Detailed Planning

Medical Centre and Facilities

The Medical Centre will continue to offer its full service of nurse-led 24/7 care. Nurses will provide routine health care and treatment of injuries, and triage pupils to enable access to GP assessment, in accordance with NHS guidance for primary care. In the event that a pupil feels unwell and would like to see a medic, they will email the Medical Centre in the first instance. A triage appointment and venue will then be arranged, taking into account any symptoms. Bumps, bruises and sprains picked up through College activities will be dealt with in the usual way. The College Counselling Service will continue to operate, with a combination of face-to-face and remote appointments.

In any case where COVID-19 might be suspected, a separate, dedicated facility will be used. If COVID-19 testing is required, Public Health England guidance will be followed and parents will be informed. We will isolate pupils until a test result is provided. If the result is positive, we would expect pupils to be collected and looked after at home, wherever this is possible (i.e. for UK based parents). If collection is not possible, we will have an isolation facility available with medical cover. In either event, the pupil will have access to Virtual School, if they are feeling well enough to attend.

A positive test result will necessitate the College making an assessment of who any close contacts of the pupil might be. As a minimum, all those within the same zone in House will be required to self-isolate for 14 days (under current legislation). Again, in most cases we would expect this to happen at home. In the few instances when this might not be possible, we will have access to a separate self-isolation facility where pupils will stay for 14 days and join in the Virtual School provision.

In addition, we are exploring a range of products which might be used in support of our own test and track process and the intention at this stage is to implement the most appropriate option, although it is too early to confirm this.

Quarantine Facility before term starts

Indications, at the moment, from the UK Government are that there will be a 14-day quarantine period for arrivals in the UK from a defined list of countries and we have robust plans around implementing this with the child’s wellbeing at the foremost of our thinking. If the quarantine regulations still apply in August, we will provide a facility at the College where pupils may spend the 14-day quarantine period, starting on Sunday 23rd August. The College will arrange transport back to the College from a London airport on the 23rd. Pupils will be well looked after by College staff and we will have a range of appropriate activities in place to keep pupils occupied. The conditions stipulated for quarantine are stringent and there is very limited room for interaction between pupils, unless they have travelled together. There will be support available through the School’s Medical Centre throughout the quarantine period. The details of this quarantine service, including cost, are being finalised and will be communicated in due course.

If the requirement for quarantine is removed but families have already booked flights then we will make a residential facility available, even though the strict need for quarantine no longer exists.

What might school life be like?

It is clearly important that in planning for a safe return to school for all pupils we have focused on developing the measures needed to ensure the health and safety of the whole College community whilst continuing to deliver the Marlborough College educational provision as fully as possible. Equally, we appreciate that in returning to College your children are looking forward to the usual collegiate life of our full boarding school and will be keen to understand what might need to be different. Although we cannot be certain which Operating Plan we will be required to work within, it is highly likely that certain changes will have to be made to the daily routine. We want to outline our best view as to what the main adjustments might look like from September so you and your child can familiarise yourself with them. The following guidelines would apply to Plan C. Each room in the boarding houses will be allocated to a specific zone, based around shared bathroom facilities. Pupils within each zone will be viewed as a “household” and, as such, will be expected to work together to maintain high standards of personal hygiene and cleanliness, using the bathrooms and other facilities in their own zone. Central communal areas within houses will follow social distancing protocols and will be the only place in the house where pupils from different zones may meet. It is likely that such areas will need to be reconfigured to allow for whatever social distancing requirements are in place. This will mean less furniture in shared areas and in some dormitories.

Beyond the confines of the House, full social distancing measures will be applied at all times, aiming to avoid close contact between individuals. Lesson times will be staggered for different year groups and other measures will be in place to mitigate against congestion, including a one-way system for pedestrians around some parts of the College. Pupils will be expected to engage actively with the social distancing requirements as they carry out their daily activities. They will also be required to keep their personal belongings tidy and not leave them in communal areas. Breaches of rules around hygiene and social distancing will be dealt with rigorously through the College sanction system. At the start of each day, every member of the College community will be required to answer a short series of Health Screening questions. A concern raised here will result in medical assessment, which will include core temperature checking. School uniform requirements will be adjusted so that items that require dry cleaning are not worn.

Pupils will be asked to use hand sanitiser or wash their hands on leaving and arriving in all buildings, especially on returning to their Boarding House or going to Norwood Hall.

Pupils will see an enhanced cleaning regime being executed across the campus, in their Boarding Houses and classrooms, including between lessons when there will be a fifteen-minute gap to facilitate the stagger as well as cleaning contact points. Further infection control measures (use of PPE or screens) may be in place in close contact situations. There will be floor signage and indicated one-way flow in and out of our buildings and class rooms. Certain lessons or practical and group work may require the wearing of face coverings. Pupils will be asked to return with at least two named, washable face coverings (loop behind ears, not snood type). Pupils will be able to wear these at any time they choose and there will be times when they will have to wear them. Training on how to place them on their face will be given and daily washing of face coverings will be provided through the boarding houses. It is likely that written work will continue to be submitted digitally, rather than handing in paper or books. Many pupils will continue to work in exercise books and on file paper, before scanning work using their phones and submitting, as they have been doing during the Virtual School period.

Co-curricular activities will happen within allocated groups. Pupils may be engaged in new sporting, creative and outdoor activity programmes to support exercise whilst maintaining physical distancing requirements. We are undertaking detailed planning around the safe participation and return to sport. Restrictions on national sport in the UK are gradually lifting and we anticipate that will trickle down to school sport level over the next few months. At all times, we will follow Government guidance, advice from the Department for Education on school campuses, and that of the International and National Governing Bodies,alongside our own risk assessments. We are optimistic that we will be able to return to some modified provision of sport and activity following social distancing and hygiene practices and we will be flexible over which sports may be played.

Mealtimes in Norwood Hall may be staggered to reduce numbers at any one time with social distancing management of queues, and we may need to move temporarily to pre-plated or takeout meals. A significant function of any adjusted timetable in place will be to avoid any congestion in Norwood Hall or elsewhere on campus. For the moment, it is likely that large gatherings such as assemblies and Chapel services will be delivered online. We are enormously grateful for the way the Marlborough College community has come together to do the right thing, as individuals and collectively, during this global pandemic and we are confident that this mind-set will enable us together to navigate effectively the ongoing challenges of returning to normality. The health and safety of everyone will always remain our priority.

We will be reviewing and updating our plans over the coming weeks and will keep in regular contact with you during the summer holiday period as things change and move forward.

Please do contact me if you have any further questions.

WDL Nicholas Second Master Email: wdln@marlboroughcollege.org