Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

As schools begin to re-open, it is important to consider the wide range of needs and emotions of young people and staff whose lives and education have been disrupted by the pandemic. Pupils and staff may be anxious or hesitant about returning to school and may require additional support. Consider:

• Encourage schools to identify learning of what went well and what could be improved based on their experience of previous lockdowns - and use this learning to improve planning
• Identify the current capacity of services and forecast potential demand for social services to which schools may refer children and families. Create additional capacity where forecasted demand exceeds current capacity
• Work closely with schools to monitor school attendance and identify children who have not returned or are showing signs of distress:
  • Encourage school staff to reach out to families to understand the challenges that they are facing in returning to school
  • Enhance partnerships between schools and social services, to ensure any child who needs additional support is identified and appropriate support is offered
  • Ensure schools refer families who are identified as struggling or in need of additional support to specialist services
• Assess the impacts of further disruption and change for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their carers/specialist teachers/support staff in mainstream schools:
  • Staff illness or self-isolation may mean that schools do not have adequate levels of staff with vital specialist training - schools should inform local authorities to discuss alternative arrangements for vulnerable children in this event
  • Encourage schools to complete risk assessments and begin to plan for how one-to-one specialist teaching will take place safely and potential disruptions identified and actions taken to mitigate their occurrence
• Allocate funding to provide additional mental health support in schools for pupils and staff who may have experienced trauma, separations from or loss of loved ones or whose family may be struggling financially, e.g. due to job loss
• Encourage schools to prioritise children's wellbeing especially in the first few weeks, avoid rushing to reinstate routines or adding pressure on teachers and students to catch up
• Request a temporary suspension of school inspections to give staff time to implement and adjust to new procedures that may be required, such as health and safety protection measures

Concurrent emergencies such as disruption to water supply or contamination of water resources can have serious impacts on healthcare facilities and the health of individuals, which may be amplified during a pandemic. Water outages or contaminated water can disrupt clinical procedures, e.g. maintaining a sterile environment in hospitals. Protecting water supply is also crucial during a pandemic, as poor hygiene is a catalyst for the rapid spread of infectious disease. Consider:

• Early scenario planning to consider different types of water shortages alongside the pandemic, and assess potential impacts on health facilities and public health
• The need to establish new systems to provide immediate support to communities in the event of water supply disruption or contamination during COVID-19:
  • Evaluate emergency response measures (e.g. mass water distribution) to determine if they are COVID-safe, and make necessary amendments if required
  • Plan for the need to construct and install handwashing stations in affected communities, to prevent rapid spread of the virus
• The potential for water stagnation to occur in buildings that have been unoccupied over the last year, which may lead to contamination
  • Identify buildings that have been unoccupied and plan for maintenance contractors to test and repair water systems before allowing the building to re-open

A collaboration between primary, secondary and special schools in the UK has developed some examples from practice on how to maintain social distancing. These are not exhaustive and may be adapted and implemented alongside other protective measures in schools. Actions to consider:

For primary and secondary schools

• Stagger lunch and break times of students and, where possible, start and finish times
• Mark the playground in a way that allows for separate 'bubbles' of children to play and for staff to walk round the space safely
• Adjust seating plans to recognize that some children may have had low levels of engagement with others during lockdown and may need to sit nearer the teacher for further support
• Ensure specialist or support staff who may be at risk from COVID-19 can continue providing support e.g. install protective screens and allocate a specific classroom for that staff member
• Negotiate with transport companies to bring children to school in their specific COVID-19 groups (bubbles). This may be especially relevant for children from special schools who have additional health and safety needs

For special schools

• Ensure specialist staff and therapists have the resources to write their reports from home to limit staff meetings
• Find ways to integrate various therapies to limit the use of specialist rooms and facilities

Also consider that experts within education have stated that social distancing within schools will not be possible at primary or secondary level.

Consider the redeployment of government staff and volunteers can help at the homes and for domiciliary care. Testing of staff and available PPE is essential for these support services to work.

Reference: UK County Council