Full Reopening of Schools - Key Legal and Practical Points

Following the release of the Department for Education guidance on the planned return to school of all pupils from 8 March, this one hour webinar will focus on the legal and practical implications for schools, their pupils and employees including:

• Implementing Covid testing and enhanced control measures for pupils and staff
• Staffing issues
• Curriculum provision including the future of remote learning

The webinar will provide an overview of the guidance followed by a live question and answer session.

The full guidance can be viewed here.

By way of clarification on the question of consent for testing, and in particular where a 16 year old (or older) has stated they wish to have the test but the parents are declining consent, you may rely on the young person’s decision as valid consent provided you are satisfied that they have mental capacity to do so. That said, if you are faced with a difference of opinion between parents and young person, to the extent that you are able to do so, taking into account obligations under GDPR, it would be sensible to try and obtain a consensus to avoid having to deal with possible complaints.

The Schools Week article referred to during the seminar appeared to indicate on one reading that home testing kits would not be provided to pupil’s by their education setting. It appears that they will still be provided by the education setting to pupils but not to pupil’s families who will have to obtain them from local test centres or their own employer.