether they need to be quarantined, although this is a judgement for each individual school. BSA understands that some guardian companies will be in a position to assist, and schools are encouraged to keep in regular contact with pupils, parents and guardians. A reminder of course that any European passport holders new to the UK will be subject to additional requirements if they do not enter the country before December 31, 2020. A.4: Return to boarding in the UK The guidance on Year 10 and 12 return to school in England was issued last week. This made no mention of boarding, so BSA and ISC raised a number of questions with DfE, and received responses to some, with information still awaited on others: With regard to which Year 10 and 12 pupils should receive face-to-face time, the response was as follows:
We await a response about both small cohorts and the question of whether boarders in the boarding house are considered to be on “school grounds”, both of which are crucial to future planning. DfE also confirmed that there are no further updates about other year groups returning to school, but that the guidance was definitely aimed at Independent schools, although they were not mentioned by name. The existing guidance on ISOLATION PROCEDURES for a suspected case of COVID in a residential setting remains in place. There are no further updates on school reopening from Wales or Northern Ireland this week. A.5: Return to boarding internationally The update issued last Tuesday included a significant report on the international situation. There will be a further BSA International Forum in early July, and details will be circulated soon. At the last Forum Richard Stokes, CEO of the Australian Boarding Schools’ Association shared a particularly valuable “Outbreak Management Plan”, as well as highlighting the other documentation from Australia which is now on the BSA website, along with similar guidance from New Zealand. A.6: Online safety A.7: #BSAheroes B. Links to previous BSA adviceIf you would like further advice from the BSA, please email bsa@boarding.org.uk. Best wishes
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