Quarter of secondary pupils to be in school at one time

The government has released guidance on how secondary schools can prepare for some 'face to face contact' with teachers for years 10 and 12 from 15th June.

On 24 May, the Prime Minister announced that secondary schools should plan on the basis that from the week commencing 15 June, they can invite year 10 and 12 pupils (years 10 and 11 for alternative provision schools) back into school for some face-to-face support with their teachers, subject to the government’s five tests being met.

The guidance says schools should aim to practise social distancing, including keeping pupils 2 metres apart from each other where possible. It says: "This is more achievable in secondary schools than in primary schools, due to the age of the pupils."

To control the numbers attending school to reduce the risk of increasing transmission, the guidance says schools are able to have a quarter of the year 10 and year 12 cohort (for schools with sixth forms) in school at any one time.
    
The guidance says that ensuring sufficient distance between pupils is likely to mean classes are no more than half their usual size. It does say however, that this may vary due to individual school circumstances as a larger group could be taught in a larger space provided social distancing can be maintained and mixing is minimised.
    
The guidance also says that mixing between different groups of pupils should be kept to a minimum. It says "We recognise that the range of subjects taught in secondary schools means that some mixing may be unavoidable to provide pupils with face-to-face support from subject teachers. We would expect that these groups are still smaller than normal. We would also expect schools to minimise mixing for arrival, lunchtime, breaks and departure."
    
The guidance also advices some schools to use rotas. Where rotas are used, secondary schools should avoid split day rotas within the same day and ensure that only a quarter of children are ever in the school on any one day (e.g. morning and afternoon rotas should not be applied).