Detailed new guidance revealed for the return to

LITERACY, numeracy and digital learning, along with health and wellbeing, must be the priority for next term, Welsh Government guidance for schools reopening fulltime in September says.

The guidance, published on Monday, is separated into two documents – one on how schools can operate safely and the other on what children should be taught and how.

“Schools and settings must do everything possible to minimise contacts and mixing”, it says.

But they won’t automatically

“making sure we’ve got the detail right”, including advice for people who rely on lip-reading, and details on how it will be enforced.

Guidance on the measures that must be in place when two-metre physical distancing cannot be met has been published by the Government, he said, and some operators will be ready before the new rules come into force.

Mr Drakeford said he would not mandate the use of three-layered face coverings in other public places, but that could change depending on the state of the virus in Wales, and some businesses could require people to wear coverings inside their premises.

He said: “At this point in time when the prevalence of coronavirus is low, we are not mandating the use of face coverings in other public places.

“But many people, of course, choose to wear them and there is nothing to stop that happening in Wales. Our advice may change if cases of coronavirus begin to increase again.

“And where it is not possible to maintain a twometre social distance, some businesses may ask people to wear a face covering before they enter those premises.”

Peter Hughes, Unite Wales regional secretary, said: “Unite Wales warmly welcomes Welsh Government’s decision to make face coverings mandatory be closed if a pupil or member of staff tests positive for Covid-19.

Although contact between individuals should be minimised, keeping pupils in contact groups of 30, as suggested in scientific advice to Welsh Government, may not be possible.

In secondary schools, “groups” may mean several hundred in whole years or half years of pupils, the guidance suggests.

Social distancing, keeping groups of whatever size separate, staggered start and finish times and strict cleaning and hygiene protocols mean schools will seem very different next term, but the guidance emphasises pupils must be encouraged to attend and learning must be meaningful.

There should be assessments, although schools will not be judged on these.

The guidance, which also includes the process which should be followed if anyone develops Covid-19 symptoms at school, warns the situation could change depending on what the virus does and schools must have contingency plans to return to remote learning.

“The latest guidance, while a step in the right direction, still doesn’t go far enough. What we know about coronavirus is that it is more likely to be spread in an indoor setting, and that it is still in community transmission in Wales. To protect the public in only a handful of settings does not make sense.”

The charity Bus Users – which campaigns for accessible, inclusive transport – gave a cautious welcome to the move.

It said the announcement provided muchneeded clarity for passengers and will help to ensure people feel safe

The National Association of Headteachers Cymru welcomed the guidance but warned: “We should not underestimate the scale of the logistical challenges this guidance will pose school leaders in particular.

“We should make no mistake, this is not a return to ‘business as usual’ and there is a great deal of work that now needs to be done.”

The guidance advice on: includes

Parents won’t be penalised for not sending their children into school but this will and confident when using the bus.

But it expressed some concerns around exemptions for wearing masks and enforcement of these new rules, following confusion in England when similar measures were introduced.

The charity wrote to Welsh Government in June asking for clear guidance for operators and passengers.

Barclay Davies, director of Bus Users in Wales, said: “We welcome the announcement that face coverings and social distancing are to become mandatory on public be reviewed after halfterm. Term will start on September 1 but schools can prioritise years such as exam years before everyone is expected to return on September 14;

The Welsh Government has announced £29m to help recruit more staff to address help “recover and raise standards”;

This is a matter for school governors;

School kitchens are “expected” to be open;

Pupils won’t have to transport in Wales.

“We now need to know exactly how these rules will be enforced and how passengers will be able to demonstrate a medical exemption preventing them from wearing a face covering.

“We are also concerned that social distancing measures, which greatly reduce capacity on board buses, will lead to passengers being left at bus stops.

“We need to ensure that anyone who needs to travel by bus is able to do so.

“Otherwise, people will turn to private vehicles, increasing levels of congestion wear face masks, but this guidance may change; and

Breakfast clubs and after-school provision: These should reopen.

“Local authorities should work with schools to consider resuming any breakfast and after-school provision, where possible whether this is provision offered by the school or run out of the school by a private provider.”

The guidance for “contact groups” says: “Whatever the size of the group, they should be kept apart from other groups where possible and older learners and pollution, and undoing the gains made in this regard during lockdown.”

The First Minister had previously been hesitant to introduce face coverings in Wales for a wide range of reasons, including fears over the supply of masks for key workers, people feeling overconfident in masks and taking unnecessary risks, and concerns over the quality of covering people would use.

Mr Drakeford added: “I want to be clear that coronavirus has not gone away. Every day, we hear reports from around the world of countries which have should be encouraged to keep their distance within groups...

“We recognise that younger learners will not be able to maintain social distancing, and it is acceptable for them not to distance within their group. Both the approaches of separating groups and maintaining distance are not ‘all or nothing’ options, and will still bring benefits even if implemented partially.

“Some schools may keep learners in their class groups for the majority of the classroom time, but also allow mix