To ask the Minister of Education what contingencies he has put in place to protect pupils of Oakwood, Glenveagh, Harberton and Fleming Fulton Special Educational Needs Schools, who share buses, against community transmission of COVID-19.

The Department’s current New School Day guidance is clear that protective bubbles should be applied with consistency, however pupils may form more than one bubble. This allows for the effective creation of a bubble on the EA vehicles and this is not diminished by it including pupils from other schools.

The guidance references a range of mitigating measures that are put in place on all home to school transport to minimise the risks. This includes the clear message that parents should only use home to school transport where there is no alternative available for their child’s journey to school and that no child should travel to school if they have any symptoms of COVID-19. There are also additional mitigations that the EA has put in place for travel on its vehicles including ensuring pupils usually occupy the same seats resulting in a consistent and small number of pupils in close proximity to each other, provision of hand sanitiser on its buses, personal protective equipment being provided to drivers and escorts and the regular cleaning of vehicles.

The New School Day guidance was prepared following detailed engagement with the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Scientific Advisor and the Public Health Agency.