25 February 2021
The Prime Minister’s Announcement & Department for Education Guidance on the full re-opening of schools and testing
Dear Parents & Carers,
The Prime Minister’s announcement to the Commons on Monday has been followed by a number of messages from the Education Secretary and detailed additional guidance from the Department for Education. As you will appreciate, there is a significant amount of detail to digest and much of it is very important in terms of the safety and wellbeing of our students. Therefore, please excuse the brevity of this update as we are working very hard to ensure that all students can return quickly and safely. I am sure you can appreciate that with a large organisation such as ours, careful planning and robust risk assessment is required to ensure a safe and effective transition from remote to face-to-face learning. We will share some of our planning as part of Friday’s update and will write in greater depth at the start of next week, so that all members of our community have clarity regarding our next steps.
We are confident and excited about a full return to school in terms of support for students, routines and teaching. As a school we want to prioritise the education of our students and feel equipped to do so to a very high standard. We also want to make sure that any covid testing is conducted safely and that students feel confident and comfortable. We fully understand and support the Government’s desire to test all students from 8th March onwards and are planning to do so in a way that doesn’t adversely affect the education of students between that date and the Easter period. We are keen to support the national effort and to keep children safe, but balancing that with a return to high quality teaching poses a significant logistical difficulty.
Our priorities since September 2020 have been student safety, high quality teaching and student wellbeing. We are currently identifying ways in which all three can be balanced effectively so that students can get back into the classroom quickly and safely. Therefore, I want to reassure you that the health and wellbeing of our school community, within our local context, is at the heart of all that we do. When students return, all previous safety measures will be in place to ensure their safety, including regular hand sanitising, social distancing where possible within our school buildings and available space and year group bubbles. In accordance with government guidance, we will also be recommending the wearing of face coverings for students and staff in indoor communal areas, to all indoor environments, including classrooms, until Easter as instructed.
We are currently formulating our plans for delivery of home testing kits to students for rapid, or lateral flow, testing. Can I ask parents and carers to read carefully the letter and guidance outlined below to indicate whether they give their consent for their child to be tested; students cannot be registered for testing without explicit consent.
During the supervised test on the school site, LFT trained school staff, supported by volunteer medics (qualified doctors / nurses) will check that students are self-swabbing correctly and that they feel confident doing so. These pupils will be signed off as ready to transition to home testing. This seems an appropriate approach for our older students and reduces the need for further tests on site and associated disruption to their education. For pupils, particularly our younger or vulnerable pupils, who do not feel comfortable or would benefit from further support, we will offer subsequent support / testing sessions in school prior to transitioning them to home testing.
Key Documents
- Parental / Over 16 Letter
- Consent Form (Please print and return to the school reception as a hard copy or email your completed form to covidtesting@durhamjohnston.org.uk).
- Frequently asked questions regarding Data and Rapid/Lateral Flow testing.
Consent forms must be received by the school by 12 noon on Tuesday, 2nd March so that we can plan effectively for testing to start.
Parents and students over 16 years of age should carefully read the above documents and we would also recommend that you watch the following short video guidance on lateral flow testing at a test centre:
Testing at home will be much better in terms of student wellbeing, but we are committed to offering tests for those who would like to access one. Like all schools, there are logistical difficulties associated with medical/clinical testing within an educational context and we are currently working with the Local Authority and other local schools to try and identify a consistent approach. As soon as we have a clear sense of our next steps, we will update the website and share our plans with all students, parents and carers in a detailed email.
Thank you for your ongoing support and patience. We are very excited about the return of students and have been impressed with their attendance and commitment in terms of live lessons and remote learning. It is crucial that students continue to attend and engage in all lessons so that their transition back into the classroom is a smooth one. Parents and carers deserve real credit too, as juggling work and support within families is always difficulty and never more so, based upon our recent national context.
I will write to you again next week with further details outlining our plans for a safe and quick phased return to school.
Mr O’Sullivan