‘I hope testing means we can stay in school more. It’s been hard and I’ve missed my friends’
Mass coronavirus testing has begun in schools in one South Wales county. Education editor Abbie Wightwick caught up with pupils and headteachers in Merthyr Tydfil to find out what they thought of the move
HUNDREDS of pupils and staff at four schools in Merthyr Tydfil started having rapid lateral flow Covid tests yesterday.
The initiative will continue over the next 24 hours at Cyfarthfa High, Pen y Dre High, Afon Taf High and Bishop Hedley RC High.
More than 1,000 pupils, and staff from all four schools have opted to take the lateral flow tests, which give results in 30 minutes.
It is part of the mass testing programme which has been taking place in the town over the past week-and-a-half after Merthyr Tydfil’s county area registered the highest rate of new cases in the UK.
By 12.30pm yesterday lunchtime, four hours into the schools testing programme, which will run until tomorrow, no-one had tested positive, said Merthyr’s education director Sue Walker.
If anyone does test positive they will have a second PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test.
If that is also positive, their entire bubble of pupils – which could be classes or year groups – will have to self-isolate.
The tests are to identify any asymptomatic cases and all those testing negative will also be offered a second rapid result test next week.
Afon Taf High headteacher Stuart James said around 500 of his 716 pupils are taking the test, but more than 100 are self-isolating already, including all of Year 10 and one class group each in Years Eight and Nine.
“We are hoping testing will dampen down cases and enable children to carry on with their education, which has been so disrupted,” Mr James said.
“Testing today has all gone really smoothly and all have been negative so far, but we will be doing more tests tomorrow and next week.”
Luisa Martin Thomas, deputy head of Cyfarthfa High, said 84%
of the school’s more than 1,000 pupils have chosen to be tested.
At the moment 180 pupils from seven class group bubbles are isolating after recent cases.
“We can’t ignore Merthyr’s been extremely high with Covid cases,” she said.
“Testing will give reassurance to pupils, staff and parents that they are safe in school.
“It’s been a very anxious time for teachers, support staff, parents and pupils. Testing will identify any asymptomatic cases, which will ease anxiety and give added protection.”
All said it is also important to try to identify cases well ahead of Christmas to avoid anyone having to self-isolate over the festive period.
Pupils admitted they felt “daunted” getting tested but said they wanted to be in school as much as possible and keep others safe by not unknowingly spreading Covid.
Cyfarthfa High head boy Daniel McAleer, 15, who is in his key GCSE Year 11 and was among those in his year who had to self-isolate this term, said: “It’s a bit of a weird experience but it’s important to do this testing because we get to understand how
many people might be asymptomatic, which will help stop the spread.”
Andrew Miller, 14, who is in Year 10 at the school, said classmates were anxious before the tests.
“People did have mixed feelings and waiting for the results was really daunting but now we feel really reassured,” he said.
“I was over the moon when I tested negative because it means I can come to school and also visit family.”
Afon Taf Year 11 pupil Halle Harbod, 16, hopes testing means fewer cases spreading and less disruption to learning.
“I have had to self-isolate and blended learning was not that bad, but I prefer being in school,” she said.
“I was worried before being tested but now I’m relieved because we can carry on as usual now we know we are negative. It is reassuring because before you did not know who might have it.”
Classmate Ceirion Galliers, 15, didn’t want to have the test at first
because he had no symptoms, but his negative result reassured him he can now visit his grandfather at Christmas if he tests negative next week and stays in his safe bubble at school. He has also been worried about missing school in his exam year and has missed not being able to play rugby.
People who don’t agree with mass testing in schools should understand it is for the benefit of the whole community, said Lilly Phillips, 16, from Year 11 in Afon Taf
“It’s a 30-second test and it might save people if you are asymptomatic,” she said.
The pupils said they have missed not only face-to-face learning but also socialising, sport, music, drama and other clubs with all the restrictions in place this term in schools.
If regular coronavirus tests can help things slowly return, they said they don’t mind having them.
Samantha Baylis, 16, who is just back from two weeks’ self-isolation after cases in her Year 11 group at
Cyfarthfa High, said: “I hope testing means we can stay in school more. It has been hard and I have missed seeing friends.
“From a pupil perspective, it could seem careless not to have the test. We are more than 1,000 pupils and have teachers of varying ages. We are all in this together.
“Hopefully testing will keep us in school and safe.”
“Yes, you have nothing to lose getting tested, “said Rhys Day, who is in Year 11 at Afon Taf. “All of our class is negative. It makes us and our teachers reassured.”
Latest Public Health Wales data shows in the seven days from November 20-26 there were 305 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in Merthyr, slightly up on the 283.5 cases per 100,000 the previous week.
The first school mass testing was carried out at Merthyr’s Greenfield Special School last Thursday. Everyone there tested negative.
Tests were also done at Ysgol y Deri Special School in Penarth on Friday. That school is closed today while results are analysed.
In a message to parents posted on the school’s Facebook page, Ysgol y Deri headteacher Chris Britten said: “In order for us to make a measured and safe decision about the results, we are closing the school for the day on Monday, November 30, to give school leaders time to analyse the outcomes and plan a response (if needed) with the TTP [Test, Trace and Protect] team, the health board and the local authority.”