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Plan for reopening
5 articles
Communicate with your school community
- School reopening: home-school agreement Outline your terms for parents to follow if they have children coming into school and/or continuing remote learning at home.
- School reopening: letters to parents UpdatedUse our template letters to let parents of new and returning pupils know about what school will look like in September.
- School reopening: parent survey Use our survey questions to get an idea of how many pupils you'll be expecting to come to school, now that the government thinks it's safe to open in June.
- School reopening: reassuring parents that their child is safe Parents will be understandably concerned about their children coming back to school. Find out how to get a handle on how they're feeling, tailor your messaging and make them feel as reassured as possible – whenever their children are returning.
- School reopening: staff worried about coming in If you have staff who are worried about returning to school and may not want to come in, here's an overview of their rights and how you can approach concerns they raise.
23 articles
Keep pupils and staff safe
- School reopening: brief staff on your plans UpdatedGive your staff an update on what your plans for full reopening in autumn are. Adapt our presentation to deliver your staff briefing and get tips to help if you're delivering it remotely.
- School reopening: checklists to help you prepare Use these checklists to reassure yourself that your plans are robust - they're designed to help you reduce risk, organise your logistics, put wellbeing support in place and reopen buildings safely.
- School reopening: checklist to monitor health and safety measures As you reopen to more pupils, you'll need to monitor the measures you've put in place to reduce risks on site. Download our checklist for daily and weekly tasks that'll help you keep on top of your arrangements.
- School reopening: creative ideas to implement safety measures See examples of some quick and easy 'tips and tricks' being used by other schools to help you implement social distancing and hygiene measures in your school.
- School reopening: extended provision risk assessment NewUse our risk assessment to help you determine whether you can reopen your extended provision, such as after-school and breakfast clubs, from September.
- School reopening: FAQs We know what's on your radar, and we're doing our best to get clear answers for you – here's what we know so far.
- School reopening: FAQs on staffing UpdatedThe government expects all schools to reopen in September. Find out how this will affect your staff, and know which measures you need to put in place to keep everyone safe.
- School reopening: health and safety mythbuster (primary) Get clarity on what you can and can't do during coronavirus when it comes to rules on pick-up/drop-off, bringing in lunchboxes, and more.
- School reopening: how to approach cleaning UpdatedFind out what changes you'll need to make to your regular cleaning arrangements so you can keep everyone safe as you fully reopen in September. Plus download our checklist for a deep clean in the event of a suspected case of COVID-19, so if the situation does arise, you can be confident you've got everything covered.
- School reopening: how to deliver assemblies to multiple groups NewThe DfE has advised against mixing groups of pupils in large gatherings such as assemblies or collective worship. Here are some alternative solutions for when you want to bring your whole school together.
- School reopening: how to keep office staff safe If you have office staff who need to work on-site, be clear what measures you should have in place for them, such as social distancing.
- School reopening: how to manage drop offs and pick ups You'll want to put in place measures to socially distance pupils, parents and staff as much as possible as they enter or leave your school. Use our suggested steps as a guide and our template letter to keep parents informed and reassured that you're considering everyone's safety.
- School reopening: how to mark pupils' work safely NewLearn how to approach marking safely when your school reopens in September. Consider alternatives to written marking so that you can reduce contact with pupils’ work where possible.
- School reopening: how to organise your staggered timetable (primary) Get advice and download our sample timetable to plan how to organise timings for drop off/pick up, break and lunch, to help you get ready for reopening in June if it's safe to do so.
- School reopening: how to organise your timetable (secondary) Get advice and ideas from other schools to help you decide how to use your face-to-face contact time for year 10 and year 12 pupils coming back to school.
- School reopening: how to record attendance You should resume taking the attendance register for all pupils in June. Find out what codes to use for different scenarios.
- School reopening: how to reduce contact at busy hotspots Find out how to minimise opportunities for contact on site, including creating smaller class groups and setting up one-way systems. Plus get advice on how to keep on top of cleaning and hygiene practices.
- School reopening: how to run socially distanced provision Get advice on organising your classes in line with government guidance to help you plan for bringing more pupils back into school in June.
- School reopening: pupil hygiene and wellbeing posters UpdatedUse our child-friendly posters on health and hygiene around your school. They'll help you reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading and signpost pupils to where they can go if they're struggling with settling back in to school.
- School reopening: responding to a suspected case of COVID-19 in school UpdatedDownload our diagram outlining the steps to take if a pupil or staff member develops coronavirus symptoms in your school. It's up to date with the new guidelines for autumn term.
- School reopening: risk assessment template for individual staff Use our template to help you assess whether staff at higher risk from coronavirus can safely return to school.
- School reopening: template equality impact assessment Use our template to help you consider how your approach to reopening may disproportionately impact different groups of people in your school, on the basis of characteristics like race, disability and gender.
- School reopening: template risk assessment UpdatedYou must thoroughly review your existing risk assessment ahead of reopening fully in September. Use our updated template to guide you, and read advice on what your next steps should be.
2 articles
Learn lessons from lockdown
- School reopening: how are you applying what you've learnt in lockdown to improve your provision in September? Share a change you've made to adapt to running your school remotely that will influence how you do things going forward, and help other school leaders reflect on how to use lessons from lockdown to improve provision over the long term, too.
- School reopening: how to apply what you've learned during lockdown to improve your school See how the changes you’ve made to adapt during this turbulent period can help you improve learning, parental engagement and staff wellbeing as you prepare for September. With suggestions from Patrick Ottley-O'Connor at North Liverpool Academy, and other school leaders across the country.
8 articles
Settle pupils back into school
- Coronavirus addendum to your behaviour policy: model Download and adapt our model addendum to make sure everyone is aware of the expectations for pupil behaviour during Covid-19, both if they're in school or learning remotely.
- School reopening: contingency planning NewThe DfE expects you to have a contingency plan in place from the end of September to provide remote education in case of a local outbreak of coronavirus. Take a look at what this plan should cover, and get some ideas to help you put it together.
- School reopening: how to carry out whole-school monitoring For the end of this academic year and the start of next, you won't be able to follow your normal monitoring and evaluation schedule. Get guidance on what to focus on and how to do your monitoring in your new school set-up.
- School reopening: how to reestablish routines and expectations As more pupils return to school, you won't be wanting to jump into learning straight away. Get tips on settling your pupils into their 'new normal' school routines so they feel safe, know what your behaviour expectations are and can successfully re-adjust to school life.
- School reopening: providing high-quality outdoor learning Learning outdoors makes it easier to maintain social distancing – and it supports pupils’ wellbeing too. Find out how to make the best use of whatever outdoor space you have and safely deliver high-quality outdoor lessons. Download our checklist of equipment staff will need as they take the classroom outside.
- School reopening: rebuilding relationships between pupils and staff As more pupils return to school, get advice to help them rebuild trusting relationships with school staff and each other.
- School reopening: supporting pupil mental health Before you start teaching your curriculum again, you'll be trying to make sure your pupils are emotionally settled and feel secure at school. Find out how you can identify your pupils’ mental health needs and support them whenever they return to school.
- School reopening: supporting pupils with SEND to transition back to school UpdatedFind out how to help pupils with SEND get back into school life and adjust to the ‘new normal’, including tips on adapting instructions and conversations to have. You know your pupils best, so pick the approaches that work best for their needs.