Peterborough school looking to recruit staff to offer rapid Covid tests

The King’s School, located on Park Road, made the announcement this morning (December 29) that they were looking for between 15 and 20 people to help with the administering of Covid-19 lateral flow tests.

Lateral flow tests were first trialled in the UK in November in Liverpool and offer a result within 15 to 30 minutes.

They are carried out by swabbing the inside of a person’s nose or throat and placing the swab onto a test device.

The tests are cheaper and easy to make so have been rolled out to hospitals across the country since November and Peterborough began its first program of rapid testing in Millfield and Lincoln Road before Christmas.

They are known to be less sensitive than the traditional used PCR testing kits though and do have the potential to return more false negatives but they are currently the fastest form of testing available for Covid-19.

The school hopes to put together a team as soon as possible that they can train and have in place by January 4.

In a letter to parents, Headteacher Darren Ayling said: “We are hoping to offer to all students (Years 7-13) and staff, the means of a Covid-19 lateral flow test with close to immediate effect.

“To make this possible, we shall be recruiting a Covid-19 testing workforce who we hope we can train and have in place for 4 January 2021 – in just one week’s time.

“Although challenging, we are very much of the view that our extended King’s School Family puts us in a very good position to make this possible.

“We are looking for between fifteen and twenty people who will fulfil a variety of roles. Our preference is for a workforce which is available to work for full days (8am-3.30pm) and for up to five days a week. Given the changing nature of the testing arrangements, these appointments will be temporary.

“We are looking for confident communicators who can give clear instructions, and especially to young people. A willingness to work within a safe and controlled environment, and to maintain the highest standards of

confidentiality and hygiene, will be very important.

“We are also looking for some administrative skills which will include data entry into Excel and some word processing skills.

“The roles require instruction and supervision of individuals who will be self-testing. No scientific training is

required and all of the training necessary will be provided prior to starting.

“We would be delighted if we could meet our goal of being operationally able to test by Monday 4 January.

Please help us if you can.”

The school is due back from the Christmas break next Tuesday (January 5).

Earlier this month, the Government said exam-year students would go back to school as normal after the Christmas holidays, but the majority of secondary school pupils would start the term online to allow headteachers to roll out mass testing of children and staff..

To find out more about the vacancies, click here.