The Government have made it clear that all children are to return to school for the start of the autumn term.
Parents have been promised schools will be safe for their children and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has urged parents to send them back when schools reopen, saying that: ‘If a child is not in school, they stand to lose far more than just a few months of learning. It could well put a huge dent in their future life chances.’
Many experts have insisted the likelihood of children dying from coronavirus is tiny, and Dr Ranj has said that children are less likely to pass on coronavirus.
So, are schools definitely reopening, and what advice will they be following to keep kids safe?
When do schools go back?
All pupils, in all year groups, will return to school full-time from the beginning of the autumn term.
For many schools, autumn term will begin on Wednesday September 2 and run through until Friday December 18, with a half-term at the end of October.
What are the rules for going back to school?
The Government has provided guidance for all schools reopening, and it applies to primary, secondary (including sixth forms), infant, junior, middle, upper, school-based nurseries and boarding schools.
For schools to reopen, the Government has first required that all schools carry out strict public health measures. These include:
- Requiring that people who are ill stay at home
- Following hand and respiratory hygiene
- Enhanced cleaning arrangements
- Active engagement with NHS Test and Trace
Another measure included reducing contact and maximising distances between those in school. To do this, schools could:
- Group certain children together
- avoid contact between groups
- arrange classrooms with forward facing desks
- ensure staff are maintaining distance from pupils and other staff as much as possible.
Will school children have to wear face masks?
Boris Johnson’s U-turn on advice on kids wearing masks in school means that secondary school students will have to wear face masks in areas that are in local lockdown.
Furthermore, headteachers can make a mask mandatory if they see fit.
Primary school students will likely not have to wear a mask, with the advice from WHO and Unicef stating that masks should only be considered on children between the ages of five and 11 in special circumstances, such as if there is a high risk of transmission in the area and whether there is adult supervision to help them safely wear the mask.
Schools are being advised to respond to any possible cases of infection by:
- Engaging with the NHS Test and Trace process.
- Managing confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) amongst the school community.
- Containing any outbreak by following local health protection team advice.
A comprehensive set of guidance, including advice for specific circumstances such as if a member of teaching staff is pregnant, can be found online at Gov.uk.
MORE: I’ve been a teacher for over 20 years but I am scared of going back to school
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