We’re ready to do Covid tests, says academy head teacher
THE head teacher of one of the West’s biggest schools said she is confident they are ready for a staggered return to classrooms, and for the coronavirus testing of pupils that will accompany it.
Students across the West will be expected to administer their own tests, under supervision, when lessons in secondary schools resume following the staggered return to schools this month.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson confirmed details about the return to classes on Wednesday. That will see online learning with all secondary school pupils staying at home for the week commencing January 4 – apart from the children of keyworkers.
Then, from the week commencing January 11, Years 11 and 13, who are taking their GCSEs and A-Levels this summer, will return, before all other pupils return the week after that.
Areas of the country with the highest levels of coronavirus case rates also won’t see pupils back at primary school until later in January. Primary schools in the Bristol region are anticipated to open as usual.
Next week will see secondary school leaders get to grips with plans to facilitate daily Covid-19 tests in schools, albeit with targeted testing of children who have come into contact with a positive case, rather than every pupil being tested every day.
Samantha Williamson, who runs one of Bristol’s biggest schools, said the Christmas break had been a challenge, but she and other headteachers would be ready.
“We sent every child home with lesson packs before Christmas, anticipating that this would be happening,” said Ms Williamson, the headteacher of Merchants Academy, an all-through primary and secondary school in Withywood, south Bristol.
“We’re prepped for online learning, but the reality is that we have to do the best we can with whatever is happening. Head teachers, teachers and pupils are tremendously adaptable, and we’ll manage the situation.”
Over the Christmas holidays, estates managers at Merchants Academy and at Colston Girls’ School, the other secondary school run by the Venturers Trust, have set up testing areas within both schools.
Ms Williamson said: “The biggest challenge has been recruiting volunteers who’ll oversee the tests, but we’ve been really lucky in that we’ve had lots and lots of volunteers come forward – it’s just been about the logistics of getting them DBS checked in time, the majority of them are former or retired teachers.
“Secondary school pupils will be expected to administer the tests themselves, under supervision. These are the rapid tests that give a result in 20 minutes or so. We’ve had a pretty hefty handbook from the Government, and it’s not as complicated as it seems.
“We’re reacting to what’s being asked of us, and I think it’s doable. The testing system should hopefully, if it works properly, mean an end to the situation where entire year groups of hundreds of pupils would be sent home because one student has a positive test. This way, we can rapidly test the pupils that had come into close contact with that positive test student, and get the results quickly. The idea is it will quickly stop cases spreading, but won’t be as much of an impact on students overall.”
The prospect of four of the secondary school year groups being kept at home for the first two weeks at least of the spring term means home schooling is an issue again.
In the spring and summer, Ms Williamson was vocal in her appeal for more Government help to facilitate that. She went on national TV to explain that many pupils did not have access to laptops, the internet, Zoom calls and online learning, and highlighted that the school’s first priority when lockdown was first imposed was to ensure families in her school community were fed.
She said: “We’re somewhere along with it now, thankfully. Every child in Years 10, 11 and 13 now has full access to a laptop or iPad device, thanks to a huge amount of fundraising we’ve done, so in Key Stage 4 at least, we’re pretty confident.
“But in Years 7 and 8, we’re not yet fully supplied with the technology, but they all took home learning packs to at least continue their studies from next week from home.”
We’re prepped for online learning, but the reality is that we have to do the best we can with whatever is happeningf Samantha Williamson