Three weeks into September, the sector has achieved wonders. The phenomenal work of leaders, teachers and families has enabled our children to resume learning alongside their friends. Classrooms may be configured differently from their pre-Covid normal, but the aspiration to provide children with a great education is undiminished.

Inevitably there has been disruption. For some children and staff, a fortnight’s self-isolation began soon after school doors opened. This is the reality of a life that is not hermetically sealed. 

Ten days spent away from school, unable to leave home, is a long time: it equates to five per cent of the child’s academic year. For some children, particularly those in disadvantaged communities where coronavirus is more prevalent, multiple spells of self-isolation will have devastating consequences. Sophisticated as a school’s online platform may be, it cannot replace learning in a physical classroom.

Reopening has demanded teamwork. Remaining open, as positive cases proliferate on a menacing upward curve, requires a concerted system-wide response.

Coronavirus: Prioritise staff in schools for testing

Many teachers and support personnel who are exhibiting Covid-19 symptoms are currently waiting an inordinate time, or being directed to travel an unreasonable distance, to get a test. 

Until they know their result, they cannot resume work on-site. Their classes suffer and there is uncertainty as to whether their close contacts will need to take action, too. Meanwhile, transmission continues inexorably. 

It is essential that plans to prioritise staff in schools for testing are implemented urgently, if we are to have any chance of helping pupils to catch up on missed learning.

Reduce pupils’ contacts

School leaders have taken wide-ranging measures to ensure that their premises are Covid-secure. The “bubble group” system should enable swift and effective contact tracing, but there have already been numerous cases of entire year groups of secondary students being sent home as the result of a single positive case. 

The safety of all members of the school community is paramount, but this should not mean disrupting education unnecessarily for large numbers of pupils, simply because one member has Covid.

So how can we be more precise in identifying the pupils who need to go home?

The answer is to restrict the number of contacts any child has in school. Many schools have adopted a “home base” approach, which minimises the movement of children around the building. Seating plans need to be held centrally by leaders for easy review. 

If pupils keep a note in their planners of which friends they have spent break or lunch with, the list of contacts becomes far more precise. In this way, if a school needs to provide information to their local authority or the Department for Education, they are well equipped to do so and can act swiftly on the advice they receive.

The system only works if it is followed by everyone. The pressure of continually checking that rules are being followed is exhausting but vital. Leaders’ visible presence around corridors and classrooms has to be constant. This level of micromanagement may sound oppressive, but it is essential if we are to avoid the exodus of pupils during the autumn term.

Ensure staff stick to the rule of six

While adults’ personal lives are their own, it is essential that they stick to the rule of six, and any local lockdown measures. Exercising continual caution avoids staff unwittingly introducing Covid-19 into the workplace. 

Remind parents how much they value teachers

During lockdown, many parents told us how much they valued their children’s teachers and trusted the judgement of headteachers about safety measures. Now that schools have reopened, they need to show this positivity again, and be patient with schools as they implement taxing new routines. 

Precious time is being wasted by a small minority of parents who subscribe to conspiracy theories peddled on social media and want to debate them with schools. Some are unwilling for schools to follow the test and trace process, which they regard as an infringement of liberty.

Teachers remind pupils of distancing and hygiene requirements continually during the day. If these messages are to have any power, they must be reinforced at home, too.

Encourage pupils to be socially responsible

To an extent, teachers can control the movement of pupils and maintain an element of social distancing in secondary school. They cannot direct interactions beyond the gates. 

Instilling self-esteem and influencing young people to become socially responsible citizens is a key element of schools’ curricula. Asking teenagers to manage their own contacts and avoid congregation is about mutual care, not draconian discipline.

While we would prefer that pre-Covid freedoms could be restored, it is apparent that we will be living with restrictions for the foreseeable future. 

In these challenging times, teamwork is indispensable. Putting barriers in the way of implementing a robust responsive contact tracing system risks spreading the virus and also infecting others with fear and suspicion. It risks creating chasms in learning for disadvantaged children so wide that they become untraversable.

Hamid Patel CBE is chief executive of Star Academies