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The Government has issued guidance to confirm which residential settings they consider a household and how to manage isolation

New guidance has been published to provide household isolation advice for children and young people who live in residential educational settings, and the staff that support them.

As part of the Government’s response to coronavirus (COVID-19), this latest advice is targeted at those living in a range of different homes including residential special schools and colleges, residential children’s homes, state and independent boarding schools, further education colleges and university halls of residence.

The publication provides more information on managing isolation should they or a member of staff begin to show symptoms of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The new advice confirms that usually children’s homes, special schools and colleges, other residential Further Education provision and mainstream boarding schools will be considered as households under the government’s household isolation policy. However, institutions will need to decide if they are single or multiple households depending on their layout. For example, where there are several homes spread across different buildings, these can be treated as multiple households. In halls, households could be defined as those students living in the same cluster of flats or on the same floor who share cooking or washing facilities, or both.

There is also more practical advice for how to manage issues arising from coronavirus (COVID-19) for those who care for children and young people with more serious illnesses or special needs in residential special schools and colleges.

Children’s Minister Vicky Ford recently said:

There are many children and young people that live in different kinds of households, whether that be children’s homes, boarding schools, special schools or university or college halls of residence. We need to make sure that everyone knows how to safely isolate as a household in these challenging times to ensure we are protecting as many people as possible .

The Department has today issued guidance on how residential settings should decide what constitutes a household and how children, young people, staff and carers can manage safe isolation if they live in an atypical home.

The new guidance is to support staff and children and young people cared for in:

• children’s homes
• residential special schools and colleges
• other FE providers with residential accommodation
• mainstream boarding schools
• university or college halls of residence.