Covid Procedures

Covid Update for Schools 21st January 2022

The government have worked in collaboration with UKHSA and the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) to produce this guidance. The main messages are:

• nationally, education and childcare settings are open, and attendance is mandatory
• the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has made it clear that the overwhelming majority of children and young people still have no symptoms or very mild illness only
• schools no longer trace close contacts - close contacts will be identified via NHS Test and Trace
• close contacts of someone with COVID-19, who are under 18 years and 6 months, are advised to test every day for 7 days and continue to attend school unless positive
• under 5s who are close contacts of someone with COVID-19 do not need to do daily testing and are advised to take a PCR test if the positive case is in their household
• continuing to take regular rapid tests will help you to identify infections early and reduce transmission
• your child no longer needs to remain in any consistent group (or ‘bubble’)
•  if the number of positive cases substantially increases in school, or is is in an enhanced response area, the school might be advised that additional measures should be introduced
• all children aged 12 and over are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations
• children and young people previously considered CEV should attend school and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population
• face coverings are no longer advised for staff and visitors in classrooms - from 27 January, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in communal areas
• education recovery programmes will continue to be delivered in school.

The main messages from this guidance are:

• nationally, education and childcare settings are open, and attendance is mandatory (for schools) and strongly encouraged (at childminders, nurseries and colleges)
• the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has made it clear that the overwhelming majority of children and young people still have no symptoms or very mild illness only
• your nursery, school or college no longer trace close contacts - close contacts will be identified via NHS Test and Trace
• close contacts of someone with COVID-19, who are under 18 years and 6 months, are advised to test every day for 7 days and continue to attend education unless positive
• under 5s who are close contacts of someone with COVID-19 do not need to do daily testing and are advised to take a PCR test if the positive case is in their household
• continuing to take regular rapid tests will help you to identify infections early and reduce transmission
• your child no longer needs to remain in a consistent group (‘bubble’)
• if the number of positive cases substantially increases in your nursery, school, or college, or if your nursery, school, or college is in an enhanced response area, you might be advised that additional measures should be introduced
• all children aged 12 and over are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations
• children and young people previously considered CEV should attend school and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population
• face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms - from 27 January, face coverings are no longer advised for pupils, staff and visitors in communal areas
• updated advice for if an individual develops COVID-19 symptoms or has a positive test while attending boarding school
• update that education recovery programmes will continue to be delivered

Please find attached the latest Covid procedures.

Covid Procedure documents

Covid Catch up Plan Funding

Positive Behaviour Policy

Medicine Infection and First Aid policy

For information on remote learning due to the Covid response go to https://www.wallacefields-jun.surrey.sch.uk/learning/home-based-learning

For the latest Government guidelines on the impact of Covid on education and childcare please go to  https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus/education-and-childcare

For the latest Government guidelines on the Coronavirus go to https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Useful resources for transition back to school which was published in the Spring 2021.

Wellbeing useful resources