Testing takes centre stage as Black Country and Staffordshire schools prepare to reopen

Headteachers are calling for all parents to remember the importance in giving consent for their children to be tested when they return on March 8.

It is thought that the number of people giving consent is vital for the efficacy of school's mass testing plan.

With schools welcoming all pupils back for the first time since January – and some since before Christmas – teachers across the Black Country and Staffordshire have been preparing for their return. Changes to the school day include, testing pupils and staff regularly, wearing masks during lessons, social distancing and staggered break and start and finish times.

Nicola Davis, head teacher at Aldersley High School, in Wolverhampton, said: "We have worked hard before Christmas and have a strong team of staff working on testing.

"My main concern is that we need parents to give consent for their children to be tested.

"I really want to encourage all parents to give consent, the more that consent the more effective the testing will be."

There are concerns about logistics of implementing three tests to thousands of pupils as the return to school starts.

Nicola Mason, head teacher at Chase Terrace Academy in Burntwood, added: "We have 1,500 people - staff and students - who need to be tested.

"That means a testing workforce of at least 20 people per day to be able to carry out enough tests to get all of us through in the first week.

"We have not yet got enough tests in the building for all three tests to be carried out.

"The first test will be manageable as we can test students and then they can come into school the next day, in a staged return over the first week.

"The second and third tests are the challenge as we have 1,350 students in class with their teachers and need to take children out twice to be tested within the next three to five days.

"The logistical challenge of getting the consent forms alone will be a huge administrative task for staff. "

There are also growing concerns for the wellbeing of the school community with the dramatic shift back to in-school learning.

Ms Mason added: "Workload has been immense over the lockdown. Teachers have developed a comprehensive and excellent remote learning strategy and engagement with it has been good at our school.

"Students have missed their friends and the social aspect as well as the extra-curricular activities that mean so much.

"Mental health concerns have been widespread and our message to the children when they return will be a calm and reassuring one.

"We will not be telling them they are behind or that they need ‘catch up’ time in the summer.

"We will be helping them to ease them back into routines and structures of learning to help them to progress both academically and emotionally."

Despite the immense challenges schools have faced during the pandemic, teaching staff are appreciative of the connections they have established with the wider community.

Mrs Davis added: "The support that the local authority has given all the schools during lockdown has been vast in terms of support of lateral flow testing and getting students back into schools, it has brought a lot of schools together."

Councillor Dr Michael Hardacre, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for education and skills, added: "The reopening of schools to all pupils is a key step in our country's journey out of lockdown but we appreciate that getting children back in the classroom next month will not be easy.

"As in every aspect of life, there will always be risks, and it is impossible to completely eliminate these – but schools have worked with our Public Health and Education teams to create the safest possible environments for children and staff."