Part of our planning to re-open had to include how we will manage any potential or actual outbreaks of Coronavirus in our school.
The Government guidance talks about social distancing, co-operation with agencies such as the National Institute for Health Protection (replacing Public Health England), the Local Authority and the Test and Trace process.
As in school, it is vital that we all work together to protect pupils, staff, parents and everyone who comes onto our premises.
The Government has said we must follow NHS Test and Trace guidance. We will do so, but we are also mindful of protecting data about all individuals.
If anyone in our school tests positive for Coronavirus, we have safety measures in place, and you will be aware that, in some cases, it may be necessary for groups of people to be sent home, and requests that they go for testing.
If there are multiple cases, this will be reported as an incident and the National Institute for Health Protection, the Local Authority and other agencies will support the school community.
It may be necessary for us to share very basic contact information, names and contact details, for effective test and trace procedures to be put in place. This information will be kept to a minimum, and only released to manage the test and trace process. The guidance is clear that we must be vigilant to protect personal data. We will also keep a record of who we shared information with, and why we felt it appropriate or necessary to do so.
Of course, we hope this will not be necessary. However, we have a public duty to protect pupils, staff and our whole school community.
The privacy notice about test and trace is available in our GDPR section on the school website. Click here to view it. We sincerely hope it will never be necessary.
