THE headteacher of two schools says she is confident that mass testing can be rolled out so pupils can return to teaching on site.

Solway Community Technology College and Beacon Hill School were part of a Cumbria County Council pilot this week involving 16 secondary schools across Cumbria.

“Cumbria was ahead of the national game, as it turned out over Christmas that all schools were asked to run mass testing from next week,” explained Judith Schafer, headteacher of both schools.

“The pilot schools are all ready to go this Monday. We had fantastic support from the fire and rescue service and Cumbria County Council. We are not medical professionals and so we were asked to do something out of our comfort zones.”

Firefighters helped to administer the tests and also trained staff so they could carry out future lateral flow tests.

“We started on Monday with Solway without a panic. It was a lot easier than anticipated,” explained Mrs Schafer.

“The children were very calm. On Tuesday we did Beacon.

“The feedback has been positive across the county whatever happens after February around testing.”

Mrs Schafer is confident her staff are now capable of carrying out the tests needed to make a return to school safe.

She said testing all pupils and staff at both schools took two full days.

The schools are still awaiting guidance from the Department for Education about how often pupils and staff should be tested.

“I think it is likely we will rely on a weekly programme of testing,” continued Mrs Schafer.

“We only have a small number of children in our schools.”

She said it would still be difficult to test all pupils each week but that the testing was vital to the safety of staff and pupils.

“Lateral flow tests are not 100 per cent but we are picking up asymptomatic cases which is the issue largely,” continued the headteacher.

“Children are very often asymptomatic and they don’t know what they’ve got.”

Mrs Schafer said she agreed with the decision to close schools, but raised concerns about the notice given by the Department for Education.

She said she would feel safe to return if mass testing was rolled out in schools.