Following the huge success of our BMS Lateral Flow Testing Centre which has operated throughout his Spring Term under the superb management of Ms Jackman, Dr Alison Frater, HCC Public Health Lead visited our Lateral Flow Testing Centre On Monday morning of this week to see the whole process in action. This included watching a number of students being tested. She was incredibly impressed with the professional set-up we have created here at the school which is reassuring staff, students and parents and carers about our approach to the measures to try and keep all stakeholders as safe as possible.

Over 1000 parents have now given consent for their children to take part in the testing regime which is a phenomenal response so THANK YOU so much for your support.

She also went on a tour of the whole school to see all the Covid-19 health and safety measures in place across the school including physical distancing adaptations, wearing of face masks, additional cleaning regimes in place, clear signage, Year group Zones, Live Lessons, as well as our embedded Lateral Flow Testing regime for all staff and students. She was incredibly impressed with how safe our school felt, even with over 160 students and 120 staff on site, and commented that we were a beacon of best practice in Hertfordshire.

She was particularly interested in our superb emphasis on the performing and visual arts and the role the arts plays in the therapeutic development of young people and also the outstanding work of our Pastoral Team throughout the last year to support all students and their families during these periods of lockdown and all the challenges the last 12 months has brought.

Since January 4th we have conducted over 1000 tests on students and staff and inevitably made the school site inherently safer. The vast majority of tests have been negative, but for the 0.004% of tests which were positive, it meant that the individual could leave the school site straight away and self isolate. With the positive cases at the time of testing being asymptomatic, it definitely helped prevent any risk of the Covid virus spreading to others around them. It has made all the hard work worthwhile.

The tests are completely voluntary, free of charge but do require parental consent. With the return to school for all students from March 8th we hope as many students as possible will take the tests to minimise the risk of infections spreading in school and that you will support us in this effort for everyone’s safety, so do click on this link to read more about the testing programme and provide consent.

In addition to your consent, we also ask the student again immediately prior to the test and no test will be performed on a student who does not at that stage give consent. We would also like to reassure you that we have trained staff assisting with the tests and will be there to help and support your child if they have never taken a test before or are nervous, as we understand it can make everyone feel a little anxious.

Dr Alison Frater was extremely impressed with the superb ‘hospital grade’ facility and the commitment of the excellent staff who have been so dedicated to the programme which we have all benefited from. We will continue to showcase the facility to other schools across Hertfordshire who may need some support with the testing programme rolled out across all schools.