Keeping students engaged in regular COVID-19 testing can be challenging. We invited schools and colleges with high numbers of students testing and reporting results to share their ideas on how to keep students testing.
Karen shares how her school has encouraged participation in COVID-19 testing amongst students and staff over the past year and why it’s important for students to continue to test as they return to school and college.
As schools head into the summer term, Chief Executive of Star Academies, Hamid Patel, shares the protective measures his schools have taken to successfully minimise the number of pupils and staff isolating when an outbreak occurs, while ensuring all pupils and staff are safe.
Shoreham Academy in West Sussex and Bay Leadership Academy in Lancashire share their experiences of leading the setup of rapid COVID-19 testing, which aims to reduce transmission by helping to find cases from those not displaying symptoms, and how it has benefitted their staff and students.
We have pulled together some examples of how schools and trusts around the country are combining a strong focus on remote education while also accommodating a significant number of critical worker children and vulnerable children on site.
Wye School in Kent was part of the COVID-19 testing pilot in autumn. Luke Magee, the Principal, shares his experiences of running testing in a secondary school.
Lisa Whitworth, PSHE lead at Sidmouth College, shares the important role that schools have in supporting young people who need to disclose abuse, especially during COVID-19.
Principal, Cara Ackroyd, shares the protective measures her school has implemented to keep teaching and non-teaching staff as safe as possible.
Deputy Principal Steven Taylor writes about the importance of modelling socially distanced behaviour as a teacher and the part part all school staff have to play in reducing the risk posed by COVID-19.
Trust Leader, Matt, and Headteacher, Anna, share how their recovery programme has reduced parents’ concerns, created a welcoming environment for pupils and strengthened their community of schools.