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Chapter 2 Schools

Overview

2.1 This chapter is for local authorities and state sector schools as well as independent school proprietors, governors of grant-aided schools and all head teachers.

2.2 The Scottish Executive recommends that all schools (including independent and grant-aided schools) work closely with their local authority to:

A. now: put in place outline plans for a pandemic:

B. now: respond promptly to any request from the local authority for up-to-date contact details for the school, so that they are able to receive information from the local authority reliably and quickly;

C. between now and when a pandemic is imminent (World Health Organization ( WHO) Phase 4 [see explanation in Ch 1]); take note of any new guidance, review plans regularly, ensure contact lists are kept up to date;

D. when a pandemic is imminent (at WHO Phase 4, and, if time permits, at Phase 5): check, refine and prepare to activate these plans;

E. during a pandemic: if there is national advice to close schools, on medical and child welfare grounds, to continue to provide some form of education by remote methods for the duration of the closure, to the extent that this is reasonable given local circumstances;

F. during a pandemic: if there is no national advice to close schools on medical and child welfare grounds, remain open as long as sufficient staff are available, provide as near to normal classes and curriculum as resources permit; also to follow advice to minimise the spread of infection among pupils and staff, and seek health protection advice as and when appropriate; local authorities will manage any necessary temporary transfer of staff to other establishments or services;

G. after the first few weeks of the pandemic: if schools have closed to pupils, be prepared to respond to advice from national and local health professionals, which might be to re-open some or all schools

2.3 The Scottish Executive recommends that all those responsible for the management and delivery of school education ensure they are clear about their roles and responsibilities (which are summarised in the table below):

2.4 The following sections set out roles and responsibilities in more detail. They set out action to be taken now and during a pandemic. Much of the action to be taken now would come under the general heading of planning. It is vital that the plans you develop now are reviewed, and revised if necessary, regularly - at least once a year, perhaps twice, and whenever we issue any substantive changes to this guidance.

2.5 The Executive will inform you, on our website and through SCGs and local authorities, when WHO Phase 4 is reached, and again at Phase 5. These announcements should prompt you to revise plans and be ready to put them into action. You should not leave this until the last minute as there may be little time between reaching Phase 5 and the pandemic reaching the UK. It will be for you to decide which activities to prioritise at this stage, but in most cases we would advise a final check of contact details and reminding staff of procedures to be followed.

2A Role of local authorities and independent or grant-aided schools

What you should do now

2.6 This section is for all local authorities, proprietors of independent schools and governors of grant-aided schools. However, the guidance is drafted from the perspective of local authorities as we anticipate that they will undertake planning collaboratively with their schools. The principles however apply to all schools and those responsible for their management. See also specific guidance below for special schools and boarding schools.

2.7 The Scottish Executive strongly recommends that you should:

A. Familiarise yourself with:-

a. overall UK Government advice on pandemic flu planning, and the current World Health Organization ( WHO) phase of alert - at the time of writing, alert phase 3 (see UK/ WHO details in Annex A);
b. if you are a non-local authority establishment, check whether and how your local authority will, in a pandemic, communicate messages from the SCG to, and collect information from, your school(s) (as recommended, below);

B. Have an overall Pandemic Influenza Business Continuity Plan, prepared in partnership with your local authority Emergency Planning Committee and the SCG; and share this with schools to ensure that they understand your arrangements and how they make their planning complementary. Early and sustained involvement of unions and professional associations is recommended.

C. Continue or revive your regular action to:-

a. ensure that school staff are aware of general advice for young people, and general guidance on infection control (see Annex A);
b. make plans jointly with your school(s) to ensure that they are suitably equipped with materials needed to implement infection control measures ( e.g. tissues and tissue-disposal; hot water and soap); such materials could also be used to prevent the spread of other infections;
c. ensure head teachers are familiar with your (established or modified) criteria for judging when falling staff levels and/or unavailability of key staff or services may require a school to close to pupils because of inability to keep the school operational on safety or other grounds; the school would remain open for staff to continue to work if they are well and not caring for a sick relative, but you should also put in place options for remote working where appropriate);
d. remind head teachers of your policies for staff taking time off short-term to care for a sick member of their family, and of staff rights to time off for dependants;
e. ask schools to ensure that they have accurate records of contact names addresses and phone numbers (including mobile numbers and e-mail addresses where possible) for pupils and staff;
f. review any plan you already have in place, or put one in place, for supporting a school when a member of staff or pupil has died;

D. Take new action to:-

a. encourage head teachers of your school(s) to study the guidance at 2B below and act on it, involving unions and professional associations. Check briefly (no need to go into detail) that they have done so;
b. consult schools and the local media about the best channels of communication with parents in a pandemic, agreeing the respective roles and responsibilities of the local authority and schools;
c. be proactive in providing to staff, or helping staff to access, information relevant to their own health in a pandemic. Make available, and advise staff to read, published NHS information;
d. take all reasonable steps to ensure positive encouragement to staff who are ill or think they are ill during a pandemic, not to come into work. Check your human resources policies: review them if needed, to achieve this;
e. agree a communications strategy with your head teachers - who will inform parents and brief School Boards, Parent Teachers Associations and other parents' organisations?;
f. when infection control guidance for schools has been issued (currently planned for summer 2006), ask schools to read and take action on it, including any liaison with contractors or managers of cleaning services, ensuring that they have sufficient cleaning materials and equipment;

E. Local authorities should take a lead, seeking early input from head teachers and unions and professional associations, on how to address the following issues if schools remain open during a pandemic:

a. cover arrangements if head and/or deputy are ill during the pandemic;
b. supply cover for absent staff;
c. whether staff are willing and able to take on a different role during the pandemic;
d. regrouping pupils if teachers are absent;
e. desirability/practicality of sharing staff between schools;
f. options for using unqualified parents/volunteers (and ensuring appropriate checks) to supervise children in the absence of qualified staff;
g. continuity of school meals and school transport services.

Remote Learning

2.8 Local authorities have a power to provide education other than at a school, for pupils unable to attend school "by reason of extraordinary circumstances". Therefore, while it might well not be possible to provide the usual full service, local authorities will wish to provide a reasonable level of education for all children in their area if pupils are unable to attend schools due to school premises being closed to pupils during term time. This presents practical challenges. One way to meet this challenge may be for all teachers to continue to provide support remotely for pupils working from home. We therefore recommend that local authorities make preliminary plans now, and more detailed preparations when we issue more detailed advice, and that they discuss with independent and grant-aided schools the extent to which those schools will be able to fulfil this commitment to their respective pupils. We envisage that these plans will include on-line material such as the ' BBCJAM', available free on-line from September, where pupils have internet access. Working with key agencies as appropriate we will explore the scope to provide more curricular support at a national level in the event of school closures, and will provide further advice in due course.

Local authority role in closure and re-opening of schools

2.9 The Scottish Executive may advise that schools in affected areas should close to pupils on medical and child welfare grounds, to reduce the spread of infection among children. The local authority, acting on national and local public health advice, would inform all schools in its area when their area is affected; the media are also likely to publicise this information, which would also appear on the Executive's website. In this context, 'closure' means closure to pupils; staff who are not ill would still be expected to come to work. Agreed arrangements whereby staff may be temporarily transferred to other schools or services to aid or maintain operational capacity should also be considered.

2.10 If all schools in an area close during a pandemic, the situation would be reviewed by the SCG after a period of time, (probably 2-3 weeks, but this would be made clear in the national advice to close), and the local authority would inform schools of any action to be taken. It is possible that medical advice might then be to make some provision available (possibly only for pupils who have had pandemic flu and recovered). Alternatively, medical advice may be to remain closed, in which case local authorities and schools would be told when the situation would next be reviewed.

2.11 We are undertaking further work on the criteria for advising schools to re-open and on the mechanics of local timing. When schools in an area can re-open, local authorities would be informed (as per the procedures in paras 1.21 - 1.23) and would inform schools. Any conditions to be attached to re-opening, or any specific measures to be taken would be communicated at that time.

What you should do during a pandemic

2.12 Put into practice the plans developed previously, involving unions and professional associations. If your school(s) remain(s) open during a pandemic, your top priority will be to check that infection control is practised consistently and rigorously throughout the school(s). You should also keep up to date with advice from the UK Government and the Scottish Executive on any other social measures proposed, which is likely to be announced in the national media as well as through the emergency planning department of the local authority.

2.13 The most important decisions relate to whether and when to close your school(s), and when to re-open if you do. It is vital that it is clear to all parties who will make decisions on this: whether the power to decide has been delegated to the head teacher. A decision to close a school to pupils may be based on two main reasons:

A. Even if there has been no national advice that schools should close, it may be necessary to do so because staff absences make it impossible to operate safely;

B. The Scottish Executive may issue general advice Scotland-wide via SCG's and local authorities to schools that closure is advisable when pandemic flu reaches an area. If this happens, the local authority, on national and local medical advice, would advise when an area is affected, and schools should close (see paras 1.21 - 1.23 for communications channels). We recommend that the local authority should convey that advice to the head teachers of all schools within the area, not just local authority schools.

2.14 If a school is closed to pupils on medical and child welfare grounds, it would remain open for staff. You should have appropriate plans in place to allow staff to be redeployed temporarily (for example to schools where there is a high absence rate among teachers, or a shortage of janitors). Also, as part of their responsibility for the welfare of staff who are ill and their colleagues who are well, employers should take all reasonable steps to ensure that employees who are ill are positively encouraged not to come into work, whether the school is open or closed to pupils.

2.15 If we advise schools to close to pupils on medical and child welfare grounds, schools should close not only for compulsory education, but also for extended activities for children, including childcare, in order to reduce the spread of infection.

2.16 Put arrangements in place to be able to contact the head teacher of each of school on any working day during the pandemic, or a suitable deputy if the head teacher is ill.

2.17 During the pandemic you should provide support to staff who are sick or bereaved, and deal sympathetically with requests for leave to care for sick dependents. Ensure that health and safety responsibilities to staff continue to be fully discharged.

2.18 If schools are likely to be closed for longer than two weeks of school time, local authorities should work with schools to implement plans to provide education for children at home (see para 2.8 above). If closure was because of medical and child welfare advice from the Executive, the local authority would be expected to have indicated whether closure was likely to be for more than 2 weeks when it informed schools that the pandemic had reached the area.

2B Advice to Head Teachers

What you should do now

2.19 Much advance planning for a flu pandemic is likely to take place at local authority/proprietor/governor level. They should contact you about preparations, particularly on:

A. Closure / re-opening: who would inform your school that any national advice to close now applies in your area, and when it no longer applies and so you should re-open to all pupils;

B. Communicating on closures / re-opening to parents (and School Boards, PTAs etc) and pupils;

C. Infection control and maintaining your school's cleaning arrangements;

D. Preparing emergency plans and promoting the key messages to staff, involving unions and professional associations;

E. Arrangements for supporting those who need time off to care for dependents;

F. Support for any staff or pupils who are bereaved;

G. Your role in providing continuing education at home if schools are closed for extended periods.

2.20 You should ensure that your local authority / proprietor/governor has made arrangements for deciding whether and when to close your school (in response to national advice communicated via the SCG and local authority or because of staff absence): you need to be clear whether that power or authority has been delegated to you.

2.21 You should develop plans, taking account of local guidance to head teachers, for:

A. Emergency arrangements (to care for children or send them home) if in a pandemic the school was to close to children in the middle of the day - though such closure would be unusual;

B. Ensuring back-up arrangements for janitors/ key holders, bearing in mind requirements of insurance cover, and health and safety of staff and pupils;

C. Heating of buildings if janitor absent;

D. Maintaining health and safety and hygiene arrangements to a high standard e.g. cleaning toilets and prompt disposal of waste, at a time when improved hygiene is important;

E. Continuity of school meals provision / advising parents of alternatives;

F. Arrangements for rapid access to medical help for use when a pupil suddenly becomes very ill. Remind yourself of the Scottish Executive's guidance on the administration of medicines in schools (see Annex A).

G. Plan where, if the school is open during a pandemic, you would isolate an ill pupil if their parent cannot immediately collect them;

H. Managing any significant new risks to safety arising from staff undertaking unfamiliar tasks, including meeting the needs of more challenging pupils.

What you should do in a pandemic

2.22 You should put into practice plans prepared earlier with your local authority / proprietor / governor and all staff, involving unions and professional associations. They will receive information on whether the Executive nationally has advised that schools should close when the pandemic reaches their area, and information (from the local authority) on whether that now applies to your school.

2.23 If schools remain open, you should activate contingency plans for dealing with likely staff absence. In these circumstances, it is important that you give very high priority to rigorous infection control measures, and ask parents to collect and take home any pupil who becomes ill - though you may need arrangements to look after such children until a parent can collect them.

2.24 If schools close to all pupils on the basis of national guidance, attendance registers should show that the school was closed and pupils should not be marked as absent. The sessions affected should not be included in the number of available sessions when compiling attendance data returns.

2.25 If your school closes temporarily because of staff absences, you should ensure you have contact details that will enable you to tell parents when you are able to re-open.

2.26 If schools close for an extended period for medical and child welfare reasons, you should work with your local authority to put into effect their plans to provide a reasonable level of education for children at home (see para 2.8 above). Your local authority will contact you when they receive advice to re-open.

2C Boarding schools and secondary schools with hostels

Advice to Boarding Schools

2.27 In past flu pandemics infection rates in closed communities such as boarding schools have been significantly higher than attack rates in the general community. We also recognise that boarding schools face logistical tasks additional to those in day-schools, in the event of school closures. We urge boarding schools to put in place contingency plans for closure including dispersal of pupils, and to revise these urgently when a pandemic is imminent. Boarding schools should consider to what extent they can supply an education service remotely (see para 2.8)

2.28 Such schools should strongly advise all families of their pupils who are based outside the UK to put in place a guardianship arrangement for use in the event that their child is unable to return home in a pandemic which might involve the closure of boarding schools. Where a pupil from an overseas family has no guardianship arrangement in the UK, the school should, at the start of WHO alert phase 4 (see Ch 1), ask the parents whether they wish immediately to repatriate the pupil. Any pupil remaining in the UK into phase 4 would risk being unable to travel overseas at phase 5 or phase 6, due to possible disruption of international travel.

2.29 If a pandemic were to arrive in an area during term-time, and if a school closed following national advice, some pupils may be unable to travel home and may not have guardianship arrangements in place. In these circumstances the school should continue to accommodate those pupils, and should split them into small groups to limit social mixing.

2.30 If a pandemic starts during a school holiday and schools do not re-open because of national advice to close, pupils should remain with their families. If a holiday period starts during a pandemic, schools might require guardians to take care of any pupil unable to return home.

2.31 Infection control guidance for boarding schools will be published on the same web pages as this guidance, in summer 2006.

2.32 Independent boarding schools may wish to check whether their insurance cover (or their contractual agreements with parents) includes the refund of fees if pupils have to return home or to guardians. Schools' ability to provide some remote learning (see para 2.8) may be a factor in this.

2D Special schools

2.33 Special schools cater for pupils with a wide range of differing needs. In general, we expect special schools to follow guidance for other day schools or boarding schools. However, we recognise that a small number of children with complex needs, including medical needs, some of whom would be in residential schools (in some cases for 50-52 weeks pa), could not easily be cared for in a different setting. It may therefore be in the interest of those pupils for their school to remain open even if other schools were advised to close during a pandemic. We advise special schools to consult social and healthcare professionals and to continue to care for this group of pupils, while taking infection control measures, if the local authority and head teacher decide exceptionally that is in the pupils' best interest. In the case of children who usually receive health, therapeutic or similar services in their school, local authorities should consider with their partners options for providing access to these services in the event of school closures.

2.34 The families of other pupils with special needs, particularly with very challenging behaviour or behavioural, emotional and social difficulties ( BESD), could be unable to cope if the pupil were unable to attend school. This could result in children entering the care system at a time when it would be strained by staff absences. Special schools accommodating these pupils should work with social services to identify any children at risk of going into local authority care, and continue to provide education and care to this small group, limiting social mixing so as to reduce the risk of infection. The local authority, head teacher and social care professionals should decide jointly whether it is in the best interest of the child for the school to continue educating this group.

2E School examinations and future guidance

School Examinations

2.35 The Scottish Executive is working with the SQA and others to ensure that they have contingency arrangements in place ready to be implemented if and when required, particularly if the timing of a pandemic would affect public examinations. They will publish separate guidance on those arrangements, and a link to that guidance will be added to this website.

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