Schools poised for a return to classrooms

All households of school aged children are to be offered two rapid covid tests per person, per week in a new government drive to support the national priority to get children back to school next week.
Waiting parents will be advised to wear masks and keep their distanced outside William Alvey School. EMN-210103-173215001Waiting parents will be advised to wear masks and keep their distanced outside William Alvey School. EMN-210103-173215001
Waiting parents will be advised to wear masks and keep their distanced outside William Alvey School. EMN-210103-173215001

Whole families and households with primary school, secondary school and college age children, including childcare and support bubbles, will be able to get kits to test themselves twice a week at home as schools return from Monday (March 8).

As laid out in the roadmap, secondary school and college students will now be tested twice a week, receiving three initial tests in school before transitioning to twice weekly home testing.

Nick Law, principal of the Robert Carre Trust, which runs Carre’s Grammar and Kesteven and Sleaford High School in town said they still have all the testing booths, equipment and trained staff and volunteers ready to carry out the lateral flow tests in school having done so for staff and key worker children since Christmas.

The testing centre at Carre's Grammar School. EMN-210103-173203001The testing centre at Carre's Grammar School. EMN-210103-173203001
The testing centre at Carre's Grammar School. EMN-210103-173203001

It will be a staggered return, starting with years 11, 12 and 13 on Monday. Mr Law said students will be eager to see friends and staff will be looking out for their wellbeing.

He saw it as important to get back into routines after such a long absence, he said: “The students who have chosen to engage have had a really good education since January 5. They have had online live lessons and uptake has been really high. ”

In addition to previous measures, pupils and staff will be expected to wear masks in classrooms.

On school transport Mr Law added: “We have asked for bus companies to keep children in year groups on board and not mingle, otherwise we could knock out several year groups with one infection.

“There are anxious teachers and students returning and they will see more perspex screens on teachers’ desks, lines on floors, doors and windows left open.”

He said ahead of details from exam boards there will be no compulsory end of year exams, but there may be small, informal classroom-based tests to help teachers make proper assessments for GCSE and A levels.

“We will be judging grades as late as we can in the year to get the best possible evidence,” he added.

Year 11 and 13 will do mock exams on their return to gauge any gaps, followed by more assessment and more time for coursework based subjects in April and up to mid-May to be as fair as possible from “a wealth of evidence”. Schools’ overall grades will need to reflect past years and exam boards can go in to investigate if marks are deemed to be ‘inflated’.

A-level results day will be August 10, with GCSEs results given out on August 12. They are earlier this year to create a “buffer” for appeals ahead of decisions on university places.

William Alvey School headteacher Stephen Tapley said he has been “so proud” of children, parents and staff over the last six weeks.

He said: “We are incredibly excited about the wider reopening. I think everyone will be relieved to get back to school. We have had over 170 children in school some days during lockdown so we are pretty much ready to go. We will be keeping all our bubbles, hygiene procedures and ventilation protocols, in fact all the precautions we had in place after Christmas will remain until we are told otherwise. In addition to these precautions, the majority of our staff now test for COVID twice weekly.

“We have a staggered start and end to the day; it is still busy outside the school during these times so we have asked all our parents to wear a face mask when they are waiting outside the school and to social distance as best they can.”

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