Rugeley school taking part in new Covid test pilot to keep pupils safe and in education

It is the second time The Hart School, in Rugeley, has been selected to play a role in the fight against the virus – and to help keep pupils safe and in the classroom during the pandemic.

In December it took part in the national pilot for lateral flow tests, ahead of it being rolled out across the country, and now it has now been chosen by the Department of Health and Social Care to play a part in the pilot for a new daily contact tracing scheme.

The scheme will compare the relative merits of keeping close contacts of positive Covid-19 cases in school and testing them daily, opposed to self-isolation at home – and will inform the Government’s ongoing strategy when a positive case of the virus, including of the Delta variant, is reported in a school setting.

Principal Rachael Sandham, who headed up the school’s campaign to raise funds to make and supply 26,000 PPE face visors to frontline staff across the UK at the start of the pandemic, said: “The safety of our community is paramount.

“We are proud to have been selected again by the Government to be part of finding a solution to fighting Covid in schools.

“Ultimately, the findings of this research should help us to keep more students in school for longer when a positive case occurs in our school community.

“As ever, we are very grateful and proud of the support of our students, parents, carers, staff and other stakeholders in our efforts to meet the challenges of Covid-19 in school.”

The Hart School will be the control group for the scheme so staff and students who are identified as close contacts of a positive test result will continue to be required to self-isolate for 10 days, in line with the current Government guidance.

Self-isolating close contacts will be provided with two PCR tests to be sent on to the Government’s research facility at Porton Down for analysis.  This analysis will look at particular variants and how they be being spread within communities.