Message from Peter Nathan, Director of Education
FAO: All Headteachers, All Phases
Dear Headteacher/Principal,
I very much hope you had a good weekend and enjoyed the sunshine on Saturday and the snow on Sunday. Please find attached the latest COVID dashboard which shows a continued downward trend in the number of COVID cases – a considerable decrease from the over 1200 per 100,000 from a few weeks ago. On the vaccination front, the Dugdale Centre should be open next week for vaccinations. A vaccination board has been set up with education representation and as part of phase 2 of the programme, the board will be looking at more vulnerable education staff particularly those working in special schools initially.
i) COVID testing – Please could you ensure if possible that school catering staff and cleaning staff have access to the same testing arrangements as other school staff. Passenger transport staff have access to their own testing at their base at the Morson Rd Depot so should not need testing in school.
ii) Heads Briefing – Tuesday 2nd February - Just a reminder of the next briefing taking place next week from 1:30pm to 3pm. This will include an update on local testing and progress with the vaccination schedule. I will send an agenda closer to the date of the meeting.
iii) OFQUAL consultation – this is a consultation on what is going to replace GCSEs, A-level and vocational examinations this year. Over 57,000 responses had been received by Friday in this 2 week consultation with a variety of views on the process. The local authority is going to respond but I would encourage you to take part in this debate so the best decisions can be made so we can avoid the controversy of last year.
iv) LA/Heads reps meeting - Please find attached notes from our weekly meeting on Friday. Please let us know if you have any issues to raise either through your representatives or directly to myself or other LA colleagues.
v) DfE issues raised & scenario planning – the DfE are looking at various scenarios of children returning to school. This could be on a staggered basis or potentially a regional basis for example. Other issues continue to be raised with the DfE such as funding for secondary school COVID testing, vaccinations for school staff, the length of the daily attendance returns, etc.
I very much hope that your week goes well.
Best wishes
Peter Nathan
Director of Education
People Department
Enfield Council