A headteachers’ leader has warned that schools have been “left in the dark” about a major change in the government’s response to the Covid crisis.
It was revealed yesterday that contacts of all Covid cases - both Omicron and other variants - will be asked to take seven days of lateral flow tests rather than being asked to self isolate.
This will apply to people who have had two doses of a Covid vaccination or children aged between five and 18.
But headteachers’ leaders have questioned what this change will mean for schools and whether young pupils will be expected to take lateral flow tests.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said: ”We are getting calls today from school leaders unsure about what the latest government guidance around Omicron and self-isolation and lateral flow tests means for schools.
“It is completely unacceptable for the government to make major changes to Covid policy but then leave school leaders in the dark about what it means for their pupils and staff.
“School leaders opening their gates this morning have not had the luxury of time - this is playing out in schools now and they need clear answers.”
Mr Whiteman also raised concerns that headteachers have been unable to get answers from the Department for Education’s helpline on how to deal with Omicron cases.
He said: “Whilst we appreciate this is a rapidly moving situation, surely it is not too much to ask that the government is ready to back-up major announcements with the appropriate level of detail so school leaders know what they need to do.”
Headteacher Sarah Jones posted on Twitter yesterday revealing that she had been unable to get clarity on how to respond to an Omicron case despite repeated calls to the DfE and public health officials.
‘Rushed’
Meanwhile, Geoff Barton, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said announcing that children as young as five should take daily lateral flow tests seemed ”a bit rushed and not particularly well thought out”.
He said: ”Asking children who are close contacts to carry out daily tests does raise questions. The first is how they will be identified in the first place.
“The second is the fact that this includes daily testing of children as young as five. This is not an easy thing for parents to manage and may well prove to be hit and miss.”
Previously, pupils identified as close contacts were asked to take a PCR test but were not expected to self-isolate if they were below the age of 18 or were double vaccinated.
But once Omicron emerged, all contacts of suspected cases of the new variant were told to self-isolate for 10 days.
Now, all Covid contacts are being recommended to take a lateral flow test for seven days.
Contact tracing
The changes come amid controversy over the extent that Covid contact tracing has actually happened inside schools this term.
At the end of the last academic year, schools were told that heads would no longer need to identify Covid contacts as this role was passing to NHS Test and Trace.
However, ASCL has raised concerns over the extent that any school-based contacts are being identified.
And the government was unable to say how many contacts of Covid cases had been identified and traced inside schools when asked by Tes.
Alert level 4
The government’s advice for Covid contacts to take a week of lateral flow tests comes as the country’s alert level moved up following advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
A further 1,239 confirmed cases of the Omicron mutation were recorded in the UK as of Sunday.
The Covid alert level is now at four, meaning there is a high or rising level of transmission of the coronavirus.
This is up from level three, which means the virus is in general circulation.
The last time the UK was at this level was between late February and May this year.
However, school bubbles were in place until 19 July, when the government eased restrictions just before schools broke up for the summer holidays.
A DfE spokesperson said a bulletin would be going out to schools with information on the daily contact testing measures.
