Preparing for all the return of all pupils

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SENT FROM GARETH DRAWMER, HEAD OF ACHIEVEMENT AND LEARNING, AND DAN FLECKNOE, CONSULTANT IN PUBLIC HEALTH

Dear Headteachers and Chairs of Governors,

We have become aware of a small number of schools who have stated that they will be closed for all or part of this Friday, 5th of March, for deep cleaning and to support the preparation of the return to onsite teaching for all pupils from Monday 8th of March.

As a Local Authority, Buckinghamshire Council expects that all schools will be operating a full daily timetable for all pupils, via remote education for the majority of pupils and in-school provision for vulnerable pupils and children of Key Workers, for the whole of this week.

The Public Health team are not aware of any public health reasons that would require a day closure.  We attach again for reference the link to the government guidance issued on 22nd February Schools coronavirus (COVID-19) operational guidance which outlines the system of controls that school should operate to prevent infection, and also states that schools should continue to operate as normally as possible.

We wish all pupils and staff well with the return to full onsite teaching from the 8th March.  Please do get in contact to either the School Improvement Team (sis@buckinghamshire.gov.uk) or Public Health team (publichealth@buckinghamshire.gov.uk) if we can support you with any aspect of your school’s return.

Kind regards,

Gareth Drawmer                                                     Dan Flecknoe

Head of Achievement and Learning                  Consultant in Public Health

DfE Governance Update – March 2021 edition

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Welcome to the March edition of the DfE’s school governance update, where you will find key announcements and information to support you in your governance role.

For this edition we have created one version to cover both maintained schools and academy trusts– the articles are listed below for information.

1) Message from Baroness Berridge
2) COVID guidance pages for schools and colleges
3) NGA Outstanding Governance Awards
4) Updated school land guidance and forms
5) (Maintained schools only) update on School Financial Value Standard
6) Wellbeing for Education Return – webinar and supporting resources
7) NGA survey for clerks and governance professionals on careers and development

Here is the link to the page: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-governance-update/school-governance-update-march-2021

If you would like to provide us with any further feedback on the content or format of this update please email: schoolgovernance.update@education.gov.uk.

Thank you,

School Governance Unit,

Department for Education

8 March Schools Reopening for all pupils

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Dear Governor

Here are three bits of information which you might find useful to consider in the current situation and share with your senior leaders prior to  full school opening on 8th March

  1. Vaccination. 

The CIPD ( Chartered Institute of Personnel Development) has published a document for its Members and is advising organisations to have a vaccination policy/statement which sets out the following:

    1. Encourages all employees who can do so to get vaccinated once they are offered it.
    2. Explains that this encouragement forms part of the obligations that each employer has through its health and safety obligations and duty of care for the wellbeing of all individual staff and the community it serves.
    3. Explains there will be no compulsion to get vaccinated but all staff are strongly encouraged to do so unless there are specific medical reasons why this is not advised
    4. The school will release staff in order to attend their vaccination appointments  ( you  may want to add any school specific requirements here- eg go after school if there is a choice, who to notify etc)
    5. A risk assessment for individuals who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable, Pregnant or Breastfeeding, or choose not to be vaccinated should be undertaken and homeworking and alternative working arrangements considered
    6. And last but not least the Guidance about  Social distancing, handwashing and wearing face coverings  remains in place even after staff have been vaccinated

You could consider a vaccination policy or adding this section to your Risk Assessment, wellbeing policy or Code of Conduct etc as best fits your school

For those who are also CIPD members the full Vaccination HR guidance can be accessed here https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/fundamentals/emp-law/health-safety/preparing-for-covid-19-vaccination

  1. Staff unwilling to return to work- legal position
    1. If staff are claiming that they do not feel safe returning to work then the legal situation this poses and the  options schools should consider is explained here

https://www.stoneking.co.uk/literature/webinar-recording/attendance-work-during-lockdown-getting-balance-right-education\

  1. Upcoming Free Webinar re March opening Stone King Webinar: Full reopening of schools on 8 March 2021 – Key Legal and Practical Points – 02.03.2021, 2pm

Following the release of the Department for Education guidance on the planned return to school of all pupils from 8 March, this one hour webinar will focus on the legal and practical implications for schools, their pupils and employees including:

  • Implementing Covid testing and enhanced control measures for pupils and staff
  • Staffing issues
  • Curriculum provision including the future of remote learning

The webinar will provide an overview of the guidance followed by a live question and answer session. Questions can be submitted in advance during booking or emailed to events@stoneking.co.uk. ​

The full guidance can be viewed here.

Please book your place on this webinar here. 

I hope the signposting of the information above is useful for you.  Please do email us with your feedback

Best wishes

Anne Sheddick

Vice Chair BASG

Anne.sheddick@gmail.com

Free Governor Training Spring 2021 – update

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Dear Governors,

Further to the previous message below, we have an additional session available which you can now book on:

Statutory Relationships, RSE and Health Education in the PSHE Curriculum   30th March

We are pleased to advise you of new dates for training sessions in the Spring term. These sessions are free and are open to any members of your governing board.

The training will be online via MS Teams, starting at 6.30pm and will last for approximately one hour.  To register your place please follow the links below.

Safeguarding in Schools                         25th Feb

The Role of the Governing Board        3rd Mar

Financial Management for Schools     9th Mar

Developing Relationships with the Senior Leadership Team 17th Mar

The Secondary Governor’s Role in School Improvement        25th Mar

Any problems, please contact me.

Regards,

Hazel David

School Improvement Team

Children’s Services

 

Buckinghamshire Council

4th Floor, County Hall

Walton Street

Aylesbury,

HP20 1UZ

NGA – School reopen to all pupils: key changes to control measures

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The Department for Education (DfE) have published updated operational guidance for schools in preparation
for full reopening on 8 March. This information sheet summarises key elements of the guidance and outlines
the role of governing boards in supporting reopening.
From 8 March:
◼ Attendance will be mandatory for all pupils (except those who are clinically extremely vulnerable or
need to self-isolate).
◼ Schools are required to provide remote education for pupils who are unable to attend school
because they are following government guidance.
◼ Essential control measures must be in place to minimise COVID-19 transmission.
◼ Secondary schools can phase the return of pupils during the first week to facilitate testing.
◼ Schools will need to review risk assessments (and update where necessary) in advance of 8 March.
Implementing operational plans is the responsibility of school leaders and this will be their focus in the lead
up to 8 March.
The role of the governing board
Governing boards should seek assurance from school leaders that risk assessments are being carried out in
preparation for reopening and that relevant policies are brought up to date as needed. As always,
safeguarding and the wellbeing of pupils and staff should be a priority.
Governing boards should engage with school leaders in the approach to 8 March (through usual monitoring
routines where possible), giving due regard to the published guidance. Most of the control measures set out
in the updated guidance replicate those implemented in September 2020. However, we’ve highlighted some
new and important elements below:
Asymptomatic testing for all school staff, and for secondary school pupils
◼ Secondary and primary school staff will be given kits for twice weekly testing at home.
◼ Returning secondary pupils will be tested three times at school (three to five days apart) and will be
provided kits for at-home testing thereafter.
◼ There will be no testing of primary pupils.
◼ All testing carried out in school will use lateral flow devices (LFD) which provide a result in 30
minutes.
◼ Staff and pupils with a positive LFD result will need to follow self-isolation guidance and obtain a
PCR test to confirm the result.
◼ Close contacts of anyone who tests positive must not attend school for ten days.
◼ All testing is voluntary.
Extended use of face coverings in secondary schools
◼ Previously, the guidance asked secondary pupils and staff to wear face coverings in indoor
communal areas.
◼ The new guidance extends this recommendation to all indoor environments in secondary schools
(including classrooms) when social distancing cannot be maintained.
◼ Exemptions (such as pupils who rely on visual signals for communication) apply.
Wraparound care and extra-curricular activities to resume
◼ From 8 March, schools are encouraged to resume before and after school activities that help parents
to attend work and support pupils’ wider education.

Supporting parents, pupils and staff
◼ The DfE have recognised that some families and school staff may be feeling anxious about school
resuming.
◼ The guidance encourages schools to discuss any concerns and “provide reassurance on the
measures you are putting in place to reduce any risks”, reiterating that pupil attendance is
mandatory.
Adjusting start and finish times
◼ Whilst overall teaching time should not be reduced, schools can stagger start and finish times to
keeps groups apart as they arrive and leave.
◼ Schools should think about how best to communicate changes to parents and remind them not to
gather outside the school entrance.
Governing boards continue to offer valuable support to school leaders, as they have done throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic. Control measures will be in place until at least Easter, when the end of term will
provide an important rest period for school staff.
Further reading
Visit the NGA Knowledge Centre where our COVID-19 hub will be updated with essential guidance and
information for governing boards in the lead up to 8 March and beyond.

NGA support joint statement on wider opening of schools in England

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Release date: 19/02/2021

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s expected announcement on Monday 22 February regarding the further opening of schools and colleges, the National Governance Association (NGA) has joined with eight other education associations and unions to make a joint statement. The other organisations involved are the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), GMB, National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), NASUWT, National Education Union (NEU), Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA), Unison, and Unite.

Statement:

We are committed to bringing all children and young people back into the classroom as soon as possible. However, it is counterproductive if there is a danger of causing another surge in the virus, and the potential for a further period of lockdown. Wider opening must be safe and sustainable.

We therefore urge the Prime Minister to commit to 8 March only if the scientific evidence is absolutely clear that this is safe, and at that point go no further than a phased return of children and young people with sufficient time to assess the impact before moving to the next phase.

We are increasingly concerned that the government is minded to order a full return of all pupils on Monday 8 March in England.

This would seem a reckless course of action. It could trigger another spike in Covid infections, prolong the disruption of education, and risk throwing away the hard-won progress made in suppressing the virus over the course of the latest lockdown.

The science around the role that schools play in the overall rate of transmission is uncertain. Scientists have expressed different views on this point. What we do know is that the full reopening of schools will bring nearly 10 million pupils and staff into circulation in England – close to one fifth of the population. This is not a small easing of lockdown restrictions. It is a massive step.

These factors necessitate a cautious approach with wider school and college opening phased over a period of time. This is the approach being taken in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It allows public health experts to assess the impact of the first phase before moving to the next.

None of this is intended to stand in the way of the full reopening of schools and colleges. On the contrary. It is intended as a prudent way forward to ensure that once they are fully open, they stay open.

Emma Knights, chief executive of the National Governance Association said: “The government is rightly giving us all this messaging on hands-face-space, but the Department for Education appears to be saying that it’s okay for all children to go back to schools at full capacity. We are not reassured, given what happened last year and the transmission rate of the variants, of the scientific basis for believing this number of people inside in secondary schools is reasonable. We need to do something differently from the autumn to avoid lockdown four. We’ve got to a point where everybody wants pupils back in school, but nobody wants to be back at the point when rates rise dramatically again.”

Free Governor Training Spring 2021

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Dear Governors,
We are pleased to advise you of new dates for training sessions in the Spring term. These sessions are free and are open to any members of your governing board.
The training will be online via MS Teams, starting at 6.30pm and will last for approximately one hour.  To register your place please follow the links below.
Safeguarding in Schools                         25th Feb
The Role of the Governing Board        3rd Mar
Any problems, please contact me.
Regards,
Hazel David
School Improvement Team
Children’s Services
Buckinghamshire Council
4th Floor, County Hall
Walton Street
Aylesbury,
HP20 1UZ
07824 482570

Voucher Reminder – Helping Hands vouchers (half term) and FSM vouchers (term time)

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Dear Colleagues,

  1. Half term Helping Hand voucher reminder

For all schools – Vouchers provided by Buckinghamshire Council Helping Hand Project, funded by the Winter Grant Scheme for every benefits-related free school meal pupil, to provide £15 support for vulnerable families with food during the half term holiday.

Please remember to download the letters from Any Comms Plus that contain the £15 voucher codes for pupils eligible for free school meals for the half term break.  We really do appreciate your help in getting these letters out to parents and remind you that these need sending before the end term.

If you have any enquiries about the half term voucher provision, please email helpinghands@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

  1. Term Time Free School Meal Vouchers reminder

For those schools who are ordering term-time FSM vouchers from Blackhawk Incentives through Buckinghamshire Council Traded Services.

Vouchers ordered for the week after half term will be delivered electronically  by Friday 12th February, for you to send out to parents when the school returns on Monday 22nd February.

Please contact tradedservices@buckinghamshire.gov.uk with any queries.

Kind regards,

The School Improvement and Helping Hand Teams

 

FW: Funding for Digital Devices – Deadline Extension

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Dear Colleagues,

We note that we have not yet had a return from your school detailing the pupils in your school that still do not have sufficient access to a digital device in their home to enable them to participate in remote education.  I attach a copy of the original email which was sent on 9th February.

Please can you provide details on the spreadsheet attached above of which pupils you will be claiming for and confirmation that they meet the four criteria. Once complete, please save your file with the filename 825LLLL_825xxxx_Remote Learning Support.xlsx, where xxxx is your school number, then upload the file to AnyComms Plus selecting “Remote Learning” as the file type. We have extended the deadline until end of school day today, Thursday 11th February, to allow you extra time to submit this information.  We would be grateful if the school could submit a ‘nil’ return if there any no pupils in the school that meet the four eligibility criteria for our records.

 We will then confirm the number of eligible pupils and the maximum amount of funding available for your school and provide more details on how to process your claim tomorrow, Friday 12th  February.  To participate in this scheme, all claims must be made by Friday 26th February.

825LLLL_825xxxx_Remote Learning Support (002)

Kind regards and thank you for your support,

Gareth Drawmer

Head of Achievement and Learning

Update on testing from Public Health

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Dear Colleagues,

Please find below three guidance updates on testing in schools:

  1. Confirmatory PCR tests.  Colleagues will be aware that the requirement for a confirmatory PCR test, in the event of a member of staff getting a positive lateral flow device (LFD) result, has been removed for all such tests not being conducted at home.  Primary school staff who get a positive LFD test are therefore still required to get a PCR in order to confirm the result, whereas Secondary school staff are not.  The DfE have just released a helpful FAQ clarifying how Primary schools should treat a positive LFD from a contact tracing point of view: [Primary schools should still] send home those people who have been in close contact with the person who has tested positive, as defined in the actions for schools during the coronavirus outbreak guidance. Those who have come into close contact with staff who have a positive LFD result should isolate straight away rather than waiting for the staff member’s confirmatory positive PCR test. The staff member’s household should also isolate immediately after the positive LFD result, as per the stay-at-home guidance.
  2. Asymptomatic LFD testing for staff who are post-COVID.  Staff who have had COVID-19 within the last 90 days can be assumed to have sufficient acquired immunity to make re-infection extremely unlikely, and are also more likely to get false positive PCR results, during that time period.  On this basis, anyone who is within 90-days of confirmed COVID-19 (with their onset of symptoms or initial positive test counting as day zero, whichever came first) do not need to be included in routine asymptomatic LFD testing.
  3. Twice weekly staff testing.  National guidance now recommends that staff are tested twice weekly.  Obviously, some schools – particularly Secondaries who have to conduct testing within the school day – will vary in their capacity to test this frequently, but if it is possible then twice-weekly is now the recommended option.

We are awaiting a national decision on full school re-opening, as well as on how this will change the above testing guidance.

Kind regards,

 Daniel Flecknoe

Consultant in Public Health

Adults and Health Directorate

Buckinghamshire Council