Hundreds of primary schools keep their gates SHUT
Covid class war: Now Boris Johnson hints secondary pupils won’t return until FEBRUARY as unions unite to keep schools SHUT after hundreds of primary heads defied PM by cancelling first day of new term
- Boris Johnson insisted the risk to teachers was no greater than to anyone else amid pressure to close schools
- Headteachers in rebellion as Prime Minister told families children should return to school in all areas if open
- But teaching unions said that ‘snowball effect’ was shutting down schools and call for a nationwide shutdown
- Leaders of all the teaching unions release joint statement for classroom teaching to be ‘paused’ immediately
- The NEU has said that 6,000 primary schools have been told by staff that it is ‘unsafe’ to come into work
- Parents describe finding out their children will be home on Facebook or by text with only a few hours’ notice
Boris Johnson today prepared to shut all classrooms after teaching unions and headteachers united en masse in revolt after the PM insisted schools are Covid safe.
All of Britain’s teaching unions today called for classroom teaching to be ‘paused’ until staff are vaccinated. In a joint statement the leaders of the GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and Unite unions have said they want ‘an immediate nationwide move to remote education for all pupils in primary, secondary and special schools and colleges’.
On a visit to a London hospital to see the rollout of the new Oxford University/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, Mr Johnson hinted that secondaries may shut for longer when closures are reviewed before January 18 – and insisted the risk to teachers from Covid was no greater than to anyone else working during the pandemic.
‘We will have to look very hard at what we do with secondary schools later in the month. Closing primary schools is, for all of us, a last resort. That’s why we are looking at everything else we can possibly do to avoid that. I would stress schools are safe and the risk to kids is very, very small’, he said.
The Prime Minister added: ‘The risk to teachers, and of course we will do everything we can to protect teachers, but the risk to teachers is no greater than it is to anyone else. The reasons for wanting to keep schools open I think are very, very powerful.’
All schools in London are closed today along with the majority of Covid-19 hotspots in Essex, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire after a Department for Education diktat last week. But headteachers told to remain open in areas such as in Surrey, Gloucestershire, Newcastle, Norfolk, Liverpool, County Durham, West Sussex, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Leeds and Lancashire have shut down anyway.
There is growing rumours that the Government will soon cave in and close all schools in yet another embarrassing U-turn for Education Secretary Gavin Williamson as the NEU union said that 6,000 primary schools still open today have been told formally by staff that it is ‘unsafe’ to come into work, leaving parents with an anxious wait to hear if their school will be next to shut.
Closing schools will consign millions of children to ‘sub-standard’ online learning experts say can ‘set back’ children years, especially those from working class families while Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman has warned schools not to ‘furlough’ children by shutting down again.
Parents took to social media this morning describing their anxiety at trying to care for their children at home at the 11th hour while trying to hold down a full time job with many slamming the decision by schools to close unilaterally as ‘staggering’.
Northfield St Nicholas Primary Academy in Lowestoft, Suffolk, announced it was closing on Facebook with parent Rebecca Kane venting: ‘Nice finding this out via a friend at 8.30pm…. no email or text to let us know. CAN’T say I’m surprised.’
Other parents in all parts of the country said they are fearful for their children because for many homeschooling in the first lockdown last year amounted to ‘here do your times tables’ and ‘no actual teaching’.
The chaos in schools came as:
- Matt Hancock hints at even tougher restrictions and admits new squeeze to fight ‘out of control’ mutant Covid will last MONTHS – with vaccines our only hope of escape;
- 82-year-old dialysis patient becomes first Briton to get Oxford’s Covid jab as Mr Hancock hails ‘pivotal moment’ in war on virus;
- Coronavirus vaccines could be ineffective against the highly-infectious South African mutation, a scientist who helped develop the Oxford jab has warned;
- Britain yesterday recorded a further 54,990 coronavirus cases in 24 hours – marking the sixth day in a row that daily infections exceeded 50,000;
- The number of beds occupied by Covid patients increased by the equivalent of ’12 full hospitals’ in the eight days from Christmas, NHS figures show;
Boris Johnson (pictured today at Chase Farm Hospital in north London) says he had had ‘no doubt’ that classrooms were safe but many headteachers have ignored him and closed anyway leading to the PM hinting he may now shut secondaries into February
Children enter Manor Park School and Nursery in Knutsford, Cheshire, as schools across England return after the Christmas break – but unions are demanding that all schools are closed immediately
Euan Stanton, a year 7 pupil at a secondary school in Ashford, Kent, studies at home as many schools switch to online learning from today for at least a fortnight
John Murphy CEO of Oasis Community Learning unboxes COVID-19 testing kits and rubber gloves at Oasis Academy Coulsdon, south London today. Every secondary school and college will receive 1,000 testing kits in the post today with students expected to swab themselves under supervision when they return
But Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton was closed today after all children in the capital were forced into online learning
Schoolchildren make their way to primary school in Leeds (left) and Cheshire (right) – but millions of children are now at home for at least a fortnight
Naomi Carpenter, a 20-year-old sports rehab student at Hull University, takes a swab for a lateral flow Covid-19 test at the campus sports facilities as students return to the university
The area in red is where the Government ordered all schools to shut. The areas in pink are where headteachers have shut down anyway
Schools announced they were shutting at the 11th hour – leaving parents irate and often hearing the news second hand
Official figures show there had been a further 54,990 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK, up 80 per cent from last week’s case figure of 30,501, while the number of deaths had increased by 43 per cent from last Sunday to 454
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘The Government’s own advice from Sage makes it clear that opening schools to all pupils now risks increasing the infection rate. That’s in no-one’s interests.
‘Instead of creating chaos for parents and exposing workers to risks, the Prime Minister should be talking to trade unions about what steps are needed to make sure all schools are Covid-secure.’
NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach called for a move to remote learning for all pupils nationwide.
He said: ‘The NASUWT is completely committed to ensuring that children can return to school as quickly as possible.
‘However, it is now abundantly clear that the pandemic is seriously impacting on the ability of all schools and colleges to continue to operate normally.
‘The NASUWT is calling for an immediate nationwide move to remote education for all pupils in primary, secondary and special schools and colleges.’
The Prime Minister told families yesterday that children should return to school in all areas where they were due to open today and tomorrow. But as Covid-19 rates soar, teaching unions said that a ‘snowball effect’ was shutting scores of schools despite the official advice to stay open.
One mother said she finds it ‘staggering’ that her child’s primary school will not be opening on Tuesday, and said she wants the school listening to scientists rather than unions.
The woman, who does not want to be named, received an email from the headteacher of Anlaby Primary School in East Yorkshire on Sunday afternoon advising that pupils should not come back to school on Tuesday.
She told Hull Live that online home learning is ‘not good enough’, adding: ‘I find it staggering how the school is choosing not to take government advice – I am really not bothered about what their union thinks.
‘I take my advice from the government scientists who are saying it’s safe for children to return to school and so should the school.
‘There was no teaching it was just ‘here do your times tables’ and there was no actual teaching, which created massive amounts of stress in the household as I not only had to teach my child, but I had to work as well.’
Childminder Juliet Voisey wrote online: ‘More notice is required. I am a self-employed childminder. I haven’t applied for the grant from the government for this period as I am due to open next week. There’s a deadline to apply for the grant.’
One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, said she would not be sending her children to school due to her coronavirus safety concerns.
As she has severe asthma, the woman told the PA news agency she could not risk her children bringing the virus home, so would be teaching them herself.
She said: ‘We have all managed to avoid catching Covid so far, but with this new strain, I don’t think it’s safe at all.
‘We should never have been taken out of lockdown over the summer. The economy will recover in time, but people’s lives won’t. And you can’t run an economy with the dead, can you?
‘Human life is far more important than shops and restaurants opening.
‘How can schools be safe if the Houses of Parliament are not safe?’
Some parents have expressed their concern about sending their children back to school in an area where Covid infection rates are rising fast.
Children in Sunbury on Thames, Surrey, returned as normal while less than three miles away in London borough of Richmond all primary schools remained closed, despite having a lower infection rate.
At the school gates of St Ignatius Catholic Primary School in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne anxious parents dropped their children at the school gates.
‘My daughter was excited to go back in year two, but I do have my concerns’ said Fernando Jardin.
‘All the schools in neighbouring London boroughs are closed but the schools here in Sunbury are open.
The infection rate in our borough of Spelthorne is similar to that in Richmond.
‘Not sure how one school can stay open while others are closed’
Francesca Yaite admitted to having mixed feelings about sending her daughter back to school after the Christmas break.
She said: ‘If am honest I have been worrying about this day.
‘The school has been fantastic, but as a parent you have concerns but I do agree with keeping them open . It is so beneficial for the children’
Sophie Symes, a year 7 pupil at Knutsford Academy in Cheshire, studies at home as many schools switch to online learning
Boris Johnson visits Chase Farm Hospital and greets a pensioner given the Covid-19 vaccine as he faces growing pressure to shut schools and impose a new national lockdown
Three miles away in the Hampton every school was closed. It was the same picture in neighbouring London borough of Hounslow.
While primary schools were closed on the orders of the Education Secretary Secondary schools are not due back until next week with a staggered start for students.
Latest data shows the borough of Richmond has an infection rate of 550 per 100,000 people while in Spelthorne the rate is at 669 per 1000,000.
A mum waving goodbye to her daughter at St Ignatius said she thought the Government should have closed all schools.
‘It doesn’t make sense than two adjoining boroughs have different policies’ said the mum of two who asked not to be named.
‘The virus doesn’t stop at boundaries. People are goi g about their daily lives so the virus can easily transmit’
A dad who held his five year old son’s hand as he walked him to the school gates said he had agonised over the weekend whether to send his son back to the classroom.
‘My son only started in September and he lives it’ said the dad.
‘He wants to be with his friends. They are kept in a bubble in school but with this new variant there is much more to worry about.
‘If the government do a sudden U-turn and the deadline is passed for the grant I’m then out of pocket. I don’t want to claim money if I’m able to work.’
Conservative former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has called for the closure of schools and borders and a ban on household mixing ‘right away’ as he warned that the pressures facing hospitals are ‘off-the-scale worse’ than previous winter crises.
The chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee wrote on Twitter: ‘Time to act: thread on why we need to close schools, borders, and ban all household mixing RIGHT AWAY.
‘To those arguing winter is always like this in the NHS: you are wrong. I faced four serious winter crises as Health Sec and the situation now is off-the-scale worse than any of those.
‘It’s true that we often had to cancel elective care in Jan to protect emergency care but that too is under severe pressure with record trolley waits for the very sickest patients.
‘Even more worryingly fewer heart attack patients appear to be presenting in ICUs, perhaps because they are not dialling 999 when they need to.
‘Full credit to NHS for keeping cancer services open but in Wave 1 there was still a 2/3 drop in cancer appts: people didn’t come forward to GPs or want to go to hospitals, with many potentially avoidable cancer deaths. We hoped to avoid that this time but now looking unlikely.’
Schoolchildren walk to school on the first day of a new term in Tier 4 Manchester today
Rachel Allen, 40, is a single mother to Lewis, seven, (pictured together) and runs a social media consultancy from her Tier 4 home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. She says: ‘As a self-employed single parent trying to maintain a business that was decimated at the start of lockdown, school is a lifeline for me’. Ella Brucher, 35, a self-employed cleaner, has two children, Scarlet, six, and Dominic, ten, (pictured together) in Purley which is in Tier 4. Ms Brucher said: ‘After not being able to work at all for three months earlier in the year, it’s very difficult – and more than that, it’s hard for the children, too. They want to be back at school.’
Parents shared their stories of being told of school closures at the very last minute
Pinehurst Primary School in Anfield, Liverpool this morning, which announced that they will not be opening as planned this week
Defiant primary head: I won’t shut my school
A primary school head teacher in Tier 4 today told how he had defied calls to keep the doors shut and welcomed back children following the Christmas break.
Hethersett Primary School (pictured today) is one of just a handful of primaries in Norfolk to go back, with more than 110 others remaining closed, according to the county council, which has left the decision up to head teachers.
Head Matthew Parslow-Williams spoke of the ‘horrible’ situation parents face with conflicting information from politicians and unions as they struggle to combine work with childcare.
‘It wasn’t an easy decision to take,’ he told MailOnline, ‘We had to close the school two weeks early before Christmas because of a covid outbreak which hit seven out of our 10 bubbles.
‘The unions are calling for schools to stay closed, but our staff made up their own minds and we took advice and weighed things up and decided we can to provide a safe environment to teach the children and decided to open.
‘I’m a parent of two myself and my wife is shielding, so I fully understand people’s concerns. It’s a horrible dilemma for parents right now as the rates are going up.
‘But we are taking stringent precautions to minimise the risk, and it’s very important that children get their education.’
Asked whether he thought schools would be likely to remain open, he said: ‘The Prime Minister sounded as if complete closure might be a possibility, and we will obviously have to switch to home learning if that’s the case.’
Covid rates in South Norfolk, where Hethersett is, are the worst in the county, with 410 cases per 100,000 people in the latest figures, which is slightly under the national average of 450, but has soared from 244 per thousand the previous week.
Parents arriving at the school today were full of praise for the way their children’s school have handled things during the pandemic.
Mother-of-two Danielle Gilbert, 31 who is a GP, said the school had been ‘brilliant’ in keeping her informed.
‘I have no qualms about letting my son go to school today,’ she said. Her son James, four is in reception at the school.
‘I think it’s been confusing for parents with the mixed messages they are receiving nationally,’ she said ‘and I think parents, especially those who are working, need more than a day’s notice to be told whether schools are going to be open or shut.’
Mrs Gilbert, 31, whose husband is also a doctor, arrived at school with her 18-month older daughter Lily on the back of her bicycle and James on his own bike.
‘James is loving school and he would have been very disappointed not to come in today,’ she said.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if all schools are closed soon under a more widespread lockdown, but the school is very good about home educating, so I’m confident they’ll handle it well.’
Hethersett Primary School parents Pauline and Tim Booth, who both work for Sainsbury’s, were happy to see their seven-year-old son Brad go to school this morning.
‘He’s been looking forward to it and wants to see his mates again, especially after the extra-long Christmas break,’ said Tim, 40.
‘The school has kept us informed and we got a lot of assistance when we were doing home learning during the first lockdown,’ said 42-year-old Pauline.
‘But you never know for sure if it’s all going in, so in the classroom is definitely preferable. My parents live nearby and although we were able to see them on Christmas Day, we’ve not seen much of them otherwise.’
Mum-of-two Melissa Rollison, a 41-year-old HR manager said she was pleased that her nine-year-old daughter was going back to school.
‘I’ve got a son of 11 who’s at high school, so he’s still off, and I’m working from home. I’m confident that the school will handle things well, whether it’s in-school or home-learning, as we had before.
‘They were able to give me a lot of help when we were doing that, but obviously it’s better when she’s actually in school.’
Dianna Nicholas, 35 a stay at home mum from Castle Bromwich, Birmingham with two children at Firs Academy, aged five and six, said: ‘Both my children have got learning difficulties so routine and structure is very important for them.
‘They have looked forward to going back to school for the whole of the last week.
‘For them the interaction with friends and getting up in the morning and coming home, the whole thing, I think they need it.
‘There’s been so much uncertainty with everything taken away from us over the last year.
‘It’s unfair on the children and on us as parents. I think they need a bit of normality.
‘Their education is very important because both of mine have got autism and global development delay and getting them to where they need to be is very important.’
Jahangir Ahmed, 51, from Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, who has one eight-year-old son in Year 3, said: ‘Most parents aren’t happy sending their children to school after the new coronavirus strain started.
‘It’s spreading so fast and I heard in London one of the school children who died was only eight.
‘This school has said Year 4 and 6 are not supposed to come in because of Covid.
‘I don’t understand this – apparently this coronavirus cannot attack Years 4 and 6?
‘What about the others, what is going to happen to them?
‘I have met so many parents who have said they don’t have any choice because if they don’t send their child to school they will start being fined.
‘I know that parents are not happy. I also think that every single parent you ask will say the same, didn’t they have enough dying last time from coronavirus?
‘And now it’s going to start having a go at the children.
‘We are not happy, we want our children to be educated but their life is more important than anything.
‘If they are not going to live then what can they do with their education?
‘I want them to make their minds up. If they want to send the children in, send them all, not just some. Or just shut the doors.’
Kuntaea You, 37, who is unemployed and from Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, has two sons aged ten and nine. She said: ‘Some people are saying it’s not safe but the school is open so we have to send our children to school today.
‘I’m okay with my children going into school but only one of my sons has gone in today.
‘He’s ten and in Year 5 but my other son he’s nine and hasn’t gone into school as he’s in Year 4 and they have not gone in.
‘I’m a bit unsure on it all but happy for my children to go into school today.’
Mum-of-four Athena Davidson, 35, a care assistant from Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, said: ‘If the government doesn’t shut the country down and do what they are supposed to do then the schools have got to remain open.
‘But I think the government should just do a full lockdown as this makes it more difficult for parents that go to work.
‘Because if the kids go in and someone from their class or a teacher has Covid then they have got to isolate for two weeks.
‘But then that parent has got to take time off of work so I don’t think the government is considering the people.
‘I think they are just all in it for themselves.
‘I have got four children and one on the way and have two in school. One is aged nine in Year 5, and I have a five-year-old in reception.
‘I just think the government needs to just sort it out. They should just lock the country down again if that is what is needed.’
Leader of Kent County Council Roger Gough urged Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to keep all primary schools in the county closed, saying it is ‘very hard to justify’ letting some schools open while others are closed.
Primary school pupils in Thanet, Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone and Hythe are expected to return on Monday while the other districts in Kent will learn remotely for the first two weeks of term.
Yesterday council leaders in Cumbria, Brighton, Birmingham and Wolverhampton all formally requested permission for schools in their area to stay shut.
While it waits to hear back from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, Brighton and Hove City Council has advised all primary heads to shut their schools, apart from for vulnerable children and those of key workers, and to move learning online.
In Southampton the city council warned that some schools ‘do not have enough staff to reopen safely to all children’, while Slough Borough Council said some primaries would stay closed amid ‘confusion across the board’ caused by the Department for Education.
Boris Johnson says harsher Covid lockdown IS coming despite Tory fury at warnings it will need to last MONTHS to combat ‘out of control’ mutant strain – with vaccines only hope of escape
Boris Johnson gives a thumbs up as he has his temperature checked during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital in north London today, with the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine launching
Boris Johnson today confirmed that tougher coronavirus lockdown is coming amid hints the whole of England will be under Tier 4 within days – and enforcement could be hardened.
The PM put Britons on notice that stronger restrictions will be needed for months, despite the optimism sparked by the first Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine doses being administered.
Speaking during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital in north London, Mr Johnson warned of ‘tough tough’ weeks to come.
He added: ‘If you look at the numbers there’s no question we will have to take tougher measures and we will be announcing those in due course.’
Earlier Mr Hancock responded to demands from Labour and scientists for a national lockdown by saying all options are on the table. But he suggested the first step will be to escalate even more of the country into the harshest restrictions, saying Tier 3 did not seem able to hold back the more infectious version of the deadly disease.
A headteacher in Berkshire has told parents not to send their children to school tomorrow amid soaring cases of the more-infectious Covid variant – despite assurances from Boris Johnson that schools are ‘safe’.
Slough headteacher Gil Denham said she can’t ‘guarantee that pupils or staff will not be exposed to the virus’ if they return on Monday and parents should only send their children in if they feel the risk is not ‘too high’.
Most primaries in England are expected to re-open their doors tomorrow, while secondary schools will reopen on a staggered basis later this month with a weekly-testing scheme.
But in a series of embarrassing blows to Gavin Williamson’s plans, councils across the country are defying Government orders and demanding their primaries continue to teach remotely as the new Covid mutation wreaks havoc.
Britain yesterday recorded a further 54,990 coronavirus cases in 24 hours – marking the sixth day in a row that daily infections exceeded 50,000.
Cumbria, Brighton, Kent, Birmingham and Wolverhampton have asked the Department for Education for permission to keep primaries closed tomorrow, demanding learning be delivered remotely.
In the mean time, Brighton and Hove City Council has ordered primary schools in the area to shut, while several schools in Wolverhampton, Derbyshire, Merseyside and Nottinghamshire have also refused to open.
And yesterday afternoon, Essex County Council ordered all schools in the only three districts earmarked by the Government for reopening to move to online learning only.
Leader of Kent County Council Roger Gough urged Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to keep all primary schools in the county closed, saying it is ‘very hard to justify’ letting some schools open while others are closed.
Primary school pupils in Thanet, Canterbury, Dover and Folkestone and Hythe are expected to return on Monday while the other districts in Kent will learn remotely for the first two weeks of term.
Yesterday council leaders in Cumbria, Brighton, Birmingham and Wolverhampton all formally requested permission for schools in their area to stay shut.
While it waits to hear back from Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, Brighton and Hove City Council has advised all primary heads to shut their schools, apart from for vulnerable children and those of key workers, and to move learning online.
In Southampton the city council warned that some schools ‘do not have enough staff to reopen safely to all children’, while Slough Borough Council said some primaries would stay closed amid ‘confusion across the board’ caused by the Department for Education.
Colchester, Tendring and Uttlesford have been told to open classrooms on Monday – but the council has now written to Mr Williamson demanding ‘urgent clarity’ over whether they should still do so as infections continue to soar.
Ms Denham – headteacher of the Marish Academy Trust which operates two primary schools in Slough – wrote a letter to parents saying they can keep their children at home if they feel it is safer, Berkshire Live reports.
The letter read: ‘As a parent and grandparent myself, if I feel that the risk of my child or someone else in my family contracting Covid-19 is too high, if they attend school from Monday, I would keep them at home.
‘It may be that this is the decision some of you come to for your own families.’
She stressed that online teaching will be available to parents who refuse to send their children in.
She added: ‘Neither I, or any other school leader in Slough can guarantee that pupils or staff will not be exposed to the virus in school or on the way to or from school, when our experience has already shown us that Covid-19 can easily spread through a community.’
Slough Borough Council later said it will allow individual schools to make the call about whether or not to open.
Norfolk, Greater Manchester and Southampton have also allowed schools to make their own decisions about sending pupils back.
Their defiance came as the Prime Minister today told parents that it was ‘safe to send their children back but refused to rule out a full shutdown to control the mutant coronavirus strain – as Keir Starmer demanded a new national lockdown within 24 hours.
Now nearly a third of the country – some 17million people – are living in areas where primaries have been told to close by the Government, or where councils have said they will back heads who decide to close their gates. Despite the unfolding chaos, Mr Johnson said yesterday that he had ‘no doubt’ that classrooms were safe. He told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘Schools are safe. It is very, very important to stress that.
‘The risk to kids, to young people is really very, very small indeed. The risk to staff is very small.’
He added: ‘I understand people’s frustrations, I understand people’s anxieties but there is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe and that education is a priority.’
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said his plans were insufficient and it was ‘inevitable’ many would stay closed today.
The unofficial closures came after Britain’s biggest teaching union, the National Education Union, called an online meeting attended by 400,000 teachers and supporters where they were told to ‘say no’ to reopenings.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said school closures should be kept to the ‘absolute minimum’ as Education Secretary Gavin Williamson urges teachers and parents to ‘move heaven and earth’, adding the young must not ‘bear the heaviest cost’ of the pandemic
Kevin Courtney, its joint general secretary, told teachers who dialled in that they should protest against returning to school – and that this could lead to a ‘snowball effect’. Within hours, the message appeared to be having an effect.
By last night, many schools had made the decision not to open, despite being outside the Government’s ‘contingency framework’, which mandates closures, with some citing union advice. The Daily Mail has learned of many schools being forced into 11th-hour decisions in the face of staff shortages. For example, Lea Community Primary School, in Preston, said that ‘due to health and safety, a rising increase in transmission and infection rates… and following advice of unions’ it was unsafe for it to open.
And St Mary’s Catholic Primary School, in Birmingham also said ‘insufficient staff’ was the reason behind its decision to close. All classes would be taught via ‘live’ lessons delivered online instead.
Bedford Primary School, in Bootle, Merseyside, said it would be shut to pupils, apart from those of key workers, for at least a week ‘due to reduced staffing ratios.’
Salford mayor Paul Dennett wrote to Mr Williamson last night saying he wanted face-to-face learning to be looked at again. He said he would ‘support any Salford school leader who assesses that it is not safe to open their school’.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Mr Williamson gave no indication he was considering widening school closures. ‘The safety of teachers and pupils will always be paramount, but we must all move heaven and earth to get children back to the classroom where they best thrive,’ he wrote.
Dozens of parents arrived at Perry Court E-ACT Academy in Hengrove, Bristol, which was open to reception, Year three and Year six pupils, as well as vulnerable children and those of key workers.
Law firm worker Lisa, 37, took her four-year-old son Brennon in.
She said: ‘In terms of primary schools staying open I’m absolutely fine because they’ve got lower numbers.
‘Secondary school is different. But in Primary schools – groups have been segregated going back now.
‘I would be annoyed if the primary school had to close – whether they should be closed or not I’m not sure.
‘I’m working from home so my work has been brilliant with having kids at home.
‘It’s easier for me but for others it’s not, it’s really difficult, I can imagine their struggles.’
A headteacher in Berkshire has told parents not to send their children to school tomorrow amid soaring cases of the more-infectious Covid variant despite assurances from Boris Johnson that schools are ‘safe’ (file image)
Victoria, 37, who works in finance and accompanied by her son Oliver, aged four, said: ‘I’m very happy with kids going back to school, I agree.
‘I believe when teachers stay at home during these situations – they’re on furlough, being paid – I’m being paid for my job.
‘I’m not paid to be a teacher and I don’t have special education to teach my child.
‘I don’t have knowledge of how to teach my child correctly.
‘I’m doing my best, but being in quarantine was a nightmare for me. I had to juggle between being a mum, doing my job and teaching my child – It’s hard.
‘So I believe the best solution would be that home learning shouldn’t just be homework, it’s not the same thing.
‘If we do have home learning teachers should provide 100% online classes.
‘So then my job is to take my child in front of his computer at the right time and make sure he sits there and listens.
‘The rest should be their responsibility because i think basic education is for free in this country, I pay my taxes to have this right.
‘I shouldn’t have to be a mummy, a teacher and carry on with my own job, unless I was being paid extra.’
Unemployed Shirelle, 29, mother to 11-year-old Keira, said: ‘I have four kids at home and only one can return today.
‘She has to go because she’s in year six, she’s preparing for her SATs.
‘But ideally it’s not safe enough for them to go home. I think a full shutdown needs to be done.
‘This makes me anxious. We have a vulnerable child at home as well, but education is important and for as long as the schools open I have to send them otherwise I’ll get fined.
‘I would probably home school them until this was all over. It’s not very safe, we don’t feel safe.’
Unemployed Hollie, 35, mother to five-year-old Zeus, said: ‘I’ve got seven children so Zeus is the only one out of the seven coming back.
‘He was kept home from school before Christmas due to having to isolate.
‘My personal opinion is that I’d rather have them all home where I know they’re going to be safe.
‘But then again I know the school takes the measures to keep the children safe and keeps us up to date with any confirmed cases.
‘So as much as I would rather have him home with the others I do feel safe knowing that the school is taking the relevant steps and precautions.
‘I think they’re education is important but obviously so is our health and their safety. I’d rather have all my children home safe with me until this has all passed.’
I RUN A BUSINESS – AND HELP MY SON
Rachel Allen, 40, is a single mother to Lewis, seven, (pictured together) and runs a social media consultancy from her Tier 4 home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. She says: ‘As a self-employed single parent trying to maintain a business that was decimated at the start of lockdown, school is a lifeline for me’
Rachel Allen, 40, is a single mother to Lewis, seven, and runs a social media consultancy from her home in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Her area is in Tier Four, with latest data showing a new case rate of 739 per 100,000 in the week to December 28.
She says: ‘As a self-employed single parent trying to maintain a business that was decimated at the start of lockdown, school is a lifeline for me. It gives me the space to concentrate on maintaining an income, while Lewis can be in the classroom with friends getting the education he needs.
‘I don’t qualify for any support and I don’t have any savings to fall back on so I have to keep the business running and fit that around providing some kind of education for my son, who is in Year Three.
‘As the first lockdown started… my existing business was almost annihilated overnight. Thankfully I was able to hold on, but I must have dropped £10,000 this year and to say that it has been a hard slog would be an understatement – there have been times where I have felt like my head was in a pressure cooker.
‘Despite that, we came up with our routine: fitting my work around gaps to help Lewis with his work, and then I picked up an NHS contract which meant I was a key worker and he could go back to school in June. But now it’s back to home school.
‘I’m very fortunate that Lewis’s dad lives nearby and is very helpful and involved. When the schools closed last time, we took it in turns taking Lewis and we will do the same again this time, but both he and his partner work full-time too.
‘Luckily, Lewis is very adaptable and takes everything in his stride, but I do worry about how all this will impact him long term. Obviously I don’t want my son’s education to suffer, but I have to prepare myself for the fact that it probably will.
‘As a single parent, and a self-employed one at that, we are resilient – I simply have to knuckle down and get on with it.’
THE KIDS WANT TO RETURN TO LESSONS
Ella Brucher, 35, a self-employed cleaner, has two children, Scarlet, six, and Dominic, ten, (pictured together) in Purley which is in Tier 4. Ms Brucher said: ‘After not being able to work at all for three months earlier in the year, it’s very difficult – and more than that, it’s hard for the children, too. They want to be back at school.’
Ella Brucher, 35, a self-employed cleaner, has two children, Scarlet, six, and Dominic, ten, with her husband, Nicholas, 40, a company director. They live in Purley, near Croydon in south London, which is in Tier Four and has a case rate of 835.5 per 100,000 residents:
‘Having taken time off for the Christmas holidays, I was expecting to go back to work this week. But Wednesday evening’s announcement has changed all that.
‘After not being able to work at all for three months earlier in the year, it’s very difficult – and more than that, it’s hard for the children, too.
‘They want to be back at school, they miss being able to socialise – and with not being able to meet friends outside of school, the classroom was the only place they got that important interaction.
‘My son plays computer games and talks with friends over headphones, he has his lessons, he is sensible and can work on his own, but he’s missing interaction with the teacher that he can only get at school, and this is his last year of primary school.
‘It’s very hard for my little girl, she has missed half of Year One and refused to do any home learning – and now here we are again.
‘I think the impact of this will be felt for years to come.
‘As for me, I would have been working for five days, but now I’m going to have to fit as much as I can into two days so that I can be there to look after the children and support them with their schoolwork.
‘I will have to let some of my clients down. I’m just thankful that those who have children and are in the same position will understand.
‘My husband has been able to keep working from home, but he has to go into work one to two days a week, so we simply have no choice.
‘I just hope that in two weeks they will be able to go back.’
Will exams be scrapped AGAIN this summer?
Boris Johnson has refused to rule out cancelling exams this summer after headteachers called for them to scrapped.
The Prime Minister has come under pressure to axe GCSEs and A-Levels because so many children have missed out on schooling since the pandemic began.
Secondary schools have been ordered to close for the first two weeks of term to suppress Covid – particularly the new, faster-spreading variant – and there are fears the shutdown could last until February.
Headteachers have warned of huge inequality in the system, with some pupils left to face the summer exams less prepared than others. Asked yesterday on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 whether exams should be cancelled, the Prime Minister declined to rule the idea out, adding: ‘We’ve got to be realistic about the pace at which this new variant has spread, we’ve got to be realistic about the impact it’s having on our NHS, and we’ve got to be humble in the face of this virus.’
No exams took place last summer, with GSCE and A-level grades based on teacher assessments.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson insists national exams must go ahead this summer, even though Scotland and Wales have abandoned them.
But former education secretary Lord Baker told The Sunday Times that teachers should be allowed to grade their students instead.
He said teachers should take into account the number of days missed, adding: ‘They are better than algorithms and they are the only people who can possibly assess the achievement of their students in this extraordinary time.’
More than 2,000 headteachers from the campaign group WorthLess? insist health should not be put at risk simply to protect exam timetables. They added: ‘Wider public health, pupil and staff safety should be prioritised ahead of examinations. Public safety should not be risked or driven by an inflexible pursuit of GCSE and A-Levels.’
One of its leaders, Jules White, head of Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex, told The Sunday Times there was ‘great scepticism that exams can go ahead fairly’.
Recommending teacher assessments for final grades instead, the group said it would be more unfair on pupils in areas hit harder by the pandemic to go ahead with exams.
But Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, said: ‘Most children I talk to want exams to continue, but clearly they need to be fair.’
An expert panel is due to report to the Education Secretary with recommendation for making exams fair for children across England.
There are concerns about how to take into account the hidden disadvantages for children whose access to remote learning is poor.
Matt Hood, principal of Oak National Academy, which was commissioned by the Government to produce online lessons, said one million children had been forced to use their parents’ mobile phones to study because they did not own a phone or laptop.
The Department for Education said there was no plan to cancel exams.
