Just finished a (remote) Governors meeting - we were promised some more guidance from the Government this evening but its yet to arrive. We have a policy ready, based in some good guidance from ASCL (Headteachers Union - see below) and just getting ready to implement. For reference, my school is about 70% BAME.
ASCL attended a meeting with the government’s chief scientific and medical advisers on Friday afternoon, along with other education sector representatives, to hear more on the evidence which underpins the approach to reopening schools in England to more pupils from a possible date of June 1. We said we’d report back to you first on what was said. Here are the key points from that meeting, as well as a follow-up meeting held later the same afternoon with Department for Education officials. We have attempted here simply to capture what was said, rather than offer any commentary on it.
Key points from Friday’s meetings:
• There is clear evidence that the risk of children suffering severe symptoms from coronavirus is much lower than in adults. That doesn’t mean it is zero, but it is substantially less for severe disease and mortality in particular. You may have heard of some children suffering from a multi-system inflammatory condition recently. It is believed to be a post-infectious reaction to coronavirus, and it is said to be ‘exceptionally rare’.
• It is believed that children are probably less susceptible to contracting coronavirus than adults. The evidence is not conclusive, but this appears to be where the data is leading. In terms of transmission – the extent to which a child with the virus infects other individuals – there is evidence from other countries that it may be lower than for adults, but the data is limited.
• Age is the main driver of severe symptoms, particularly for adults in their 70s, 80s, and 90s. The vast majority of parents of primary school children are below the age of 45 and are therefore at relatively low risk, other than those who are in clinically vulnerable groups (the guidance contains processes aimed at protecting vulnerable adults and children). The risk does increase for adults from the age of about 55, not
hugely but to a certain extent. The government recognises that a significant number of staff in schools are above 55, and that schools will need to be mindful of this.
• There is also clear evidence that people from BAME communities are more likely to contract the virus, and some evidence that they are more severely affected. Again, schools will need to be mindful of this.
• Analysis shows that the impact of the current provision in schools on the reproduction rate of the virus is marginal, and that it can be kept below 1 if the number of pupils is increased alongside control measures. These include effective testing and contact tracing, limiting numbers in schools, concentrating on younger age groups who are less likely to socially mix than older children, and keeping children in separate groups. One of the key tests for moving forward to reopening schools to more pupils as planned is that a widespread testing and tracing regime is available
• The proposed approach for Year 10 and Year 12 pupils is more limited, and there is no expectation of them coming back full time. Models are being developed on how this might operate. This limited approach is because there is more potential for older children to have more social contacts. They are more likely to travel to their place of education using public transport, so might potentially increase the risk of transmission.
