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<p>Supplementary schools for children, including those offering religious instruction,
for example, are typically considered to be out-of-school settings. The department
defines out-of-school settings as organisations or individuals that provide tuition,
training, instruction or activities to children in England without their parents’
or carers’ supervision, but are not:</p><ul><li>schools</li><li>colleges</li><li>16
to 19 academies</li><li>providers caring for children that are registered with Ofsted
or a childminder agency</li></ul><p> </p><p>Unregistered schools are those that are
operating as an independent school without having registered with the department.
It is a criminal offence (under section 96 of the Education and Skills 2008 Act) for
any person to conduct an unregistered independent school, and where we find evidence
that a school is operating unlawfully, the department will seek to take action by
working with police, Ofsted and the Crown Prosecution Service as necessary.</p><p>The department
does not hold a central register of all out-of-school settings and so is not able
to give an assessment of the ability of providers in the sector to adhere to restrictions
in place to address the COVID-19 outbreak. However, since the beginning of the outbreak
we have been in close communication with out-of-school settings stakeholders, including
various representatives from the faith sector, to outline how the protective measures
in the sector guidance work to minimise the risk of transmission and infection of
the virus, and how they can be practically implemented across a range of settings.</p><p>Under
the current national restrictions, announced on 5 January 2021, wraparound childcare
providers, holiday clubs, and out-of-school settings should only continue to offer
face-to-face provision for:</p><ul><li>children of critical workers, where it is reasonably
necessary to support their parents or carers to work, seek work, attend a medical
appointment, or undertake education or training; and</li><li>vulnerable children and
young people</li></ul><p> </p><p>During the current national restrictions, children
who are home educated should not attend out-of-school settings for face-to-face provision
unless they are considered to be vulnerable, or if they are children of critical workers.</p><p>Children
may face a range of vulnerabilities, some of which are not easily defined. Our guidance
outlines that local stakeholders (such as education providers and local authorities)
are best placed to identify who may fall into this category. The guidance is available
here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision</a>.
Some pupils who have difficulty engaging in remote education may be considered to
be vulnerable children and therefore eligible to attend provision. However, settings
may provide their own laptops, or should consider different forms of remote education,
where this is not possible, such as printed resources or textbooks, supplemented with
other forms of communication to keep pupils and students on track or answer questions
about work.</p><p>Further information on the criteria for vulnerable children and
children of critical workers can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-maintaining-educational-provision/guidance-for-schools-colleges-and-local-authorities-on-maintaining-educational-provision</a>.
Providers should be moving to remote education as far as possible for those not eligible
to attend for onsite provision.</p><p>The department expects providers that continue
to offer face-to-face provision for eligible children, to follow our updated guidance
on protective measures for holiday and after-school clubs, and other out-of-school
settings, in order to safely adhere to the government’s restrictions. The guidance
is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/protective-measures-for-holiday-or-after-school-clubs-and-other-out-of-school-settings-for-children-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/protective-measures-for-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>.</p><p>We
have also published updated guidance for parents and carers to follow if their children
are eligible to attend for face-to-face provision and they choose to send them to
these settings. This guidance is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak/guidance-for-parents-and-carers-of-children-attending-out-of-school-settings-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak</a>.</p>
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