Coronavirus Q&A

Schools are a cornerstone of communities, providing much more than simply education. In these challenging times, schools will become an essential part of the effort to respond to the huge challenge of COVID-19. Schools and school staff will be central to keeping the NHS running as well as other services which are vital to how we live.

From next week, schools should close to children and young people with the exception of providing care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.  School buildings should remain open for this purpose and we expect that headteachers and school staff will be in school next week and should expect to continue to work, having regard to the latest advice on social distancing and self-isolation.

We are having daily conference calls with local authority leaders, and the expectation is that during the next 1-2 weeks there will be practical, local-level ways of working established to deal with the immediate challenges. We will be working with LAs to put in place longer-term, resilient arrangements in relation to school settings.

Following the end of the Easter holidays, all schools will also need to enable the continuation of learning remotely for their learners. We will be keeping the situation under constant review.

For the next two weeks, we are asking schools, working with local authorities, to focus on providing care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the Covid-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

We are having daily conference calls with local authority leaders, and the expectation is that during the next 1-2 weeks there will be practical, local-level ways of working established to deal with the immediate challenges. We are working with local authorities to put in place longer term and resilient arrangements.

We would also expect schools and staff over that time to look at how they can ensure continuing learning for all pupils. We will provide further guidance as the situation develops.

The last day of term will be 20 March. Schools will be closed to the majority of pupils for at least 4 weeks from then. It is not our expectation that schools will be opening and functioning as normal at the end of the Easter holidays i.e. on 20 April. This will be kept under constant review, based on the latest public health advice.

We expect, however, that head teachers and school staff will be in school next week and should expect to continue to work, having regard to the latest advice on social distancing and self-isolation.

We want children and young people to be able to continue learning despite the closure of their school, and we are putting in a range of measures to ensure this happens.  These include making access to technology available to children and families who do not have it; making sure the software and resources that learners need are available; and, supporting Heads, teachers and parents with guidance on how to make the best of the technology.

We recognise that school closure could be for more than a few weeks, so we need to support schools to be the best they can be in continuing teaching and learning. But also in supporting their learners, in ensuring progression in learning, and in making sure that, when things get back to normal, the impact has been as small as we can make it.  We will be providing details of the approach to continuing learning in the week beginning 23rd March.

The spread of COVID-19 and the response measures will impact on health and well-being within school community.  These go beyond the immediate risk of infection. Social distancing and self-isolation will impact on physical and mental and emotional health, while all members of the school community will be faced with the risk or reality of losing loved ones.

Whether working remotely or not:

• There needs to be added focus on pastoral care and activities to support mental well-being. Guidance should emphasise giving support and care for learners and staff. This should draw on and point to the wide range of support services available.
• Schools/settings should uphold, promote and (where open) adhere to social distancing guidance.
• Schools/settings should give greater priority to ensuring learners are active providing more non-contact activities which promote physical activity e.g. games, dance, use of online exercise videos.
• School/settings should also recognise the importance of developing strong relationships in supporting everyone’s mental and emotional health.

Communication with parents is critical. Schools should maintain open lines of communication with parents, providing solidarity for the community:

• Ensure school community, including parents, understand guidelines on social distancing and self-isolation.  If staff or children have symptoms outlined in the guidance, then they should self-isolate and follow public health guidance.
• Communication with parents and communities should be: visible, calm, clear and factual.  The success of the defence against COVID-19 relies on continuing social order. Trust in institutions and our approach is critical to this.
• In working with learners remotely, schools will need to ensure parents understand that learning will continue and how this will work.
• Some schools will have an enhanced role in the defence against COVID-19: enabling the country and in particular healthcare workers to function efficiently.

We appreciate how important free school meals are for the children and young people who receive them.

We are working closely with schools and local authorities across Wales to make sure eligible pupils have continued access to free school meals. For next week, this will mean a variety of solutions including collecting food from schools, or food delivered to home or community locations.

We are developing a Wales-wide approach to provide support through supermarket and shop vouchers. We are working with the Governments in Scotland and England on this, and further details will be available soon.

We have issued guidance to ITE providers who currently have students undertaking school placements. The guidance will advise ITE providers to cease schools placements with effect from this week in order to minimise the risk to students and to schools.

In order to ensure that the current cohort of ITE students are able to complete their courses the Welsh Government have advised ITE providers that they have the discretion to make an assessment of their students’ suitability for the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) based on their periods of placement completed at this point in time.

When providers make this discretionary judgement then they will be required to issue individual learning plans to students setting out requirements for any areas that they have been unable to complete.  Students would be required to undertake learning in these areas during their induction period and provide the relevant evidence to their induction provider in order to gain fully qualified status.

Any academic teaching that remains to be completed in this school year will be undertaken remotely through digital channels. This will enable the existing cohort to graduate and achieve QTS and enter induction in September.

For a temporary period, schools have a new purpose. We will therefore be removing or relaxing requirements on schools which would be in place in normal circumstances. We will continue to keep this under review.

Estyn halted its inspection arrangements as of Monday 16 March, and we intend to temporarily relax requirements to undertake national tests and assessments and to report the outcomes, and requirements to undertake moderation.

We intend to temporarily relax requirements to undertake national tests and assessments and to report the outcomes, as well as requirements to undertake moderation.

We have cancelled all statutory data collections that would have been due to take place before the school summer holidays and have not yet started. Normal arrangements for reporting of Key Stage 4 and post-16 performance measures will be suspended for this year and we are also actively considering the associated arrangements and statutory requirements that depend on the availability of data.

The safeguarding of vulnerable learners remains a critical priority. Local authorities have a duty to meet the needs of learners for whom it maintains a statement of SEN.

We are in contact with providers and are encouraging, where possible, where learners are no longer attending school, that alternative arrangements including online therapy, are considered. This includes simultaneous training of the workforce to enable this.

In the event of a special school closing, the local authority must consider alternative educational provision for learners for whom it maintains a statement of SEN.

Learners resident at care homes offering educational provision, which are either maintained by the local authority or are independent, would usually continue to be resident at the setting in the event of the school closing for a period of time.

We have announced that, following advice from Qualifications Wales, the best way forward is not to proceed with summer exam series. Learners due to sit their GCSEs and A levels this summer will be awarded a fair grade to recognise their work, drawing on the range of information that is available. We are still considering the fairest way to issue grades for learners who are studying qualifications other than GCSEs and A Levels. Qualifications Wales published an update on Friday 20 March on the issuing of grades for publication in summer 2020.

We won’t be using the grades awarded to publish performance measure outcomes in 2020.

Learners due to sit their GCSEs and A levels this summer will be awarded a fair grade to recognise their work, drawing on the range of information that is available. Qualifications Wales published an update on Friday 20 March on the issuing of grades for publication in summer 2020. We will be working with the sector to announce further details shortly. In determining how we proceed, the focus will be on what is in the best interests of learners both in terms of their current well-being and their future work, education or training.

No. The statutory requirement for learners to take this test and report the results will be removed.

The requirement for learners to take the personalised assessments and for schools to provide reports to parents and carers will be relaxed for this academic year.

Schools can take advantage of the flexibility of the online assessments and, where it is appropriate in their local circumstances, can schedule them to support learners’ progression when they are next able to do so. Many learners have already taken assessments in numeracy and reading, so schools can use the information from these to inform future planning. Where learners have completed the numeracy assessments schools will already have access to feedback on skills, age-standardised scores and progress reports. Feedback reports for the reading assessments are also available; but scores and progress reports will only be available once the majority of learners have taken the reading assessments. Given current circumstances this could be subject to a delay and we will provide a further update on this at a later date.

No. We will be removing these requirements for the rest of this academic year. As a result, schools will not be required to report on the outcomes of the teacher assessments either.

No. This statutory requirement will be removed for the rest of this academic year. As we will not require the assessments to take place, schools will not be expected to undertake the moderation process at the end of Key Stage 2 or at the end of Key Stage 3.

We will be monitoring the situation regarding school closures and considering this statutory requirement in more detail over the coming weeks with the aim of easing the burden on schools wherever possible, whilst continuing to support learners in their development.

Clearly this is a fast moving situation. Counselling is a key part of our response to the current situation, providing support for children and young people.

We would expect local authorities to ensure counselling provision continues to be made in the community and encourage them to also provide online counselling where appropriate.

The need for the provision of counselling will also be included in our plans for vulnerable students.

We know some providers have confirmed they have been making plans for the last month for contacts with clients during isolation and that most school clients are no longer attending school. As an example, one provider has made the decision to fully move to online therapy from Monday. It has trained its workforce on the delivery of therapy online. All clients have been contacted and have agreed to have therapy online.

We expect schools and education services to adopt a zero tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination, racially aggravated behaviour and bullying and to deal with all incidents vigorously, ensuring all pupils and staff are properly supported and respected.

Whilst COVID-19 appears to have originated in China, we need to tackle the incorrect impression that Chinese people are more likely to be spreading Coronavirus. We all need to work collectively to reinforce this message and challenge negative attitudes and behaviours, where they occur, that underpin this misconception. The Welsh Government suite of guidance ‘Rights, respect, equality’ provides statutory guidance and advice to help address and prevent all forms bullying in education settings in Wales, including racist bullying.

The most recent scientific advice on how to further limit the spread of COVID-19 is clear. It is imperative that, as far as possible, we minimise social contact. This means that if children can stay safely in their home, they should, to limit the chance of the virus spreading.

Schools (and childcare and play settings) should only be open for those children that absolutely need to attend. Residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings should continue to care for children wherever possible.

Schools should continue to provide care for as small a number of children as possible – children who are vulnerable and children whose parents are critical to the COVID-19 response and cannot be safely cared for at home.

Vulnerable children include those with safeguarding needs and supported by social care, which include children with care and support or support plans, children on the child protection register and looked after children, young carers, disabled children and those with Statements of special educational needs. The most vulnerable of these should be prioritised.

Further details on parents whose work is critical to the COVID-19 response are outlined in this statement.  Every child who can be safely cared for at home should be and only where there is no safe alternative should provision be made in schools or other settings.

To summarise, from Monday 23 March:

• if it is at all possible for children to be at home, then they should be
• if a child needs specialist support, is vulnerable or has a parent who is critical to the Covid-19 response, then provision in an educational or childcare setting should be available for them
• parents should not rely for childcare on anyone who has been advised to follow the stringent social distancing guidance such as grandparents, friends, or family members with underlying conditions
• parents should do everything they can to ensure children are not mixing socially in ways which could contribute to spreading the virus.  Children should observe the same social distancing guidance as adults
• residential special schools, boarding schools and special settings should continue to care for children wherever possible

We will not expect returns for all statutory data collections that would have been due to take place before the school summer holidays and have not yet started. This includes:

• Attendance: Primary 2020 data collection;
• Attendance: Secondary 2020 data collection;
• National Data Collection (NDC) 2020 data collection; and
• Welsh National Tests (WNT) 2020 data collection.

We understand that those learners in Years 10 and 12 due to take exams in the summer are keen to know whether they will have grades. This is a complex decision as there is a greater range of possible options available to learners who still have a year of further study. As such Qualifications Wales and WJEC have been asked to provide further advice on this.

In their update on Friday 20 March, Qualifications Wales stated that they are not planning to issue grades for AS Levels or for unit assessments taken by Year 10 learners in the same way as for GCSEs, A levels or Skills Challenge Certificates. For those learners, they are looking at a variety of options, including the opportunity to sit exams in subsequent exam series. We will share more detail on those plans as soon as we can.