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Local lockdown guidance: Schools urged to set 'realistic expectations'

Legislation and guidance Whole-school issues Coronavirus
Schools getting to grips with the last-minute government guidance on managing education during local lockdowns have been urged to focus on the “art of the possible” and to maintain “realistic expectations”.


School leaders were left frustrated when the Department for Education (DfE) published updates to its so-called CONTAIN guidance just days before the new term was due to begin.

The update – published late on Friday night (August 28) – introduced the concept of four tiers of response to local Covid-19 outbreaks (DfE, 2020a). It would have meant many schools having to quickly update and revise their planning.

While welcoming the guidance itself, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) was not happy about the timing. In a statement published hot on the heels of the guidance itself, at 9:23pm on Friday, Geoff Barton, the union’s general secretary, said: “To wait until the Friday night before most schools return isn’t the government’s finest moment.

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