Testing Times…

A couple of days of the Christmas holiday have provided some much needed decompression and thinking time after what was a very challenging term for school leaders. Any Headteacher writing an article like this could be tempted to construct a piece that provides some well-deserved Government critique and to stick the metaphorical boot into the DfE for their incredibly poor communication, their quite unbelievable timing and their ill-conceived idea of an ‘oven ready’ school-led testing system to be functional from 4th January. However, I hope to use this as a chance to rise above some of that and start to crystallise some ideas ahead of January. These are indeed testing times, in more than one sense.

What do we know so far?

We know that the Government asks (not tells, crucially) that schools engage in lateral flow COVID testing in three ways:

1. Mass testing of as many children as possible, between 4th-8th January. This involves testing children twice upon their return from the holidays, with test one and test two taking place three days apart. This, alongside the staggered return of non-exam year groups to school appears to have the function (as per Nick Gibb’s BBC TV admission) of providing a kind of circuit break after the Christmas holiday.

2. Serial testing of close contacts of future positive cases. This involves any child or adult who is identified as a close contact being tested daily in school for 7 consecutive days. If they return a negative test, they can stay. If they return a positive test, they have to have this confirmed by a PCR (NHS test centre) test. If an individual does not give their consent to be tested, they will have to observe and adhere to the usual period of self isolation: 10 days.

3. Weekly testing of staff, all staff, not just teachers. Again, this is voluntary and consent needs to be gained.

We also know that the Government has provided some guidance for the return of schools in January, including testing in schools here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-and-childcare-settings-return-in-january-2021?utm_source=17%20December%202020%20C19&utm_medium=Daily%20Email%20C19&utm_campaign=DfE%20C19

And a handbook that schools can use to set up their testing site and administer testing here: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/rapid-testing/

And a set of letters to inform and gain consent from parents and staff members here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/asymptomatic-testing-in-schools-and-colleges

How might we go about setting up a testing centre?

Identify a venue, making sure it has the potential for a one way system, ideally with two doors (one in and one out) and making sure it has a non-porous floor.

Set the venue up. A much bigger venue with many more testing stations could be needed for mass testing – eg: a sports hall. Serial testing will need a smaller venue with less testing stations.

Get the testing team together – decide who is going to administer the testing. The Handbook provides roles and responsibilities, some of which can be undertaken by the same person.

Provide training to the testing team and make sure they know how to use their PPE and hygiene protocols to keep themselves safe.

Outline a testing schedule. Which groups will attend on which days and at which times?

Communicate with parents to ask for consent. We will need to make consent forms available at the testing site.

Hope the right quantity of testing materials arrive on or before 4th January.

Some unanswered questions

There will be many, many more unanswered questions than these but I suppose these are the ones causing me to think most at the moment.

What further guidance might be released? Will the Government even be able to see this through given the understandable concerns raised by all leadership and teaching unions?

Is a half hour training video sufficient to allow someone with no clinical training to administer a safe and reliable test protocol? At the moment, the DfE state that there is almost no clinical risk but the procedural risk of error exists.

What if a test goes wrong? What if a child (or adult) is injured by an adult administering the test? I’m reassured at the moment that children will be able to self-administer in most cases.

What if the tests don’t arrive before 4th January? The DfE has explicitly stated that children do not have to be tested in order to return on 11th January but if they’re not tested by then, what’s the point in mass testing?

Who will do the testing? An army of volunteers or the actual army? Both have been suggested.

What about DBS checks? If they’re supervised when with children at all times then they wouldn’t need to be DBS checked, but they will need to travel around the site to access various facilities: toilets, drinks, food…

What about Ofsted? Will they still be recommencing monitoring visits in January?

Perhaps the most concerning question of all:

Why am I having to write this blog now, during the Christmas break?

The Government knew about the new variant of the virus in October. They knew two weeks ago when many school leaders were suggesting remote learning for the last two weeks of term to make Christmas safer. They knew when they threatened Trusts and Local Authorities who suggested that closure would be safer with legal action, just last week.

If the DfE had given us two weeks’ notice the testing would need to be in place by 4th January, a plan would already have been written and signed off. They knew it was needed but chose not to say. They knew that Tier 4 was coming but couldn’t justify announcing it while schools remained open.

I promised this wouldn’t be (too) Government critical. I tried, but these are testing times indeed.

Twitter: DaveMacCormick