Coronavirus Information 30th March 2020

New guidance about safeguarding in schools and further education We have published new guidance for schools and further education to support them to keep children safe, including online, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-safeguarding-in-schools-colleges-and-other-providers Collection of guidance for educational settings on GOV.​UK All of the Department for Education’s coronavirus guidance for educational settings can now be found in one place on GOV.​UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-for-schools-and-other-educational-settings Our main guidance for schools, the ‘school closures guidance’, will be regularly kept up-to-date. Any new advice for schools on specific issues, such as food, exams or safeguarding, will be linked from it: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-school-closures Handwashing advice The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and whenever you return home. The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public Department for Education coronavirus helpline The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents and young people can contact this helpline as follows: Phone: 0800 046 8687 Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday) If you work in a school, please have your unique reference number (URN or UKPRN) available when calling the hotline.