Reducing COVID-19 risk in schools: a qualitative examination of secondary school staff and family views and concerns in the South West of England
This article has been Reviewed by the following groups
Listed in
- Evaluated articles (ScreenIT)
Abstract
To investigate student, parent/carer and secondary school staff attitudes towards school COVID-19 mitigation measures.
Methods
Recruitment used school communication, community organisations and snowball sampling in South West England. Audio recorded online or phone individual/group semi-structured interviews were conducted in July–Septtember 2020 and lasted 30–60 min. Interviews focused on views towards social distancing, hand hygiene and testing. Framework analysis was performed on interview notes/transcripts.
Results
Participants were 15 staff, 20 parents and 17 students (11–16 years) from 14 diverse schools. Concerns about COVID-19 risk at school, especially to vulnerable individuals, were outweighed by perceived risks of missed learning. Some staff felt guilt around being a potential ‘spreader’ by teaching multiple classes. Findings highlighted a wide variety of school COVID-19 mitigation measures being deployed due to ambiguous government guidance. Participants generally saw mitigation measures as an acceptable and pragmatic solution to the perceived impossibility of social distancing in crowded schools, although anticipated challenges changing habitual behaviour. Participants supported school COVID-19 testing but identified the need to consider data security and stigma around COVID-19 diagnosis. Staff were concerned about unintended consequences of risk-reduction strategies on student behaviour, learning and pastoral care, particularly for those with Special Educational Needs or mental health issues who may find the measures especially challenging, and resultant widening inequalities.
Conclusion
Families and staff supported COVID-19 mitigation measures in schools and would welcome the roll out school COVID-19 testing. Clear messaging and engendering collective responsibility are important for compliance and success of COVID-19 mitigation measures. However, schools and policy-makers should consider unintended consequences of measures, providing extra support for vulnerable students and those with additional needs, and consider ways to avoid widening educational and health inequalities. Findings demonstrate the acceptability of school COVID-19 infection control measures is likely to be influenced by the balance of risks and benefits to students.
Article activity feed
-
SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.25.20216937: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: Prior to the interview, participants provided audio-recorded verbal informed consent (or assent and parent/carer consent for those under 16 years).
IRB: The study was approved by the Faculty of Health Sciences Committee for Research Ethics, University of Bristol (ref 108084).Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Notes were coded deductively using topic guide headings to develop a coding framework in Microsoft EXCEL and identify themes. Microsoft EXCELsuggested: (Microsoft Excel, RRID:SCR_016137)Results from OddPub: We …
SciScore for 10.1101/2020.10.25.20216937: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement Consent: Prior to the interview, participants provided audio-recorded verbal informed consent (or assent and parent/carer consent for those under 16 years).
IRB: The study was approved by the Faculty of Health Sciences Committee for Research Ethics, University of Bristol (ref 108084).Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
Software and Algorithms Sentences Resources Notes were coded deductively using topic guide headings to develop a coding framework in Microsoft EXCEL and identify themes. Microsoft EXCELsuggested: (Microsoft Excel, RRID:SCR_016137)Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Limitations of this study: The main study limitation is limited inclusion of groups possibly most adversely affected, including: BAME/English as an additional language groups (although recruitment materials were translated, interviews were in English); those disengaged from school (as recruitment was mainly via schools); and those without internet access/computers as, due to Covid-19 restrictions we mainly used remote online recruitment (although we also used school newsletters and community groups). Also 19/20 parents were mothers.
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
-
-
