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Coronavirus Information 29th MAy 2020

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

Updated information on the educational settings status form and attendance registers

Thank you for completing this daily return. Your data helps us build a national picture of educational provision so that we can focus support more effectively, monitor the impact of the virus, and ensure children are safe. As we move into this new phase, we will be making some changes to the form from Monday to reflect that schools are opening more widely. We will be asking you to provide information including:

  •          how many children are attending in eligible year groups
  •          numbers of vulnerable children and children of critical workers attending
  •          numbers of staff attending

It is essential that you continue to complete this form, every day, so that we can monitor provision and any changes to the impact of the virus.

From the 1 June, schools should also resume taking their usual attendance registers. Our guidance on completing the attendance register, along with which codes to use is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-attendance-recording-for-educational-settings

Guidance for further education and skills training provision

Further education settings can invite learners aged 16-19, who have key assessments and examinations next year, back into education settings for face-to-face support from 15 June. We have published guidance that sets out considerations for preparing to open to more learners and putting in place protective measures to limit the transmission of coronavirus.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-further-education-provision

Coronavirus Act 2020 – Notices to temporarily remove or relax statutory requirements in education and childcare

We recognise that during the coronavirus outbreak, flexibility will be needed in education and childcare settings. Under the Coronavirus Act 2020, the Secretary of State for Education can issue notices to temporarily remove or relax statutory requirements and provisions in academy arrangements where this is an appropriate and proportionate action relating to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus. The Secretary of State for Education has issued four notices to:

  •          disapply offences for non-attendance in schools during the coronavirus outbreak, so that parents will not be penalised if their child does not attend school.
  •          modify pupil registration requirements so that a child attending a school on a temporary basis because of the coronavirus outbreak should not be registered as a pupil and should return to their usual school once it reopens.
  •          disapply the duty on Ofsted to undertake regular inspections of state-funded schools within prescribed intervals. Duties on other bodies to provide a statement of action and relating to the inspection of collective worship and denominational education are also disapplied.
  •          modify the duty on local authorities to secure special educational provision and on health commissioning bodies to arrange health provision in accordance with education, health and care (EHC) plans, so that they can discharge this by using their ‘reasonable endeavours’.

The notices apply from 1 June 2020 to 30 June 2020. We will continuously review whether these notices are an appropriate and proportionate action in all the circumstances relating to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus. Further notices may be made as a result.

The information below has not changed since yesterday.

Preparing for the wider opening of schools and early years settings

Guidance on the actions for education and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June, at the earliest, can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020

Guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings

Guidance for early years providers to help them prepare to open their settings for children of all ages from 1 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june

Guidance for primary schools to help them prepare to open to Reception, year 1 and year 6 from 1 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-primary-schools

Guidance for secondary schools to help them prepare to offer face-to-face support to year 10 and year 12 pupils from 15 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schools

Guidance for parents and carers as schools and other education settings in England open to more children and young people can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

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.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene.

Resources are currently available for KS1, KS2 and KS3 and can be used in various settings including schools and at home:

https://e-bug.eu/

Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK

All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can be found in one place on GOV.​UK at:

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