Notice: 19 August 2021
Special Education Notice COVID-19: Update from the Health Protection Hub
Coronavirus: Guidance for schools for the Autumn Term 2021
A new Contingency Framework for the management of local outbreaks of the coronavirus was published in August 2021 and the full document can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Contingency framework for managing local outbreaks
The templates for the outbreak management plan have been prepared with reference to this recent guidance and are available to download.
Primary COVID-19: outbreak management plan
Secondary COVID-19: outbreak management plan
The Health Protection Hub (HRH) will continue to monitor COVID-19 cases and to provide help, support and guidance to schools dealing with cases or outbreaks of COVID-19. The document outlining the relationship between the hub and schools from September 2021 onwards is available to download:
Health Protection Hub relationship with schools: September 2021
This document also gives advice on self-isolation requirements for close contacts, and gives a couple of worked examples, which might be useful.
In addition to this new advice the HPH requests that schools continue to:
- Use the online form to tell the Hub about positive cases. The Hub want to continue to support schools manage their cases.*
- Remain vigilant for pupils with symptoms.
- Communicate with parents advising that children with the main symptoms of COVID-19 should not attend school – they should remain off school and book a PCR test. Children who have the precautionary symptoms and who are not well enough to attend school should also be advised to get a PCR. *
- Keep up with all the controls that were in place over the last academic year in relation to enhanced cleaning, ventilation and hand hygiene.*
- Ask staff and pupils identified as close contacts to let the school know as soon as possible.
- Ask staff who are close contacts to take a PCR and to not come into school to work whilst they are awaiting results*.
- Secondary schools to ensure that sufficient LFT’s have been ordered to enable LFT testing at the ATS in September.
*Further details of all of the above are found in the guidance document