Parents/carers – support and advice

Derbyshire County Council Advice on COVID-19 for Parents/Carers

We appreciate some parents/carers and children may be worried about themselves, members of their family, or their friends becoming ill.

There’s lots of advice about how to talk to your child about Coronavirus.

Below is a list of helpful resources:

National Autistic Society – guidance and helpline for parents, young people and staff https://www.autism.org.uk/services/nas-schools/vanguard/news/2020/march/coronavirus- (covid-19)-advice.aspx

Mencap - Easy Read guide to coronavirus https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/health/coronavirus

Place2Be – Have a useful guide for helping parents answer questions from their children and to support family wellbeing https://www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/2020/march/coronavirus-informationfor-children/

Young Minds - Talking to your child about coronavirus and 10 tips from their Parents Helpline to support family wellbeing https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/talking-to-your-child-about-coronavirus/

Carers UK - Guidance for carers https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/health/looking-after-your-health/coronavirus-covid-19

Covibook is an interactive resource designed to support and reassure children aged 7 and under, designed to help children explain and drawthe emotions that they might be experiencing during the pandemic https://www.mindheart.co/descargables

Amaze - information pack for parents/carers https://amazesussex.org.uk/faqs-about-the-coronavirus-for-parent-carers-of-children-with-sendbrighton-hove/

Public Health England have produced an easy read version of their advice on the coronavirus for places of education. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england You can download a copy from Easy Read Online. https://www.easy-read-online.co.uk/media/53192/advice-on-the-coronavirus-v1.pdf

Local support available for parents/carers

GOV.UK

Department for Education:

Latest advice on Coronavirus

On Wednesday 18 March Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education, announced that as part of the country’s ongoing response to COVID-19, schools, colleges and early years settings have been asked to close to everyone except children of key workers and vulnerable children from Monday 23 March

Update on assessments and examinations

The announcement confirmed that assessments or exams will not go ahead, and that the government will not be publishing performance tables for this academic year. Further details are awaited on how students and young people will be awarded the examination results that they deserve.

Handwashing advice

The most important thing individuals can do to protect themselves is to wash their hands more often, for at least 20 seconds, with soap and water. Public Health England recommends that in addition to handwashing before eating, and after coughing and sneezing, everyone should also wash hands after using toilets and travelling on public transport.

The latest guidance and video on hand washing can be found here:  https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public

Department for Education coronavirus helpline

The Department for Education coronavirus helpline is available to answer questions about COVID-19 relating to education and children’s social care. Staff, parents/carers and young people can contact this helpline as follows: Phone: 0800 046 8687 Opening hours: 8am to 6pm (Monday to Friday), 10am to 4pm (Saturday to Sunday)

Please note, the helpline is experiencing high volumes of calls.

Where to find the latest information

Updates on COVID-19: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Derbyshire County Council latest advice and guidance: www.derbyshire.gov.uk/coronavirus

Public Health England for the East Midlands: PHE East Midlands response centre Tel: 0344 225 4524 followed by Option 0 to get through to East Midlands Health Protection Team, then press option 1, then ask for the Coronavirus Response Centre. Open from 8am to 8pm.