Covid-19 Statement
This is an increasingly lengthy statement that has been updated many times over the last year. The gist of it is that we have been making school, home and other visits continuously since May 2020 and we've listed and explained here the evidence we've based our decisions on over that time period.
In line with the government's advice we stopped making school and home visits on 20th March 2020 and we observed the official guidance to stay at home issued during that 'lockdown' period.
This advice was substantially changed in May 2020 when the government asked a wider range of people to return to work where it was not possible to work from home, and where their work could be carried out within the new guidance about social distancing. The national restrictions announced in November 2020 and the subsequent 'tiered' approach to restrictions in different areas did not change the May guidelines from our particular perspective, although they clearly did impact on many aspects of public and private life.
The guidelines issued in January 2021 required a return to lockdown conditions but the DfE confirmed that educational psychologists are 'specialist education professionals who must remain active during the coronavirus (COVID-19) response' and we therefore continued to offer some services. The guidance is clear that you should work from home unless it is 'unreasonable for you to do your job from home'. There is also clear guidance that 'Where it is necessary for you to work in other people's homes ... you can do so.' Although these guidelines included the partial closure of schools as happened in March 2020, there are in fact fewer restrictions on work and so-called non-essential activities in these measures than in the March 2020 ones. Trainee teachers, for example, were advised to return to face to face learning, and places of worship remained open. Due to the definitions of critical workers and vulnerable children being used, some schools had more than 50% of their pupils attending every day between January and March 2021.
Therefore, whilst our work as educational psychologists falls within the category of activities that had to cease during the early stages of the March 2020 lockdown, we have been 'open' again as of Monday 18th May 2020, and have been making regular school, workplace and home visits since that time where it has been possible to carry out our work in line with our own risk assessment and policies, the policies of schools and other institutions, and the preferences of clients and families. Following the implementation of the January 2021 guidelines, the February 2021 announcement of the gradual easing of restrictions, and the reopening of schools in March 2021, we have continued to offer appointments, prioritising vulnerable children and young people.
In making these decisions we have been guided only by the sources listed below which contain general advice from the government and some specifically from the Department for Education. We are also mindful of the statement from the British Medical Association in May 2020 about the re-opening of schools at that time which pointed out that 'A zero risk approach is not possible. This is about 'safe' being an acceptable level of risk.'
Working Safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus (COVID 19) Guidance for educational settings
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Implementing protective measures in education and childcare settings
Guidance for full opening: schools
Statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on schools and childcare reopening
Guidance - Face coverings in education
Education and childcare settings: New National Restrictions from 5 November 2020
Guidance for full opening: special schools and other specialist settings (updated 26 November 2020)
National Lockdown: Stay at Home (January 2021)
Evidence summary: COVID-19 - children, young people and education settings (February 2021)
Mass testing for all secondary pupils as all schools and colleges fully reopen from 8 March
These documents advise that it is still safe for children to go to school, even recognising that younger pupils will not naturally observe social distancing. They also make it clear that schools should seek advice from a range of outside agency service providers.
The guidance clarifies that work that requires visits to people's homes can take place, provided all advice about good hygiene and appropriate distancing is observed. It also recognises that some work needs to be carried out with adults and with children that cannot observe the social distancing rules, and that this is safe and acceptable if kept to a minimum and done in conjunction with the recommended hygiene measures.
The government guidance has been consistently clear that, unless they are involved in intimate care or medical procedures, there is no need for education staff or visitors to schools to wear PPE in classrooms and individual interactions with pupils beyond what is normally worn as part of their role, even if 2 metre social distancing cannot be maintained, provided other hygiene measures such as hand cleaning and good ventilation are in place. From September 2020 school leaders were given some discretion to make their own arrangements in this area, which resulted in a range of different approaches and we have respected all those decisions. Where it has been required, in schools and colleges we have been wearing face coverings in reception areas and common passageways and in meetings with staff and parents.
From February 2021 this general advice about face coverings was changed for a temporary, fixed period to allow the full reopening of schools from 8th March 2021 during which time use of face coverings by staff and pupils increased in some schools. The government's advice on the safe use of face coverings and masks is understandably detailed and thorough, and this advice has been consistently clear that wearing face coverings in a manner that helps to prevent the spread of infection requires hands to be cleaned before and after touching them, including putting them on and taking them off; replacing a face covering once it has become damp through ordinary use; and safe storage of face coverings between uses in a sealable plastic bag. There is also government advice that points out that clear plastic visors, which are used in some settings in which adults wish the whole of their face to be seen, are 'unlikely to be effective in preventing aerosol transmission' of a coronavirus.
In practice, although individual work with pupils in schools has continued, many of our discussions with parents and carers have been, and continue to be, conducted online or by telephone in order to reduce the number of visitors to school premises. We are of course also complying with all the additional 'track and trace' requirements in place in schools and other organisations that we visit. We are having our temperature checked in some schools and we are completing questionnaires about our own and our families' health and recent travel in others. A small number of schools request that visitors use lateral flow tests.
We have carried out a risk assessment in line with the advice provided by the government. Our work as educational psychologists requires no physical contact with children, young people or adults, and the work we do with them individually in the majority of cases does not require the use of materials or resources that have to be touched and then shared with others. With very young children, typically those aged 5 years and below, we use toys and other practical materials that can safely be washed after each use. Our individual work with children and adults can be carried out in the 'side by side' manner recommended in the guidance (i.e. not directly 'face to face') and we would ordinarily expect to be at least one metre away from all the children and adults we work with.
As an ordinary part of our practice we are continuing to follow the advice about frequent and thorough hand washing and about avoiding contact with others who show symptoms of Covid-19, in addition to closely monitoring our own health.
We are not wearing face coverings of any kind for psychological assessment work with individual children and adults. Amongst other considerations, in making this decision we have been mindful of the guidance Face coverings in education and Mass testing for all secondary pupils referenced above, which state that face coverings can have a 'negative impact on communication ... learning and teaching ... (and) should be avoided' and that even during the fixed period of more stringent regulations for the March 2021 full reopening of schools, face coverings should not have been worn by teachers if a face covering would prevent children from learning.
Following the first period of full reopening of schools in September 2020 it became clear that fear of the virus is a distinct and significant problem in its own right, one that is only modestly related to the risk that Covid-19 poses, and a problem that has been exacerbated in the intervening months. Many young people with pre-existing mental health and communication difficulties are now more anxious and distressed, and children who had previously had no particular reason to be concerned felt the need to ask trusted adults if their parents are going to die. We therefore believe that a Covid-19 policy for professionals supporting schools and families should include a commitment to act in ways that help to reduce children's fear and anxiety in addition to supporting measures to help stop the spread of the virus itself.
If you have any questions about this please do contact us and we will be very happy to clarify and discuss in more detail.
Updated 18th May 2021
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