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Coronavirus Information 1st July 2020

This is your daily email to keep you updated on the government’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19).

Protective measures for holiday or after-school clubs and other out-of-school settings for children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

We have published guidance for providers that run community activities, holiday clubs, after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school provision for children. We are aware many providers are already considering what protective measures to put in place to allow them to reopen more widely and as safely as possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

This new guidance will support their planning and advises on practical steps they can take to minimise the risk to children, staff and parents who attend. Providers who open should implement this new guidance from the end of summer term, when state schools in their local area have closed. Until then, while schools are open in a provider’s local area, they should follow the same protective measures as schools to limit different groups of children mixing.

We have also published guidance for parents and carers setting out what they need to know about changes to after-school clubs, holiday clubs, tuition, community activities and other out-of-school settings for children and young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We have included information on what clubs and activities children and young people can attend, and what new safety measures parents and carers can expect them to have in place.

The guidance for providers can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

The guidance for parents and carers can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Updated guidance on what parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

We have updated the guidance on what parents and carers need to know about early years providers, schools and colleges during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. We have added content on summer provision, school uniform and a package of support worth £1 billion to support pupils to catch up. We have updated content on school meals and the Covid Summer Food Fund.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-parents-and-carers-need-to-know-about-early-years-providers-schools-and-colleges-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak

Communicating with parents

We know schools are doing all they can to reassure parents of the safety measures which are in place to welcome eligible children back to school and college this term.

To support schools with this, as part of the Government’s central “Stay Alert” campaign, you are likely to see information adverts on these measures on the radio and online to reassure parents that if their child is eligible to attend school, they should return before the summer break. These messages will sit alongside wider government messaging about public transport and returning to work, which aim to reassure the public as changes to lockdown measures are made.

The leaflets and films below are for parents of children in primary and secondary. You may want to share these with your parent network to support your engagement with children and families who have questions.

The leaflets can be found here:

https://coronavirusresources.phe.gov.uk/schools-/resources/leaflets/

The film for primary school pupils can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiefaCf2fvY

The film for secondary school pupils can be found here:

https://youtu.be/foQuuIWonl8

Iceland and the Company Group vouchers now available through the free school meal national voucher scheme

Through the free school meal (FSM) national voucher scheme, you can now select eGift cards for Iceland and the Company Group alongside:

  •          Aldi
  •          Asda
  •          M&S
  •          McColl’s
  •          Morrisons
  •          Sainsbury’s
  •          Tesco
  •          Waitrose

Guidance on providing free school meals during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance-for-schools

These eGift cards will also be available through the Covid Summer Food Fund, which will enable children who are eligible for benefits-related FSM to be supported over the summer holiday period. All vouchers for the summer holidays must be ordered at least one week before your school’s summer term ends.

Please read the short guidance document in full before ordering, to ensure your orders are processed correctly. The payments for the fund will be met centrally by the Department for Education.

The COVID Summer Food Fund guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/covid-summer-food-fund

We have also updated the application form and guidance on the temporary extension of free school meals to no recourse to public funds (NRPF) groups. This is to reflect the change in annual household income threshold to £16,190 after tax.

The sample application form and guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-free-school-meals-guidance/guidance-for-the-temporary-extension-of-free-school-meals-eligibility-to-nrpf-groups

Updated guidance for children’s social care services

We have updated the guidance for children’s social care services to clarify that all primary and most secondary legislation remains unchanged and that we have made temporary and time-limited amendments to secondary legislation. We have also added content on missing children, testing, technology initiatives and social care services for disabled children and young people and their families. We have also revised the sections on court, fostering and adoption to provide further information.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-childrens-social-care-services

The information below has not changed since yesterday.

Collection of guidance for early years, children’s social care, schools and further education providers on GOV.​UK

The Department for Education’s coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance has been grouped by subject and audience on GOV.​UK to help you find the information relevant to you. In response to your feedback, future updates to guidance will also include a summary of the changes that have been made.

Guidance on what early years providers need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/early-years-and-childcare-coronavirus-covid-19

Guidance on what school leaders, teachers and school staff need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/guidance-for-schools-coronavirus-covid-19

Guidance on what colleges, universities and other providers need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/further-and-higher-education-coronavirus-covid-19

Guidance on what local authority children’s services need to do during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-childrens-services-coronavirus-covid-19

You can sign up to alerts on GOV.​UK to be notified by email when new pages are published or existing pages change. You can set the frequency at which you receive these emails and unsubscribe at any time.

Sign up to GOV.​UK updates here:

https://www.gov.uk/email-signup?link=/government/organisations/department-for-education

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687

Opening hours:

8am to 6pm – Monday to Friday
10am to 4pm – Saturday and Sunday

If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the helpline.

Handwashing advice

It is essential that everyone washes their hands more often, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain. Drying hands afterwards makes the skin less hospitable to the virus. Hand sanitiser can be effective if soap is not available or the situation makes using soap less feasible (i.e. when outside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found at:

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-your-hands/

The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene. E-Bug has published posters on hand hygiene, and covering coughs and sneezes, to display in bathrooms, classrooms and shared spaces.

The hand and respiratory hygiene posters and other educational resources can be found here:

https://e-bug.eu