7 April 2022– Update to all education and childcare settings and providers

Today’s email includes:

Update for schools on the National Tutoring Programme (NTP)

The School-Led tutoring guidance has been updated, outlining the policy and process for the funding uplift. The funds can be used for all pupils who would benefit from further tuition support, in particular to:

Find out how Lisa Thompson, Headteacher at St Charles Primary School, has been benefitting from using the NTP School-Led tutoring route in the NTP blog.

Guidance on registering for free personal protective equipment (PPE)

Additional PPE in education and childcare settings will now only be needed when performing aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) guidance has been updated and the list of what is considered an AGP has changed. Settings will only need to access PPE in limited scenarios.

If individuals in your setting perform AGPs as described in the guidance, and need additional PPE for this, please register on the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) managed PPE portal. Once registered, you will be able to order PPE directly, at no cost to your setting.

All SEND and children’s social care settings should already be registered for the portal, so no action is required.

If you need any help with registration or have any other questions, please contact the DHSC helpline on 0800 876 6802.

Updated NHS COVID-19 symptoms lists

The NHS COVID-19 symptoms in adults and symptoms in children have been updated.

Adults and children who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19, should follow the UKHSA guidance. Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature, and they are well enough to attend.

An update for all education and childcare settings on the publication of new guidance following the Living with COVID announcement

UKHSA has now published new guidance for the general population on reducing the spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19, in the workplace. This came into effect on Friday 1 April, and is also relevant to education and childcare settings.

An update for schools and colleges on the review of the educational settings status form

We have carried out a review of the continuation of the educational setting status form, taking into consideration the burden on settings, the utility of data collected for DfE, local authorities and settings, and the availability of alternative data sources.

In January, we began a trial of automated collection of attendance data in schools; thank you to the 13,000 schools who have signed up. Once the trial is fully established, we will stop collecting attendance data through the form and reconsider the frequency of the collection of workforce absence data. In the interim, the educational setting status form remains a valuable data source and we will continue to collect on-site pupil attendance and workforce absence data weekly in the summer term.

In line with the transition to Living with COVID-19, from today, Thursday 7 April, the form will be updated to remove questions on pupil absence due to COVID-19, and questions about wraparound childcare.

Questions on the NTP will continue to be asked every 3 to 6 weeks. The form will remain open every day for settings to report school or college closures, by exception.

Further guidance on the automated collection of attendance data and how schools can join the trial is available. Alternatively, you can contact us by email.

Update for schools on recording attendance for pupils with symptoms of COVID-19

Schools no longer need to record pupils who do not attend for reasons related to COVID-19, using Code X. Pupils with symptoms of COVID-19 are no longer advised to get a test, and most of the scenarios that this category was brought in to record no longer apply.

Pupils who have symptoms of COVID-19 should follow the UKHSA guidance about when they should stay at home. Where a pupil is not attending because they have symptoms of COVID-19 or have had a positive test, schools should record this using Code I (illness) unless another more appropriate absence code applies. Schools can continue to use the sub-code (I02) to record illness due to suspected COVID-19, although they are not required to.

Cyber security update on the use of Russian-based antivirus software and other Russian IT applications

The current National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) guidance is that all public sector organisations should reconsider their risk if they are using Russian technology.

It is highly unlikely that individuals and the majority of enterprises will be targeted unless they are linked to Ukraine, Russia, or where their being compromised could be considered a ‘PR’ win. However, consideration should be given to the possibility of Russian companies being subject to sanctions, which would prevent the updating of their products, such as antivirus software.

Organisations and individuals are ultimately responsible for, and best placed to consider what risk the use of Russian software products poses for them. Please read and follow the latest NCSC advice.

Updated guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund for the 2022/23 academic year

The Education and Skills Funding Agency has updated their guidance on the 16 to 19 tuition fund allocation for the 2022/23 academic year. The changes include:

Guidance for schools, colleges and providers on students repeating year 13

The 16 to 19 funding regulations guidance, published on Wednesday 30 March, confirms that funding repeat studies will revert to our usual resit and retake policy. This means that severe disruption to a student caused by COVID-19 would be treated like any other exceptional circumstance outside the control of the student or institution.

Department for Education Incident Support helpline

The Department for Education Incident Support helpline is available to answer any questions you have about COVID-19 relating to education and childcare settings and children’s social care, and to support any national incidents and emergencies.