Covid-19 Sessions Policy - CoachBright

Updated, 25th February 2022

CoachBright are committed to keeping all volunteers, pupils and staff members safe at all times - especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. We recognise the need for tutoring now more than ever, and are working constantly to ensure that we can continue to deliver a high-quality tutoring provision in the safest and most effective way for all of our stakeholders. This guidance outlines the ways that we are keeping the members of our team safe, and what is expected of you as part of your role. 

For volunteers 

We will be offering both face-to-face and online tutoring options for our volunteers. You'll be able to decide which works best for you and let us know when you apply/reapply to tutor. If you do decide to join us in school, we'll be putting measures in place to keep you safe. These include:

  • Following the school's specific guidance on social distancing and hygiene, and letting you know about this beforehand (this may include wearing a mask, following a one way system, regular hand-washing etc). 

  • Keeping up to date with the latest government guidelines for schools and adjusting programmes/guidance as necessary

  • Encouraging tutors not to share laptops and equipment with each other or with pupils

  • Providing additional hygiene products (i.e. hand sanitiser) for programmes if the school does not have a sufficient supply

  • Ensuring all tutors report if they are experiencing symptoms of Covid-19

  • Encouraging all tutors to get in touch and raise concerns if they feel they are at risk or unhappy with school procedures

  • Providing tutors with any pre-reading from the school or CoachBright relevant to their safety

For CoachBright staff

All CoachBright staff have a duty to adhere to the health and safety guidelines laid out in this document. Staff are responsible for the health of themselves, along with those in their care/management (i.e. head coaches, tutors, pupils). As staff will be traveling and spending time in a variety of schools/regions, the following guidelines have been put in place to keep you safe. Staff must:

  • Follow any guidelines put in place by schools when in that school

  • Notify CoachBright (via their manager) of any risk factors that may exempt them from carrying out certain parts of the role (i.e. travel, work outside of home)

  • Notify CoachBright of any underlying health conditions that should be taken into account when creating rotas/assigning travel. 

  • Notify CoachBright immediately if you (or other members of your household) experience any symptoms of Covid-19 and undertake a PCR test and provide the results to CoachBright with no travel to offices, schools or other regions.

  • Ensure personal office spaces are cleaned regularly

  • Avoid sharing laptops, stationary and other equipment (and clean thoroughly before/after use if this is necessary) 

  • Raise any concerns they have about the health and safety procedures with their manager, who will report these immediately

CoachBright will:

  • Provide staff with PPE (masks and hand sanitiser, gloves on request) to protect them during working hours/travel. These will be restocked as necessary

  • Update guidance in line with new government guidelines for travel, workplaces and schools

  • Ensure all staff have opportunities to voice concerns about their health & safety and act upon concerns raised in a timely fashion


SCHOOL CLOSURE PROCEDURES/PUPIL POSITIVE TEST

In the event of a whole school closure, the following procedure will be followed in order to continue to support CoachBright pupils with their home learning: 

  1. School staff should contact their CoachBright member of staff to inform them of the closure and the likely duration, year groups affected and home-learning provisions in place. 

  2. The school will notify CoachBright if the closure is a direct result of one or more of the CoachBright programme pupils testing positive for Covid-19. In this case, CoachBright will notify all tutors on the programme that have been in contact with the pupil, and these tutors/staff will be required to undertake a PCR test and provide the results to CoachBright.

  3. CoachBright staff and the school will decide how best to continue the programme, either taking a short break from sessions or moving to online delivery. 

  4. The decision will be communicated to tutors by CoachBright staff, letting them know when they will be returning to sessions (either online or in person) or that they will be continuing sessions online. These sessions may be at a slightly different time, but should be kept as consistent as possible with previous arrangements. 

  5. The school will notify pupils of the move to online tutoring and let them know when/where their sessions will be taking place. 

  6. If sessions will be taking place online from pupils’ homes, the school will provide CoachBright a list of parent contact details (phone numbers and email addresses) and pupil email addresses to ensure smooth communication and encourage maximum attendance. These will not be shared with the tutors. 

  7. CoachBright staff will keep in close contact with school staff throughout online sessions to ensure quality and effectiveness. 

  8. If the school is reopened during the programme, CoachBright and the school will liaise to decide the best course of action regarding session delivery for the remainder of the programme. 

TUTOR/STAFF POSITIVE TEST PROCEDURE

If a tutor or member of staff does become ill and tests positive for Covid-19, the following should happen to ensure the safety of those they have been in contact with:

  • The tutor/staff member should notify their Programme Officer/Manager as soon as possible. 

  • The Programme Officer/Manager should contact Aigli immediately.

  • CoachBright will get in touch with the Senior Leadership Team in school via phone to notify them of the case, with details of the tutor/staff member, the pupil/s they have been working with, when they were last in the school, how they arrived at the school and the timings of the sessions. CoachBright may contact the Head Coach for more details if required. 

  • The school will be responsible for following their own procedures, including notifying pupils and parents of the case.