Fresh guidance on return to schools

The New School Day guidance outlines proposals for the full reopening of schools at the start of the new school year.

Primary 7, Year 12 and Year 14 pupils and all vulnerable children will still start the new school term on August 24, with all other children and young people returning to school week commencing August 31.

Children will not be required to wear face coverings and staff will only do so in very limited circumstances, while soft toys and other hard to clean items are to be removed from classrooms.

Minister Weir said the guidance will remain flexible. “My strategic objective has always been for the full-time resumption of classroom-based learning for all pupils as soon as possible, and when appropriate to do so. This latest guidance takes into account the Executive’s agreement of August 6 that the requirement for strict social distancing between children may be relaxed in the presence of other mitigations.

“I have at all times recognised the stresses felt by teachers, parents and pupils due to the ongoing disruption and uncertainty regarding the future.

“The first step in keeping our schools safe is that anyone with symptoms should not attend school.

“Within school, in circumstances where strict social distancing between children cannot reasonably be applied, the use of ‘protective bubbles’, decreasing interaction and movement around the school must be followed.”

The full guidance is available at is available via www.education-ni.gov.uk/

The Minister added: “The guidance also promotes a flexible approach to use of existing spaces as a means of maximising face-to-face teaching opportunities.

“This guidance will remain agile and will continue to reflect public health advice. We will continue to keep under review all medical and scientific developments.”

Parents should not send their children to school if they have any of the Covid-19 symptoms such as:

*a high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)

*a new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)

*a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you’ve noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal

The full guidance on this link www.education-ni.gov.uk/publications/northern-ireland-re-opening-school-guidance-new-school-day-revised