Melton schools adapt to need for regular Covid testing

Secondary schools in Melton have been transformed into mini health centres this term to enable students and staff members to undergo testing for coronavirus.
Some of the team members who are carrying Covid testing of students and staff at John Ferneley College in Melton EMN-210120-121250001Some of the team members who are carrying Covid testing of students and staff at John Ferneley College in Melton EMN-210120-121250001
Some of the team members who are carrying Covid testing of students and staff at John Ferneley College in Melton EMN-210120-121250001

Long Field Academy has carried out around 1,000 tests over the last three weeks.

And John Ferneley College has conducted dozens of tests since it began last week.

The schools are only testing students who are in school - those considered vulnerable or who have a parent in a designated keyworker job - as well as staff members.

A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121757001A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121757001
A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121757001

They are using lateral flow test kits, which are used on people not displaying symptoms of Covid and which can return a result in as little as 30 minutes.

Long Field set up its testing centre, with a number of socially distanced booths, over the Christmas holidays and began testing staff on their first day back.

Principal Chris Haggett told the Melton Times: “The set up was a challenge as there are strict guidelines for the room which are the same for those followed in hospitals.

“Fortunately, a number of our parents are trained nurses and they helped set us up and checked our risk assessment to ensure everything was as it should be.

A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121745001A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121745001
A member of the Covid testing team at Long Field Academy in Melton EMN-210120-121745001

“We are now in the third week of testing and have done just under 1,000 tests since we started.

“The centre is now run by three members of staff supported by parents.

“It is a great resource just to add another level of safety for the school during the pandemic.”

Mr Haggett praised the teamwork at the school for the way staff have adapted to the challenge of the coronavirus, while still delivering remote learning lessons to students who are confined to the home during the current lockdown.

Long Field staff are also catering for more students than the previous lockdown because guidelines have changed to allow more youngsters to be classed as vulnerable and only one parent needing to be a keyworker when before it was both.

There are now 113 students in school compared to only about 20 in the previous lockdown.

The testing will continue until the government reviews the present restrictions on society in the middle of next month.

Anyone who has any kind of coronavirus symptoms is sent for a PCR test instead of entering the testing centre as the lateral flow test is purely for people without symptoms who may be infectious.

Testing is currently taking place in secondary schools only, but Mr Haggett added: “We are in the process now of training up some of our primary schools to carry out the testing successfully.”

John Ferneley College has set aside its auditorium for its testing programme.

The school currently has up to 80 students present each day, which, again, is considerably more than during the previous lockdown.

They have all been tested, along with staff, and no positives have thus far been recorded.

Camilla Bradley, who is overseeing the Covid testing at the school, told the Melton Times: “We have had the test centre in place since last Monday and we are testing the staff on site once a week, in line with government guidance.

“We have between 50 and 80 students in school every day and that varies daily.

“The pupils have reacted really well to the testing and it’s been a great team effort to carry it out.

“Full training has been given to our testers and they take a swab of mouth and nose.

“I’ve got staff members, support staff and 25 community volunteers helping with the testing.”

The school community at John Ferneley College was praised by Ms Bradley for the way they’ve coped with the testing demands.

She added: “I’m extremely proud of the team, how they’ve taken on the training and how they’ve dealt with it all.”

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