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Coronavirus Information 7th July 2020

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

Prime Minister Boris Johnson to address all school leavers

On Friday 10 July at 10am, the Prime Minister will be giving an address to all school leavers which will be broadcast on Facebook and YouTube.

Please encourage your final year students to tune in!

A recording of the address will be available to view on both platforms.

Updated guidance on changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

We have updated the guidance on changes to the law on education, health and care needs assessments and plans due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

On 2 July, the Secretary of State for Education confirmed that all children and young people, including those with education, health and care (EHC) plans, will return to education settings full time from the beginning of the autumn term. We are committed to ensuring that children and young people can receive the support they need to return to school or college. As such, unless the evidence changes, we will not be issuing further national notices to modify section 42 of the 2014 Act. We will consider whether any such flexibilities may be required at a local level to respond to outbreaks.

Once the notice expires or is cancelled, local authorities and health commissioning bodies will need to secure or arrange the full range of provision specified in EHC plans.

Updated guidance on PE and Sport Premium for primary schools

The Government is committed to ensuring that children and young people do at least 60 minutes of sport and physical activity per day, with 30 minutes of this delivered during the school day, in line with guidelines from the Chief Medical Officer.

We have updated the guidance on the PE and Sport Premium for primary schools to confirm that the existing guidelines regarding the use of the PE and Sport Premium continue to apply. These guidelines already permit a significant amount of flexibility in how the PE and Sport Premium can be used.

Individual school allocations for 2020-21 will be confirmed in due course.

New guidance for teaching mathematics in primary schools

We have published supportive non-statutory guidance for teaching mathematics at key stages 1 and 2 to help pupils progress through the national curriculum.

This guidance will support long and short-term planning of mathematics teaching for all primary schools. Teachers may also find it particularly helpful in curriculum planning and prioritisation for pupils whose education has been disrupted during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Updated guidance on managing school premises during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

We have updated the guidance on managing school premises during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to include minor changes to mechanical ventilation instructions and fire drills, and added social distancing guidelines.

The information below has not changed since yesterday.

Plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term

The Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, announced our plans for all children and young people to return to full-time education at the start of the autumn term.

The guidance for the full opening of schools, early years and colleges can be found here:

Covid Summer Food Fund

The Covid Summer Food Fund will enable children who are eligible for benefits-related free school meals (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. The costs will be met centrally by the Department for Education.

Please read the guidance in full before ordering to ensure your orders are processed correctly.

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 utside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.

Please see the latest guidance and video on handwashing from the NHS.

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.