Implementation of COVID-19 Preventive Measures in Primary and Secondary Schools Following Reopening of Schools in Autumn 2020; A Cross-Sectional Study of Parents’ and Teachers’ Experiences in England
Authors: Amin-Chowdhury Zahin , Bertran Marta , Kall Meaghan , Ireland Georgina , Aiano Felicity , Powell Annabel , Jones Samuel E , Brent Andrew , Brent Bernadette , Baawuah Frances , Okike Ifeanychukwu , Beckmann Joanne , Garstang Joanna , Ahmed Shazaad , Sundaram Neisha , Bonell Chris , Langan Sinead , Hargreaves James , Ladhani Shamez N 
Published: June 2021

Objective

The main objective was to assess implementation of and ease of implementation of control measures in schools as reported by staff and parents.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Staff and parents/guardian participants in the 132 primary schools and 20 secondary schools participating in sKIDs and sKIDsPLUS surveillances.

Main outcome measure

Prevalence of control measures implemented in Autumn 2020, parental and staff perception of ease of implementation and acceptability of conducting school surveillance studies.

Results

In total, 56/152 (37%) schools participating in Public Health England’s sKIDs study of COVID in schools accepted the invitation to participate in the survey. By 28 December 2020, 1,953 parent and 986 staff respondents had completed the online questionnaire. While more than half the parents were positive about their children returning to school, roughly a third reported being a little anxious. 90% and 82% of primary and secondary school parents were either completely or partly reassured by the preventive measures implemented in their schools. Among staff, 80% of primary staff and 87% of secondary school staff felt that they were at higher risk of COVID-19 because of their profession; only 52% of primary school staff and 38% of secondary school staff reportedly felt safe. According to the teaching staff, most preventive measures were well-implemented apart from requiring 2-metre distancing between staff. For students, maintaining the 2-metre distance was reported to be particularly difficult. By extension, secondary schools also struggled to maintain small groups at all times or ensuring that the same staff were assigned to each student group (a problem also commonly reported by parents).

Conclusions

Variable implementation of infection control measures was reported by staff and parents. Whilst the majority were not worried about returning to school, some parents and staff, were concerned about returning to school and the risks posed to children, staff and household members.

Strengths and limitations of this study

Strengths

This study is one of the few to investigate school staff and parents’ perceptions of the implementation of control measures implemented following the reopening of schools in England.

The early establishment of COVID-19 surveillance in primary and secondary schools in the summer term 2020 provided a cohort to rapidly evaluate the experiences of parents and school staff during the autumn term before schools were required to close for the subsequent national lockdown.

Limitations

As the questionnaire and information provided was available in English only, there is likely to be an under-representation of families for whom English was not their main language.

Some school responses were only provided by one participant so may not necessarily be representative of the whole school.

Although the surveillance included schools recruited nationally, a convenience sample was used and as such may not be representative of all primary and secondary schools in England.