Weymouth secondary school will test pupils twice a week on return
Wey Valley School has sent an email to parents and carers confirming the government will have testing in place to keep staff and pupils safe
Schools in Dorset are preparing for all staff and students to return to face-to-face teaching from Monday 8th March.
The Education Secretary said that students and pupils will be tested twice a week and secondary students will have to wear masks in classrooms.
On Tuesday 23rd February head teacher of Weymouth's Wey Valley Secondary School, Rob Russell, confirmed this in an email sent to parents and carers.
"The government have confirmed that, upon return, Covid testing will be in place to keep staff, pupils and our community safe. This will enable us to act quickly if a positive case is identified, keeping the school open and everyone safe.
"We need to carefully manage the return as we will need to have a testing timetable in place for the whole pupil and staff body. With over 1000 students and staff to test twice, 3 to 5 days apart in the week beginning 8th March is a difficult task but one I am confident we can achieve.
"To enable the so many tests to take place and get the children back into school quickly and safely there will, therefore, be a short period of a phased return to school during the week beginning 8 March 2021.
"We appreciate that this is not ideal but, having carried out the testing now for a number of weeks with the limited numbers of pupils and staff currently on site, we understand the logistics of the process, including the need to maintain social distancing and support pupils with testing, hence the need to phase the return.
"Many of you, understandably, did not complete the online testing consent form back in January as we went into lockdown and your children have been learning from home. However, it is really important that we now have a response regarding consent for your child to be tested.
"To help us register pupils for the test efficiently, please can you complete the new online form as soon as possible. Testing has been carried out very successfully with staff and pupils on site to date."
Before pupils return to the school, parents will receive an email confirming how Wey Valley plans to bring students back safely and quickly.