FAQ

If students are identified as close contacts by the NHS or school then they should remain at home and self-isolate for 10 days. There is no need for anyone else who is linked to a close contacts (friendship group or household) to also self-isolate unless they develop symptoms.

The government guidance states: Contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 infection who need to self-isolate will be notified accordingly. If you have not been notified, this means you do not need to self-isolate.

It also advises that:If you are a contact of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19, but you do not have symptoms, other people living with you do not need to self-isolate and should follow the general guidance.

A person who has been close to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 anytime from 2 days before the person was symptomatic (or 2 days before a test if no symptoms) up to 10 days from onset of symptoms (this is when they are infectious to others). For schools purposes, a close contact can be a person who has had face-to-face contact (within one metre), with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, including:

• being coughed on o having a face-to-face conversation within one metre having skin-to-skin physical contact, or contact within one metre for one minute or longer without face-to-face contact
• a person who has been within 2 metres of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 for more than 15 minutes
• a person who has travelled in a small vehicle with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or in a large vehicle or plane near someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

They must self-isolate, in line with government guidance. Public Health England have made it clear that instructions from schools to pupils and staff to self-isolate if they are close contacts should be seen as legally binding as the school are working on behalf of and on the advice of the DfE and PHE.

As such, students who are asked to self-isolate by school must follow the government guidance: They must self-isolate, in line with government guidance. Public Health England have made it clear that instructions from schools to pupils and staff to self-isolate if they are close contacts should be seen as legally binding as the school are working on behalf of and on the advice of the DfE and PHE. As such, students who are asked to self-isolate by school must follow the government guidance: ‘Stay at home for 14 days after your last contact with the person who has tested positive for COVID-19. Do not go to work, school, or public areas, and do not use public transport or taxis. Do not go outside even to buy food or other essentials, and any exercise must be taken within your home. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in a fine of up to £10,000.’

No. The government guidance is clear: ‘If you do not develop symptoms of COVID-19, you should not arrange for testing.’ You should only arrange for a test for your child if they develop any Covid symptoms. If you do arrange for your child to be tested for Covid-19 they, and the whole household, should self-isolate until the test result is received.

If you are unsure about the measures that we have put in place in school to reduce the risk of transmission of Covid-19, please refer to our risk assessment, which can be found on the school website. Students learn best when they have a teacher in front of them. Online learning is not a substitute for this and should only be used where students are self-isolating. It is important that our students are in school whenever possible to minimise disruption to their learning. Any absences that are not linked to self-isolation or illness will be unauthorised.

You will need to give medical consent for your child to take the test (if they are under 16), If you want your child to be tested, you will also need to understand that as part of testing we process their personal data. This processing of their data is allowed under data protection legislation, known as UKGDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We are responsible for the processing of the test and ensuring all the personal data relating to the test is properly managed in accordance with their legal obligations.

Before we can use any personal data in the administration of taking the test and processing the results, we must tell you the lawful basis for why it is necessary to process personal data and it must be in one of six reasons which are allowed in UK data protection legislation. For the purpose of COVID-19 we are using Public Task where it is necessary to process personal data to ensure we meet our obligations in education legislation to safeguard and promote the wellbeing of pupils.

Public Health legislation also allows the sharing of personal data with DHSC, Local Government, Test and Trace and the NHS.

You can find details of the specific legislation in the privacy notice or ask your school’s data protection officer for more details by contacting us at [email protected].

When you register for a test you need to provide us with your child’s

• Name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• First line of address
• Home postcode
• Email address
• Mobile number
• Name of Parent or Guardian
• Ethnicty data

This allows us to register your child for a test and to process the results. Once your child is registered for a test they will be assigned a unique barcode which will be used to identify the test without the need for sharing a lot of personal data. Once the test has been completed, we will also record the results.

We will record that you have been offered and rejected a test so that we do not keep asking you to agree to a test. We will not tell any unauthorised person that is not directly involved in the recording of tests who has refused a test. Schools and Colleges will not share refusals with other parents or pupils.

We will use the personal data you provided when you register your child for the test to send the result to the named parents/guardians of children who test positive for coronavirus on the day of the test. You will not be informed of a negative test

If you test positive, you will be offered a further test of a different kind (called a PCR test) positive to confirm that your test result and details for this will be sent by email/and or text to parents/legal guardians within 24-48 hours of the test by the NHS.

In the event of a positive result, in addition to sharing with the parent/guardian. We will only share the result with appropriate contacts such as the head teacher and named nominated person in the school to allow us to start their own COVID isolation processes. We will not tell any unauthorised person (that is anyone not involved in the recording of test results) who has received a positive result. Schools and Colleges will not share positive results with other parents or pupils.

In the event of a negative result, We will only share the result with appropriate contacts such as the head teacher and named nominated person. We will not tell any unauthorised person (that is anyone not involved in the recording of test results) who has received a negative result. Schools and Colleges will not share negative results with other parents or pupils.

All results - both positive and negative - are shared by us with the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC). DHSC will share results with the NHS to offer advice and support. Results will also be sent to your GP so they can support you. If you have tested positive, a notification will be sent to Public Health England to enable them to contact people who have been in close contact with your child.

No. We will not tell anyone that is not directly involved with administrating the test who has had a test and who has not had a test, or what any of the result.

If we have to advise other parents that their child has to isolate due to another receiving a positive test, we will not identify any individual positive results and you do not have any rights to know who may have tested positive.

Yes. However, data used for research and statistical purposes by DHSC/NHS will not use any personal data that can identify your child. Aggregate level data that wil not identify individuals will be used. This is lawful under UK data protection legislation.

Your child’s details will be used to complete testing. As part of testing, details of pupils and their parents or guardians, as well as staff, may be used for:

• registering your child and recording their participation in the testing
• matching your child’s contact details with health data stored by the NHS
• communicating with you about testing
• contacting you if you are the parent or guardian of someone who is participating in the Programme
• contacting you with your child’s test results by text message/email
• contacting you relating to your child’s positive or inconclusive result to collect other medical information about your child’s health relating to COVID-19
• phoning you to gather feedback to inform improvements that could be made to a full end-to-end testing process.

We will keep the data used for testing for up to 14 days.

Your child’s information will be passed on to the DHSC who will share this information with NHS who will keep it for as long as it is required to provide your child with direct care and to support NHS initiatives to fight COVID-19.

Information held for direct care purposes are stored in line with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016. This means such information will be held for up to 8 years before it is deleted.