Rapid-result COVID-19 tests will be provided to schools and colleges across the Isle of Wight from January, starting with secondary schools and further education colleges, including special schools and alternative provision.
It has been announced by the Government that weekly testing will be carried out for staff, helping to identify those who are carrying the virus without displaying symptoms and therefore reducing the risk of transmission.
Furthermore, students and staff will be offered daily testing for 7 days if confirmed as being in close contact with someone who has tested positive. This will eliminate the need for students to self-isolate and allow them to continue to benefit from high quality, face to face education.
The lateral flow tests that will be provided to schools and colleges produce a result in 30 minutes and do not require a laboratory to process.
For every group, testing is voluntary, but those who are eligible for tests are strongly encouraged to participate to reduce the risk of transmission within schools and colleges. Those who are identified as a close contact but refuse to take a test will have to self-isolate for 10 days.
Primary schools will be supported to roll out testing as quickly as possible over the Spring term.
Commenting on wider plans for testing in schools, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, has said:
“Has Government learned nothing about handling Covid-19 within education?
Article continues below this advertisement “Mass testing is certainly important in bringing the virus under control in schools. The NEU has been calling for wider testing for months but plans for the way to do this should have been thought through much earlier this term, and fully consulted on with the profession.
“Another eleventh-hour announcement in the last week before the Christmas break is ridiculous. It gives almost zero notice for anyone to understand and assess the plans, or for schools to implement them ready for the January roll-out.
“Guidance says these lateral test results take 30 minutes – that is without actually preparing classes to take these tests. In a secondary school, it is not unusual to have well over 1,100 students and staff, who will require these weekly tests and by many daily.
“A much more practical position, which we urge the Government to adopt, would be the first learning week in January to be online. Schools could use that time to train staff on using the testing materials and procedures, thereby ensuring clarity rather than potential confusion. That first week would help suppress virus levels, so that later on disruption could decrease with far fewer children sent home when testing begins.
“We also need to see the studies showing how a system of serial testing, in which close contacts are kept at school and tested daily, has worked as a strategy to keep virus levels low. It is reasonable to suppose that children are transmitting inside and outside school, so only testing close contacts may miss a significant percentage of positive cases.
“Lessons this year in relation to Covid-19 and education appear to have been forgotten by Government. This rushed testing introduction is not a good starting point for building confidence.”
Thank you Peter for making these important points . I totally agree.
Aint testing my kids
You won’t be testing my kids, and certainly not without permission!
With a 97.5% survival rate I’d rather not thanks!