Fair Ways Education begin COVID-19 testing

Fair Ways Education are proud to have begun testing staff and students for COVID-19, in line with government guidance.

All Fair Ways school sites have completed the necessary training, set up test sites and have been supporting staff and students to complete the tests.

In the first three week period back at school in 2021, a total of 276 lateral flow tests were completed (between 5th-25th January). In this time, 229 staff and 47 student tests were successfully completed, with only one positive result.

Who is being tested and why?

Testing is important because staff and students without symptoms could be carrying the virus and may spread it to others. Testing staff and students without symptoms will support schools to operate as safely as possible.

New, simple and quick tests known as Lateral Flow Device (LFD) tests, enable us to rapidly test students and staff without the need for a laboratory. Schools have been provided with these tests to conduct testing in-house and make it more accessible.

Note: Any students or staff with symptoms should not attend school and should immediately self-isolate in line with the current public health guidance.

I am really proud of our two schools in setting up testing to allow us to adapt to these new changes in such a short period of time. This is an agile situation, but am happy to see Fair Ways and GLADE school continue to provide great levels of support and education to our young people. The testing system has meant we have been able to offer reassurance to all staff, parents and young people so we can stay open throughout.

Laura Rowe, Deputy Director of Education