By Elli Collins, Carolina Piras, India Thompson, Ioana-Alexandra Cimpeanu, Nathan Kamal Cortes Rojas and Ole Sebastian Bonde Ho Christiansen
Coronavirus has caused major destruction to everyone’s lives since March 2020, especially to students and their education. The new national lockdown means that schools in England will be closed until February half-term to help stop the spread.
Before Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the closures yesterday in a live televised address to the nation, his plan was to introduce mass testing in secondary schools.
Mass testing can help reduce the stop of transmission from asymptomatic people who have no idea they are infected. Many of these carriers are children and teens, who are unlikely to be seriously affected by the virus but can still pass it on. The testing would allow some control over the spread in a mainstream public place, like schools.
Asymptomatic carriers
“Working in a school, it is not just the pupil that is coming into the school [who could be affected], it is their extended family. You have no idea who they have been in contact with over the Christmas period,” said Julie Thompson, 45, a volunteer at Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School in Suffolk, which has children up to age 13.
“As we know, not everybody sticks to the rules, so this in turn places teaching staff, canteen staff, cleaners and caretakers at risk also.
“We have stopped putting the heating on in the school, kept all the doors and windows open open, are are encouraging staff and pupils to wear extra layers. Dividers were placed in the dining hall so that the children got to eat together, but were still divided into cubicles.”
Measures to contain virus
Her school has put in many measures to help contain the virus, including not allowing movement between classrooms, with all lessons taught throughout the day in the same room.
Thompson said that separate outside areas at break times were made for each form and the school instituted regular cleaning of the classrooms. Hand sanitisers were placed in visible areas, and older pupils and staff were told to wear a mask at all times.
But with another national lockdown, school openings have been delayed even further – and it is unclear what will happen with the planned mass testing. Many people believe this can decrease the number of COVID-19 cases in schools, and can bring some kind of normality back to the lives of staff, pupils, and parents.
Before the lockdown was announced, in-class learning in secondary schools across England was delayed to set up testing, as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said students needed to be back in class soon. The opposition vowed to not send the pupils back.
The idea was that after taking rapid tests, staff will continue to be tested once a week. Any member of staff or pupil who has made contact with someone who tested positive will be offered daily tests for a week. Tests are optional and require parental consent.
“We have stopped putting the heating on in the school, kept all the doors and windows open open, are are encouraging staff and pupils to wear extra layers. Dividers were placed in the dining hall so that the children got to eat together, but were still divided into cubicles.”
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