UPDATED 17/03/22
The UK Government’s coronavirus guidelines allow supply teachers and other temporary staff to move between schools. Thinkers in Education (TiE) presentation teams will strictly adhere to your specific safety procedures to reduce any added transmission risk of Covid-19 to an absolute minimum.
In addition, we have detailed below the changes in our Workshop Planning & Logistics, Teaching & Delivery Style and Activity Design & Resource Usage designed to minimise the added risk to your staff, students and their families when attending our Covid-Secure Workshops.
Important changes made in this update:
In response to the latest advice from the UK Government (Feb 2022), TiE teams:
• will continue to conduct Rapid Antigen Tests for each member of the team working with your establishment 12-18 hours before arrival and will send email confirmation of the result to the host.
• will await a clear Covid test result after delivering workshops in one establishment before working in another and will cancel or reschedule workshops (at no cost to the hosting establishment) should any test prove positive for Covid-19 or symptoms develop within this time.
PREVENTION
Workshop Planning & Logistics
Thinkers in Education (TiE) will follow the safety procedures required by the host establishment AND in addition:
1) TiE confirms all members of our presentation teams have been fully vaccinated, have received booster jabs and continue to regularly test for Covid-19 using Rapid Lateral Flow Tests. TiE will never knowingly send team members to your school who are suspected of having Covid-19. We will symptom check and monitor the temperature of each team member in the days leading up to the workshop.
2) To reduce the risk of transference between host establishments TiE presentation teams will continue to await a clear Covid test result conducted between workshops delivered in one establishment before working in another. TiE will conduct Rapid Antigen Tests for each member of the team working with your establishment 12-18 hours before arrival and will send email confirmation of the result to the host. TiE will cancel or reschedule workshops (at no cost to the hosting establishment) should any test prove positive for Covid-19 or symptoms develop within this time.
3) Where possible, the TiE team should work in just one location within the host establishment but we will happily discuss options to best meet your requirements. Our teams will clean frequently touched surfaces using suitable detergents wipes. Additional time may need to be allowed for extra cleaning (before and after any group changes) if more than one workshop session is delivered in the same day. This will be built into your workshop plan at the time of booking - based on your school time-table and our discussions together.
4) TiE will place additional hand sanitisers around the venue to allow participants to sanitise their hands upon entering and exiting the workshop or between practical activities as required.
5) School-day workshops are best delivered in a large enough room that is well ventilated using natural ventilation (opening windows) or ventilation units, allows students to sit facing forward in rows of standard classroom desks or exam tables if required, allows for additional distribution tables to be set up and allows for easy movement between desks by presenters. A TiE representative will happily discuss the suitability of a classroom/lab as a venue and provide a room layout map. However, we will endeavour to use the table layout or seating plans designed by your establishment where possible and use the venue facilities as instructed. If the participating group is larger than the school’s regular class-size during the pandemic, we request a larger venue (such as a hall, drama room or gym) and additional tables to use as equipment collection points to be made available. A room layout map will be provided.
6) Weekend and holiday workshops delivered in a school venue are best delivered in a large enough room that has good enough ventilation and allows participants to use separate tables (standard classroom desks or exam tables) or share large enough work surfaces to work 2 metres apart. A maximum of 36 students are permitted within the same venue. A hall or gym space is recommended. Room layout suggestions will be provided. Movement around the room will be limited during the sessions and where possible all spaces will be well ventilated using natural ventilation (opening windows) or ventilation units.
Teaching & Delivery Style
7) All team-building, group work and peer learning activities will be replaced in Thinkers in Education (TiE) workshops with Covid-Secure alternatives if the school's organising member of staff indicates this is required on the pre-workshop information form, as sent for completion in advance of the workshop. In such instances, workshop participants will not be required to work closely together in groups. Instead, every student will complete an activity individually. Their scores will contribute to a team score and to the class total. This approach helps to build a positive competitive motivation that has proved so highly successful since the launch of our workshops in 2001.
8) Methods of teaching have been adapted to minimise contact and maintain as much distance as possible between TiE presenters and members of the educational establishment hosting a workshop. Presenters will use a microphone to deliver training from the front of the room - to reduce the risk of aerosolised virus.
9) Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) will be worn by TiE presenters as required by the host establishment. Members of the TiE team will wear a multi-layered face mask when distributing equipment and when offering support to participants if required by the host establishment. Hand sanitiser will be used appropriately.
10) Students should bring their own mask to the workshop and wear it as advised by the host school/establishment. Our presentation teams will have an emergency supply of disposable face masks to give to students that have misplaced their own.
Activity Design & Use of Resources
11) Where necessary, practical activities have been replaced or redesigned to enable TiE workshops to run more safely whilst still achieving many of their original objectives. Some workshops have proved impossible to adapt safely and TiE will not deliver them whilst Covid-19 is active. The full list of Covid-Secure workshops can be viewed here.
12) All practical equipment provided by TiE will be thoroughly cleaned with recommended detergents between host establishments to limit transference from surfaces. Workshop participants are encouraged to bring and use their own stationery (as used in regular lessons) but a clean pencil will be provided.
13) Participants will be allocated a bag/envelope/tray/zone containing equipment needed in the workshop and cleaned as in point 12. However, some specialist equipment (e.g bottles of chemicals) may need to be shared within the group/bubble created by the host establishment - in which case participants will be instructed to use a medically approved 70% alcohol hand sanitiser immediately before and after using equipment. TiE staff will discuss any such activities and available options with you at the time of booking.
Host on school-days, at weekends or in the holidays