The new rules as students go back to a post-lockdown classroom

LATE on Friday night, the Department for Education published 22,000 words of guidance explaining how schoolchildren and staff should be kept safe when classes return.

Below are some of the key points that every pupil, teachers and parent will need to know before the school gates open this week.

Two weeks on, two weeks off

Every school has to draw up plans to ensure children continue to be taught even if they have to stay at home should a local lockdown be imposed after a spike in Covid-19 cases.

In what has been described as an “absolute last resort”, the guidance sets out four tiers of restrictions. In the first tier, schools remain open with everyone wearing face coverings in communal areas. In the next tier, just for secondary schools, a “rota system” is introduced where children are given two weeks at home to see whether symptoms emerge, then two weeks at school if given the all-clear. A one week rota – five days in class, nine days at home – is another possible option.

Tiers three and four offer studying at home, with only the most vulnerable children, or those of key workers, allowed to attend classes.

Social distancing and ‘bubbles’

So-called “bubbles” will be created, so youngsters learn and mix with fellow pupils. Large assemblies or collective worship should not include more than one group. Break and lunch times can be staggered to keep bubbles apart. Ensuring these “distinct groups do not mix” makes it quicker and easier to identify contacts if a positive Covid-19 case emerges or someone has symptoms. The bubbles can be larger, increasing to whole “year bubbles”, if teaching demands require it. Books, games and shared equipment can be used within that group, but must be cleaned if used by another bubble.

Older children will be encouraged to avoid close contact with one another. Teachers are not restricted to a single “bubble”, but are urged to stay at the front of any classroom to reduce contact. In class, pupils must sit spaced out side by side and facing forward. The use of the staff room by teachers is to be “minimised”.

If a pupil or teacher has symptoms or a positive test

Schools must contact local health protection teams immediately so those in close contact with the child can be traced. A mobile testing unit can be sent to a campus. NHS Test and Trace would be informed so family and friends can be contacted and possibly isolated. The pupil or teacher would be quarantined for 14 days and tested. If a child with symptoms is waiting to be collected by a parent he or she should be moved to a room to be isolated, with adult supervision if required.

The announcement was amended shortly after it was published to remove any suggestion an entire bubble, which could include a year, could be asked to self-isolate.

Teachers who help a child with symptoms do not have to self-isolate unless they develop symptoms. The area where someone suspected of having coronavirus has been must be intensively cleaned.

If a parent insists a child with symptoms attend, the head teacher can refuse.

Face coverings

Although guidelines do not recommend the universal use of face coverings, each school can decide whether pupils above Year 7, teachers and visitors should wear them when in corridors and communal areas. They will not be worn in class. Primary school children are not required to wear them.

Hygiene and cleaning

The guidance insists a “robust hand and respiratory hygiene” regime is in place, with children encouraged to clean their hands when they arrive at school, return from breaks, use bathrooms, change classrooms and before eating. Hand sanitiser stations should be commonplace. Staff will also supply and promote the use of tissues.

Surfaces students touch regularly, such as desks, door handles, books and playground apparatus, as well as lavatories, should be cleaned very regularly. Pupils must limit what they bring to school, carrying only essentials “such as lunch boxes, hats, coats, books, stationery and mobile phones”.