10th September 2020
Dear Parent or Guardian,
Following the letter we recently sent you about COVID-19 saliva testing at the school, I’m pleased to be able to share more details with you. Testing for pupils at Maytree School will start in the week commencing 21 September 2020.
Children will do a test every week for four weeks starting on Tuesday 22 September for Years 1 and 2, and Thursday 24 September for Years R.
We will be giving the children a special lesson in school the day before they take their tests so they can learn about how the test works and how regular testing can help keep them and their community safer.
Children will then bring their test kit and labels home from school the day before their first test as well as a leaflet giving step by step instructions. They will be given enough sample pots and labels for the five weeks of testing. It is important that your child takes the test when they wake up - before they have anything to eat or drink and before they brush their teeth.
Once the sample has been labelled and bagged, your child will need to bring it to school with them and put it into the big plastic box at the entrance as they go into the school building. The tests will be collected and taken to the test centre on the same day. Test results will be returned in the next 24-48 hours and you will receive a text message telling you the result of your child’s test.
If your child tests positive, everyone in the household must start isolating immediately. The programme team will contact you and ensure you get the help and advice you need. Please note that this test is for screening children who do not have symptoms of COVID-19. If your child does have COVID-19 symptoms they should not attend school and you should order a test through 111.nhs.uk or by calling 119.
If your child is absent from school or forgets to bring in their test, they can bring it in the next day – their teacher will tell them where to take their sample pot. The school will have some spare packs to hand out to anyone who loses their sample pots but we would encourage you to keep them somewhere safe as spares are limited.
Important information about your data
To enable the partnership running the Covid-19 Testing Programme between Southampton City Council, the University of Southampton and the NHS to deploy the test kits to the school and to manage the collection of samples from schools, our school will be sharing contact details of pupils and their parents or guardians, as well as staff, with University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
As you know from our school’s Privacy Notice https://www.maytreeschool.co.uk/lettersprivacy-notice/ we are very serious about protecting the personal data of all members of our school community, and we will maintain this approach in relation to this data sharing. To ensure that your data is used lawfully and remains safe, we have consulted on our participation in the programme with lawyers and the Information Commissioner’s Office[1]. We will only be sharing limited contact details.
The Privacy Notice for this COVID-19 Testing Programme has been included with this letter. Please do take the time to read this. If you have any questions or would like to exercise your right to object to this data sharing, please call the contact centre on the number below.
You should find answers to any questions on the testing programme on www.southampton.gov.uk/covid19testing where there is also a web chat service. Alternatively, you can call the contact centre on 0808 196 2282 (lines are open Monday to Sunday 8.30am to 5.00pm).
While this testing is not compulsory, I would urge all of you to take part. Knowing who has COVID-19 is vital to stopping its spread, and regular testing will help us keep our community safe and keep our school open.
Yours sincerely
Jan Goatley
Headteacher
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Dr Debbie Chase Interim Director of Public Health, Southampton City Council
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Keith Godfrey Professor of Epidemiology & Human Development, MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton. Honorary Consultant, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. |
https://www.maytreeschool.co.uk/covid-19-testing-programme to translate this letter in your language
[1] The Information Commissioner’s Office is the UK’s data protection regulator – visit www.ico.org.uk
PROJECT - WEEK TWO
The second week saw us welcome Cantell secondary and Swaythling primary schools to the project, which means we now have all our schools submitting samples to the programme.
LifeLab educators supported both schools by training teaching staff in delivering
sessions about the saliva testing programme. The aim of the lessons are to engage students through interactive and hands-on experiences to better understand the science behind the programme and the wider public health messages, like why wearing face coverings and washing hands help stop the
spread of the virus.
In this week's newsletter we hear a bit more from both schools along with students from Cantell who filmed their own demonstration of how to do the saliva test. We also find out more about what happens to your saliva sample after you drop it in the collection box, and get all the latest facts and figures from the project and wider Southampton community.
Look out for how to earn a £20 Amazon gift voucher by taking part in feedback opportunities about the project, we want to find out what you think about being part of this unique programme.
THE PROJECT IN NUMBERS
4 IS THE Number of schools that have submitted samples so far
83% Percentage of students tested
92% Percentage of staff tested
198 Volume of saliva tested in mls
VIEW FROM THE SCHOOL
The saliva testing programme got off to a great start at Cantell School this week.After weeks of planning we distributed over 1100 testing kits to our students and 150 to our staff. The response from our community has been amazing. Overall, over 85% of our students who have been in school returned their sample this week and in two year groups (Yr7 & 8), over 90% returned their test. This response exceeds our expectations and can be attributed to the high profile we have given the project in school and the excellent ‘virtual’ teaching sessions that LifeLab have delivered this week to all of our students. As a result of these sessions our students have a greater understanding of the science behind the virus and the crucial role that testing can play in reducing outbreaks. We will be trying to keep the momentum going this week with more activities in tutor time that will be led by our staff.
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DOING YOUR TEST AT HOME
Year 11 pupils from Cantell school got in on the act and decided that they were going to film a video to show how to complete the saliva test for students at secondary school. The saliva test is much easier and quicker to perform than the more common swab test which is why we want to use this project to see how we can roll this test out on a wider scale.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The aim of our project is to see whether saliva testing can be rolled out across wider school communities so we are trying it out with a smaller group first.
That's why we want to hear from you to see if we can do anything differently or better.
We're keen to hear from teaching staff, our student participants and their families about their experience of taking part either through an interview or in a focus group. Those who are selected to take part will receive a £20 Amazon voucher as a 'thank you'. To find out more please email Daniella Watson (d.watson@soton.ac.uk)
Swaythling pupils get hands on in class
Staff and students at Swaythling primary school have enjoyed taking part in the engagement lessons this week. These are based around an Escape Room. The pupils loved the padlocked bags and everyone had great fun trying to work out what the code might be! Reading the stories also proved to be a good starting point for lots of discussion. One of the highlights for the children was using UV torches to examine their hands as part of the interactive activity to demonstrate how easily germs can spread. This was followed up with an activity involving glitter, where pupils got hands-on with learning how face coverings can stop the spread.
YOUR QUESTIONS
If you have a query about the project, please visit the Southampton City Council (SCC) webpage:
https://www.southampton.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid19/testing/ You can use this page to contact SCC via webchat or you can use the freephone number: 0808 196 2282. Normal hours are 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday (plus weekend opening during peak times).
Shorter opening hours may apply from mid-October.
W h y a r e t h e l a b o r a t o r i e s a t t h e A P H A b e i n g u s e d t o c a r r y o u t t h e s a l i v a t e s t i n g ?
When we initially started the saliva testing project, we needed access to laboratories and staff with the expertise, equipment and quality
assurance processes in place to rapidly begin testing. The laboratories needed to have capacity to do the testing, so that this test did not affect the NHS testing capacity at all, and the laboratories also needed to be local, so that we could get the samples delivered quickly. The APHA have been a fantastic partner in this process - read more at their blog post here: h ttps://aphascience.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/01/covid-19-testing-2/
Just do your saliva test the next day you can. You don't need to find a sample pot at school and do one, as you won't have the correct labels to
stick on your pot and without those the laboratory can't match your sample to your details.
No, if a person receives a positive test on the saliva test, there is no need to get a confirmation test - the result from this test is accurate and will
be fed into national data and into the NHS Test and Trace programme
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Change in last 7 days
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Don't forget, it is never too late to join in. Even if you missed dropping your first test in you can still take part in the rest of the programme by sending in a sample this week. |
Privacy Notice Covid 19 Testing Programme
Important – Your Personal Information
Read our privacy notice below to find out how we’ll use and protect your personal information. We will only process your personal information or your child’s personal information in compliance with Data Protection Legislation.
Where possible, your or your child’s test results will be added to your medical record. Only your or your child’s GP and other authorised NHS staff, Public Health England, NHS Test and Trace staff and the local Health Protection Team can access your or your child’s test results. No-one else will be able to see your or your child’s personal test results.
Privacy Notice
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has commissioned the piloting of a coronavirus (COVID-19) testing programme (‘the Programme’) in Southampton.
This Privacy Notice explains how personal data (information about you or your child) collected as part of this Programme will be processed (collected, stored, used, and destroyed).
Data controllers and purposes for which your personal data will be used
At different points in the process, organisations have been commissioned to process your or your child’s personal data and may therefore have Data Controller status for the purposes of Data Protection legislation in deciding what information is required and how it needs to be used to deliver the Programme.
Each organisation will require a different level of information about you or your child, but all will use the minimum necessary to do what they are required to deliver their part of the Programme.
Data Controllers for the Programme responsible for looking after your or your child’s personal data and using it properly to deliver the Programme are:
When is personal data being collected?
We collect the data you provide us with when you have:
What personal data is being collected?
The details we may collect and process for you are:
How will my personal data be used?
Your details will be used to:
Where is my personal data stored?
Your data will be stored within the United Kingdom.
Is my personal data kept private and secure?
We have legal duties to keep information about you confidential. Strict rules apply to keep your information safe and comply with Data Protection Act 2018, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and organisational Data Protection policies.
The NHS database used to store your personal data linked with your health data is held securely on NHS servers and access to this information is tightly governed, in line with Data Protection requirements.
How long will my personal data be kept?
The information processed by the NHS is kept for as long as it is required to provide you with direct care and to support NHS initiatives to fight COVID-19. Information held for direct care purposes are stored in line with the Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016. This means such information will be held for up to 8 years before it is deleted. Any personal data gathered as part of this Programme for other purposes will be deleted at the end of the Programme.
What are my rights?
By law, you have a number of rights as a data subject and this testing programme does not take away or reduce these rights.
You have the right to contact the Data Controllers to ask for the following:
What is the lawful basis for collecting, storing, and using my data?
Data protection law requires us to have a valid legal reason (‘lawful basis’) to process and use your Personal data.
The NHS’s lawful basis for processing your personal data are:
Other organisations involved in processing your data are doing so with an agreement in place with DHSC or the University of Southampton to provide that service, or with a lawful basis of their own.
The University’s lawful basis for processing your personal data for operational delivery of the Programme is legitimate interests.
The Schools (Mount Pleasant Junior (including students/staff based here who are registered at Springwell School), Maytree Infant, Swaythling Primary and Cantell School - all members of the Aspire Trust) lawful basis for processing your and your child’s personal data is GDPR Article 6(1)(e) – the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.
How can I find out more information or raise a complaint?
If you would like to raise a complaint about how your personal data is used as part of the Programme, you can phone the Enquiries team at: 0808 1962 282. Depending on your query, it will be forwarded to the relevant Data Controller to resolve your issue.
Please contact each Data Controller if you want to know more about their lawful bases for processing your personal data for their role in delivering the Programme. Links to each Data Controller’s privacy policy are below, which contain contact details for their Data Protection Officer.
Queries for the University of Southampton can also be sent direct to data.protection@soton.ac.uk. More details and the University’s Data Protection Policy can be found at: https://www.southampton.ac.uk/legalservices/what-we-do/data-protection-and-foi.page.
Queries for Southampton City Council can be sent directly to dataprotection@southampton.gov.uk. More details and the Council’s Data Protection Policy can be found at www.southampton.gov.uk/privacy.
Queries for the Schools can be sent to the Chair of the Aspire Trust head@cantell.co.uk.
You may also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe that your personal data is handled in a way that is not lawful. See its website at ico.org.uk.