Management Information Sheet

COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan B implementation

On Wednesday 8 December, the Prime Minister announced the implementation of Plan B of the COVID-19 Response: Autumn and Winter Plan, as a precautionary measure while we learn more about the virus and to reduce pressure on the NHS.

Children and young people attending their school setting regularly for in-person learning continues to be a national priority. Teaching and learning should not be moved online as a result of the work from home guidance. However, education leaders will need to consider whether it is possible for some staff such as those in administrative roles to work from home, while minimising disruption to face-to-face education and care.

The updated guidance and testing arrangements we summarised in MI Sheet 232/21 remain unchanged. We would however urge you to;

• Review your contingency plans - This is so that you are prepared to implement any of the measures contained within. Ofsted have agreed to suspend routine inspections during the last week of term to allow settings to focus on this planning.
• Continue testing - Continue twice weekly testing, and your preparations for January testing as detailed in MI Sheet 232/21
• Encourage vaccination
• Stay informed - We recognise that it is a challenge to stay informed in a fast-developing area, however we expect further changes to guidance. The Schools COVID-19 operational guidance has been updated stating "The Government plans to introduce daily contact testing as soon as possible as an alternative to self-isolation for contacts [of Omicron] who are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 years and 6 months"

The Schools COVID-19 operational guidance has also been updated to strongly encourage settings to ask parents, guardians, and other visitors to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test before entering the setting. We support this approach.

We appreciate that there will be a degree of anxiety in school communities as we see more changes to our daily lives to mitigate the risks of the virus. It is worth re-iterating that for most people, coronavirus (COVID-19) will be a mild illness. Children and young people are at very low risk of serious illness if they catch the virus.

Festive celebrations

Festive celebrations are not prohibited, however as with any activity planning, an assessment of the risk will be needed and this will be different for each setting. The general principles used to assess risk are however the same. Think about the following:

• The number of cases in your setting or the community
• The essential nature of the event and whether a modified or virtual event would be possible without detracting from the education and learning for children
• Reducing numbers or staggering attendance to enable respectful distancing
• Maximising ventilation (you may need to increase ventilation to account for increased numbers of people in the space)
• Increasing cleaning and disinfection
• Asking people to wear face coverings
• Asking people to take a test before attend
• Hand hygiene and respiratory hygiene arrangements
• Instructions to attendees about infection control rules you have put in place

This list is not exhaustive, please undertake a risk assessment (the COVID-19 general risk assessment can be used for this purpose)

We recommend you make use of your settings risk assessments and use the information and resources made available to you on the NCC health safety and wellbeing webpage, of particular note will be the visitors section on page 10 of the Educational settings risk assessment.