| Thank you for all your hard work during the autumn term, wishing you a relaxing break over Christmas. This Teacher Bulletin brings together all of the updated guidance and supportive resources in one place to help you respond to changes and prepare for the beginning of the new term in January. Key COVID guidance We have now moved to Plan B of the COVID-19 Response to reduce pressure on the NHS. Plan B sets out a number of additional measures across society to control transmission of COVID-19. Key DfE guidance includes: Testing Throughout the Christmas holidays and into the spring term, we strongly encourage all education staff to continue regular testing (LFD not PCR) and reporting their results, and to encourage pupils and students in year 7 and above to test and report their results. You are strongly encouraged to ask parents, guardians and other visitors to take a lateral flow device (LFD) test before entering an education setting. For secondary schools the recommendation is to prepare to test pupils on-site on return in January. Further guidance and resources to help you with your end of term communications and preparations for January: If you require test kits to enable testing over the holidays and on return in January, please call NHS Test and Trace on 119. Vaccines All eligible staff and students aged 12 and over are encouraged to take up the offer of the vaccine, including boosters. Vaccination makes people less likely to catch the virus and pass it on. Face coverings Face coverings should be worn by students in year 7 and above, staff and visitors in communal areas, unless exempt. More information in the guidance for schools during the COVID-19 pandemic Tracing close contacts and isolation Close contacts in schools continue to be identified by NHS Test and Trace. All individuals who have been identified as a close contact of a suspected or confirmed case of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, irrespective of vaccination status and age, will continue to be required to self-isolate and asked to book a PCR test. The Government plans to introduce daily contact testing as soon as possible as an alternative to self-isolation for contacts who are fully vaccinated or under the age of 18 years and 6 months. We will keep you updated. Ofsted To support contingency planning, Ofsted has confirmed that schools and colleges will not be inspected w/c 13 December unless there are safeguarding concerns. Secondary schools will not be inspected, unless there are urgent concerns, during the first week of schools' return in January. Absence School attendance remains mandatory, and all the usual rules continue to apply. To support schools and colleges dealing with persistent absence, both related to COVID-19 and not, we have pulled together some resources:  | 
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