INFO ADDED: BCC & DfE Coronavirus Update: Omicron and Plan B Winter 2021/22
Below, we’ve collated the latest updates, advice, and guidance for education and childcare settings from Birmingham City Council (BCC) and the Department for Education (DfE) following the implementation of the government’s ‘Plan B COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan’.
DfE Update - 14 December 2021
Daily testing of close contacts for COVID-19 – updated guidance for schools
From today (Tues 14 December 2021), adults who are fully vaccinated and all children and young people aged between 5 to 18 years and 6 months identified as a close contact of someone with COVID-19, are strongly advised to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test every day for 7 days and continue to attend their setting as normal, unless they have a positive test result.
We have now updated the schools COVID-19 operational guidance and will shortly update other sector guidance documents to reflect this. Updated frequently asked questions will also be available soon on the early years and primary schools document sharing platform, and the secondary schools and colleges document sharing platform.
Daily testing of close contacts of COVID-19 will help make education and childcare settings safer and help keep children and young people in face-to-face education.
DfE Update - 9 December 2021
An URGENT update from the Department for Education (DfE) for all early years, children’s social care, schools and further education providers on implementing Plan B of the COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan
On Wednesday 8 December, the Prime Minister announced the implementation of Plan B of the COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan, to reduce pressure on the NHS. Plan B sets out a number of additional measures across society to control the transmission of COVID-19.
The Government is clear on the critical importance of not disrupting the education of children and young people and the Government will prioritise keeping all education and childcare settings open. The measures set out below will support this.
Attendance
School attendance remains mandatory and all the usual rules continue to apply. Enabling children and young people to attend their education setting regularly continues to be a national priority. As usual, schools are able to grant leaves of absence for pupils in exceptional circumstances.
Face coverings
Face coverings are not recommended for children in early years settings or primary settings (Year 6 and below) however, visitors (including parents/carers) are encouraged to wear a face covering when attending the setting, unless exempt.
Face coverings should be worn by pupils and students in year 7 and above (which would be children who were aged 11 on 31 August 2021), staff and visitors in communal areas, unless exempt. This is a temporary measure. Pupils and students in year 7 and above in these settings must also wear a face covering when travelling on public transport and should wear it on dedicated transport to and from school, college, or higher education provider.
We do not recommend that pupils and staff wear face coverings in classrooms, unless their Director of Public Health advises them to temporarily do so in one of the circumstances described in the Contingency Framework Guidance.
Wrap around provision
Schools and early years settings should continue to offer their usual before and after-school activities, including wraparound childcare. These activities provide valuable childcare for working parents and carers and promote the wellbeing of children and young people.
Working from home
Office workers who can work from home should do so from Monday 13 December. Anyone who cannot work from home should continue to go into work – for example, to access equipment necessary for their role or where their role must be completed in-person. In-person working will be necessary in some cases to continue the effective and accessible delivery of some public services and private industries.
We expect all education and childcare settings, including further and higher education providers, to continue to provide face-to-face teaching, and staff should continue to attend their place of work if required in order to deliver this. Teaching and learning should not be moved online as a result of the work from home guidance and we continue to expect higher education students (unless distance learners) to receive an element of face-to-face tuition. Therapists and wider children’s service professionals should continue to be invited into education and childcare settings.
Education and childcare leaders are best placed to determine the workforce required to meet the needs of their children, pupils and students. Education and childcare leaders will need to consider whether it is possible for specific staff undertaking certain roles to work from home, while minimising disruption to face-to-face education and care.
Following expert clinical advice and the successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme, people previously considered to be particularly vulnerable, clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), and high or higher-risk are not being advised to shield again.
Children and young people previously considered CEV should attend their setting and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population. In some circumstances, a child or young person may have received personal advice from their specialist or clinician on additional precautions to take and they should continue to follow that advice.
Testing
We strongly encourage all those involved in education and childcare settings to continue regular testing (LFD not PCR) and reporting their results. Children in early years and primary settings do not need to test or report their results. Daily testing and reporting is recommended for children in Year 7 or above.
Settings are strongly encouraged to ask parents, guardians and other visitors to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test before entering the setting.
Isolation
All individuals who have been identified as a close contact of a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, irrespective of vaccination status and age, will continue to be required to self-isolate and asked to book a PCR test.
The Government plans to introduce Daily Contact Testing as soon as possible as an alternative to self-isolation for contacts of positive Omicron cases who are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 years and 6 months.
January return
We continue to learn more about the impacts of the Omicron variant. To prepare for any possible changes in public health advice, all education and childcare settings should now revisit their existing outbreak plans to ensure they are well prepared for any future changes and ensure they are familiar with the Contingency Framework Guidance.
For those in settings closing over Christmas, all staff and students should test over the holidays in line with national guidance. This means that they should test if they will be in a high-risk situation that day and before visiting people who are at higher risk of severe illness if they get COVID-19.
For settings remaining open over the Christmas period (such as private nurseries, higher education or adult education providers), staff and students should continue to test at home twice per week over the holiday period.
Further and higher education students, and staff in all educational and childcare settings, should take one self-test at home either the evening or morning before they return in January. Then they should continue to test in line with government guidelines and we recommend all staff and eligible students take up the offer of a vaccine.
Inspection
Early years settings, schools and colleges will be using the final days of term to put in place these measures and consider contingency measures for January. In order to do that contingency planning, the Secretary of State for Education and Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector have agreed that early years settings, schools and colleges will not be inspected next week unless there are safeguarding concerns.
Ofsted has already confirmed that secondary schools will not be inspected, unless there are urgent concerns, during the first week of schools’ return in January, in light of the onsite pupil testing that secondary schools will be undertaking that week. Ofsted inspections will continue to play an important role in providing independent assurance as schools and colleges continue to respond to the pandemic.
Ofsted visits for Children’s Social Care, local authority SEND services and joint targeted area inspections will continue.
BCC Update - 2 December 2021
BCC Public Health webinar for schools and settings (2/12/21)
PLEASE NOTE: This webinar took place BEFORE the announcement of the implementation of the government’s Plan B protocols, as such, some of the guidance may be subject to change in the coming days.
On Thursday 2 December, Dr Justin Varney (Director of Public Health Birmingham) presented the latest Covid Update webinar for schools and other education settings across Birmingham. The webinar included:
An overview of the current situation in Birmingham with regards to COVID-19 i.e. cases, hospital admissions, testing and vaccinations etc.
Information about Omicron
Headline data from education settings, notably the 282% increase in cases in Primary schools
Guidance on what Primary Schools can do to reduce the spread of COVID-19 (15:41-23:36)
Christmas planning (25:23-28:36)
Watch the full recording below:
You can access up-to-date information and guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) via the Birmingham City Council website: birmingham.gov.uk/coronavirus_advice
DfE COVID-19 helpline: The Department for Education COVID-19 helpline and the PHE Advice Service (option 1) is available to answer any questions you have about COVID-19 relating to education settings and children’s social care.
DfE guidance: DfE guidance to support education providers, local authorities and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic can be accessed using the links below: