I really hope that the February break does provide an opportunity for some downtime during next week. The first half-term has been extremely pressured for all of you and, as we await the government’s roadmap for the return to school for all pupils, I am sure there are further anxieties as to what this will look like.

Whilst not being able to predict what the government will decide, there are a few areas which, in a meeting with the DfE this week, I know are being considered and discussed. These principles, although not confirmed, could likely shape the return. These are:

• the return could be regional depending on local transmission rates but the DfE will be avoiding the situation which we saw at the end of last term where schools in some localities within a local authority were asked to act differently to those in other localities;
• if the return is to be phased, the government will state the priority groups to come back first as they did last summer, although the priority year groups may not be as they were last June. There is a strong steer that they are not considering local flexibilities in this;
• there is no current desire around part-time or rota systems for children but we are aware that national discussions are taking place on how to manage all children in that return whilst still ensuring safety;
• the testing of secondary school and FE students using the lateral flow tests is likely to feature prominently.

There is significant lobbying of the need to build confidence in schools through the vaccination of school-based staff to give confidence to parents and staff. However, this is not a decision that can be taken by the DfE unilaterally. We will have to wait and see the roadmap. However, the DfE is also mindful that any phasing of the return from 8 March does not leave too long before students will be heading for the Easter break.    

I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone in West Sussex for the significant work and effort given to ensuring our children are supported through this crisis and, again, for the way you and colleagues have embraced the need to ensure our most vulnerable and those needing access to face to face tuition have been able to do so. Again, attendance across the county’s schools has been above the national and regional average across this half term with significant success in meeting the needs of our disadvantaged and the children of critical workers.

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