COVID-19 Updates

June 5, 2020

** This information is received from the Government and regularly updated

05/06/2020 

Updated guidance on school governance

The Secretary of State for Education has written to trustees and governors of maintained schools and academy trusts. We have also published frequently asked questions to support governors, trustees, governance professionals, clerks and chairs, in both the maintained and academy sectors, and to address the specific issues pertinent to governing and trust boards and local governing bodies (LGBs) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The letter and FAQs can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-governance-update

Updated guidance on entry requirements for providers of initial teacher training (ITT)

We have updated our guidance for providers of initial teacher training to reflect the temporary change to the candidate entry requirements. We have temporarily relaxed C1.1 and amended the accompanying advice to allow candidates who are not able to provide evidence of meeting the required GCSE equivalent standard before starting a course, as a consequence of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, to start the course. In order to continue on and complete the course, they must provide evidence by 30 November 2020.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-initial-teacher-training-itt

We have updated the criteria and supporting advice, based on current public health advice, to help initial teacher training providers reduce the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on their ITT provision.

The guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-criteria


The information below has not changed since yesterday.


Preparing for the wider opening of schools and early years settings

Guidance on the actions for education and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June, at the earliest, can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-educational-and-childcare-settings-to-prepare-for-wider-opening-from-1-june-2020

Guidance on implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-implementing-protective-measures-in-education-and-childcare-settings

Guidance for early years providers to help them prepare to open their settings for children of all ages from 1 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-early-years-and-childcare-settings-from-1-june

Guidance for primary schools to help them prepare to open to Reception, year 1 and year 6 from 1 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-primary-schools

Guidance for secondary schools to help them prepare to offer face-to-face support to year 10 and year 12 pupils from 15 June can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schools

Guidance for parents and carers as schools and other education settings in England open to more children and young people can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows:

Phone: 0800 046 8687

Opening hours:

8am to 6pm – Monday to Friday
10am to 4pm – Saturday and Sunday

If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UK PRN) available when calling the helpline.

Updated handwashing advice

It is essential that everyone washes their hands more often, using soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Hand washing with soap employs mechanical action that loosens bacteria and viruses from the skin, rinsing them into the drain. Drying hands afterwards makes the skin less hospitable to the virus. Hand sanitiser can be effective if soap is not available or the situation makes using soap less feasible (i.e. when outside) but using hand sanitiser provides none of the virus-destroying friction that rubbing your hands together and rinsing with water provides.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

The e-Bug project is led by Public Health England and has a dedicated webpage for learning resources on hand washing and respiratory hygiene. E-Bug has published posters on hand hygiene, and covering coughs and sneezes, to display in bathrooms, classrooms and shared spaces.

The hand and respiratory hygiene posters and other educational resources can be found here:

https://e-bug.eu

Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK

All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can be found in one place on GOV.​UK at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings



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