In addition, face coverings are now strongly recommended in classrooms as well as communal areas of secondary schools and in further education.

The changes are part of a suite of measures announced this afternoon by the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture ahead of States’ schools re-opening to children next Thursday.

The Committee is rejecting a request made by the NASUWT teachers’ union to require schools to stagger the return of children and provide them with on-site testing facilities. But the Committee has said that some schools may make changes to drop-off or pick-up times to stagger the number of people on sites at any one time. 

Nick Hynes, Director of Education, acknowledges that the additional measures being introduced or re-introduced are bound to cause schools some additional disruption.

“But by introducing further measures specific to education, we are trying to minimise that disruption [and] slow or halt the spread wherever we can so that our young people can maintain their studies,” said Mr Hynes. “That is our priority while the island as a whole manages the implications of this omicron wave.”

Pictured: Nick Hynes, Director of Education, has been advising the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture as it tries to strike a balance between limiting the spread of covid-19 and allowing students to maintain their studies in school. 

All students and staff are asked to do lateral flow tests on the day before they return to school and on the morning of each of the first three days of term to make sure they are covid negative.

This term, there will be no trips from one school to another and no school trips off-island. For the time being, schools themselves will not run extra-curricular clubs or activities. 

“Towards the end of last term we tried to be upfront with the community and staff that things would look different in January,” said Mr Hynes.

“We need everyone involved in the delivery of education, which includes parents and carers as well as staff, to support us by adapting to what is likely to be a new norm – for the time being at least – of managing disruption as a result of absences while maintaining our absolute focus of keeping settings open and delivering education.”

education_schools.png

Pictured: When secondary schools return next week, students in Years 7 to 9 will be kept in classroom bubbles. This is an extension of an arrangement which last applied earlier this year in primary schools. 

Detailed arrangements may differ slightly from school to school. Parents and carers will be provided with good notice of information relevant to their child’s school.

Parents and carers are asked to continue wearing face coverings when on school grounds.

Staff in schools and schoolchildren are asked to continue doing lateral flow tests every Tuesday and Thursday before attending school. The Committee said it considered increasing the frequency of this request but “felt twice a week would guard against testing fatigue while also helping to manage the island’s stock of lateral flow tests”.