Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Department for Health and Social Care about reducing the risk of covid-19 disruption and absences in the run up to the upcoming assessment and exams period in schools and colleges; and if he will (a) communicate to schools that they can use any stocks of lateral flow tests held locally and (b) make free testing available for all pupils, staff and exam invigilators to cover this period.
Answered by Robin Walker
Candidates and centres should adhere to the guidance on living with COVID-19.
Candidates are expected to attend their exams wherever possible, and school and college staff should encourage them to do so. However, where that is not possible, exam boards have taken measures to support students to access a grade, including spacing the exam timetable with at least ten days between the first and last exam in each subject. They have also confirmed that eligible students completing one assessment (exam or non-exam assessment) will be able to receive a grade through special consideration, provided they have an acceptable reason for missing the other assessments.
A candidate who is staying at home and avoiding contact with others, in line with UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance, would be eligible to apply for special consideration to receive a grade based on the other assessments they complete. This includes candidates with the symptoms described in the UKHSA guidance, and those with a positive COVID-19 test result.
Public health advice continues to be that testing in education and childcare settings is no longer needed. Most infectious diseases in education and childcare settings can be managed by following the advice in UKHSA’s updated health protection in education and childcare settings guidance. Students and staff should follow UKHSA’s advice for those who have symptoms.
Although schools and colleges may still have some unused test kits in stock, they should not continue to hand out test kits to staff or students. The department is working with UKHSA to explore options for removal of testing resources no longer required.
Asked by: Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of schools being told to dispose of COVID-19 testing kits.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Regular asymptomatic testing is no longer recommended in any education or childcare setting, including in special educational needs and disabilities providers, alternative provision, and children’s social care. This may mean that some providers have surplus stock of COVID-19 test kits that are no longer needed.
The UK Health Security Agency will be issuing further communications to education providers in due course about how to manage any surplus stock. In the meantime, education providers have been advised to continue to store any remaining test kits and to no longer hand out test kits to staff or pupils or dispose of test kits, unless they have expired.
Asked by: Lord Watson of Invergowrie (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their guidance to keep windows in classrooms open to improve ventilation, what assessment they have made of (1) the amount of extra carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of higher energy use in all schools, and (2) the average increase in carbon dioxide emissions in (a) primary schools, and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has provided guidance to settings on how to manage ventilation, in addition to providing over 360,000 CO2 monitors to state-funded education providers in England. As well as helping to identify areas that are poorly ventilated, CO2 monitors can be useful to help education providers balance good ventilation with keeping classrooms warm.
Ensuring adequate ventilation does not need to be at the expense of keeping classrooms warm. Education providers do not need to keep windows fully open at all times. Opening windows regularly for 10 minutes, or a small amount continuously, can still improve ventilation substantially. The department’s guidance has also been clear that when CO2 monitors indicate good ventilation, there is no need to open additional windows. The guidance can be found in full here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-ventilation-of-indoor-spaces-to-stop-the-spread-of-coronavirus.
Maintaining adequate ventilation remains the responsibility of individual education providers. The department does not hold the information requested on the increase in energy usage or carbon emissions due to opening windows. This will vary according to a range of factors, including how individual education providers manage ventilation in their estate.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate he has made of the number of teachers and school staff off sick with covid=19 in the last two months for which data is available; what discussions he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with schools leaders on that matter; and what steps he is taking to support schools with staff absences.
Answered by Robin Walker
It continues to be the department’s absolute priority to support schools to deliver face to face, high quality education. School leaders and staff have worked incredibly hard to make sure pupils have been able to remain in school, while dealing with higher levels of staff absence than normal.
The Education Setting (EdSet) survey asks schools and colleges to report data such as on-site attendance and COVID-19 absence. From 7 March 2022, the survey has changed from daily to weekly. Data will be collected every Thursday and published on a fortnightly basis with the latest publication available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
From 7 March 2022, the department only collects data on overall absence rather than specific reasons for absence. The proportion of absent teachers and leaders, and other school staff, in the last two months can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/a7b7d917-0f50-4de7-ac15-9d1dd8501107.
The department remains hugely grateful to all school staff for their work, which has consistently kept over 99.9% of schools open this academic year. School leaders are best placed to determine the workforce required to meet the needs of pupils. However, we recognise that absence remains high in some schools and that this poses a challenge for staff.
To support schools experiencing the most significant workforce absence and funding pressures, the department re-introduced the COVID-19 workforce fund in the autumn term. The department had since extended the fund until Easter to cover the cost of term-time absences over a threshold from 22 November 2021 until 8 April 2022.
The department is also supporting staff wellbeing and is funding peer support, individual supervision, and counselling from experts to school leaders through the charity Education Support. Around 2,000 school leaders will benefit until March 2023.
Last November, the department launched the Education Staff Wellbeing Charter, which schools and colleges are encouraged to sign up to, it is co-produced with the education sector as shared commitments from government, Ofsted, and schools and colleges to protect and promote the wellbeing of staff.
The department is also offering state-funded schools and colleges a grant to pay for senior mental health lead training, providing skills and knowledge to implement a ‘whole school or college approach’ to mental health and wellbeing in a setting. This is part of the governments’ commitment to offer this training to all schools and colleges by 2025.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice the UK Health Security Agency has given (a) schools and (b) the Department for Education on measures to tackle outbreaks of covid-19 in schools; and if he will place a copy of that advice in the Library.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The Department for Education has provided guidance for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic on the principles of managing local outbreaks, including variants of concern, in education and childcare settings. This guidance is used locally by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) health protection teams and local authorities to work with individual settings. The UKHSA does not provide guidance directly to schools.
The UKHSA was commissioned to provide public health advice to the Department for Education to inform development of its operational guidance. We are unable to provide a copy of this advice as it relates to the development of Government policy on managing outbreaks of COVID-19 in educational settings. However, this advice was informed by standardised outbreak control processes used by local health protection teams in response to outbreaks of other infectious diseases.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment has he made of trends in the levels of outbreaks of covid-19 in (a) schools and (b) teaching staff.
Answered by Maggie Throup
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made a formal assessment. However, the UKHSA monitors the number of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, incidence per 100,000 population, and testing and positivity rates in the ‘educational-age’ cohorts including nursery, primary school, secondary school and university.
In addition, the UKHSA also publishes weekly data on the number of suspected acute respiratory infection outbreaks and confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks reported to Health Protection Teams, by educational setting.
Asked by: Mike Amesbury (Labour - Weaver Vale)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of increased covid-19 related school absences on pupils' learning in (a) England, (b) Cheshire West and Chester and (c) Halton; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce transmission of that virus in schools.
Answered by Robin Walker
The latest attendance data shows that, nationally, pupil absence in state-funded schools related to COVID-19 was 2.5% on 17 March 2022, up from 0.7% on 3 March 2022. Attendance was 89.7% on 17 March, down from 92.2% on 3 March.
COVID-19 related absence is down from 3.9% on 3 February, and attendance is up from 87.8% on 3 February.
The department no longer publishes data at constituency level and therefore cannot make an assessment of the impact of absences in Cheshire West and Chester, or Halton.
In relation to the impact of absence related to COVID-19 on children’s education, research shows that any absence from school negatively impacts education, well-being and development. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, is clear that it is a high priority to bring children who have been absent back into school so that they can access the £5 billion recovery funding which has been designed to support children to regain what they have lost through the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the department is working urgently with practice leaders across school, local authorities, the police, the health and social care sectors and charity sector in an Attendance Alliance to urgently identify ways to improve school attendance. Further details about that work can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/attendance-alliance-group.
The department is also in the process of reviewing the school attendance system as a whole. We have recently consulted on proposals aimed at transforming the consistency and quality of attendance support for families across England.
In relation to the measures the department is taking at national level to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in schools, these include a large vaccination programme for children, the provision of CO2 monitors backed by £25 million in government funding, funding for ventilation solutions where ventilation in classrooms is poor, and the promotion of good hand hygiene.
Additionally, individual schools should have in place emergency plans outlining how they would operate to minimise disruption to face-to-face education and protect the most vulnerable in the event of an outbreak of infection. The current guidance for schools is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) pupils, (b) teachers and (c) support staff have been off school with covid-19 in the last week.
Answered by Robin Walker
The latest data, up to 17 March 2022, on the number of pupils, teachers and support staff absent with COVID-19 is published here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/attendance-in-education-and-early-years-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to fast track the covid-19 booster vaccination programme for schools in January 2021.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Children aged 12 years old and over are receiving COVID-19 vaccinations in schools through the School Age Immunisation Service and in community settings. At-risk children aged five to 12 years old who are prioritised for a primary course are being offered the vaccine in out of school settings.
The booster vaccination campaign for 12 to 15 year olds most at risk from COVID-19 began in January 2022. In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice, the booster dose is being offered to those clinically at-risk or those who live with someone who is immunosuppressed. Children in this age group who are severely immunosuppressed can receive their booster after a third primary dose. A booster vaccination programme for schools is not currently in operation given the low numbers of children currently eligible for booster doses and a proportion of at-risk children do not attend school onsite. Parents can book booster vaccinations for their child through the National Health Service booking system or use a walk-in site.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of school attendance targets on clinically vulnerable families attempting to shield from covid-19.
Answered by Robin Walker
Regular attendance at school is vital for children’s education, wellbeing and long-term development. School attendance is mandatory and parents have a duty, under section 7 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure that their child of compulsory age receives an efficient full-time education either by attendance at school or otherwise. No targets for school attendance are set by government, but attendance statistics are collected and published on a regular basis.
Following expert clinical advice and the successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme, people previously considered to be particularly vulnerable, clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), and high or higher-risk are no longer advised to shield.
Children and young people previously considered CEV should attend school and should follow the same COVID-19 guidance as the rest of the population. This guidance is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus. Children and young people with a weakened immune system should follow the Department of Health and Social Care and UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance for people whose immune system means they are at higher risk from COVID-19, available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk/covid-19-guidance-for-people-whose-immune-system-means-they-are-at-higher-risk. If, however, a child or young person has been advised to isolate or reduce their social contact by their specialist, due to the nature of their medical condition or treatment they should continue to follow the advice of their specialist.
The NHS is also now vaccinating the most at-risk 5 to 11 year olds, ensuring they get their vital dose of protection.
As usual, school leaders continue to have discretion to grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances. Where a pupil is not attending school for reasons related to COVID-19, we expect the school to offer them immediate access to remote education. Schools must also have regard to the expectations for remote education published on GOV.UK: https://get-help-with-remote-education.education.gov.uk/statutory-obligations.