Are all schools reopening in September in the UK?

SCHOOLS reopening will be a refreshing break for millions of parents desperate to get their kids back to the classroom.

Here’s everything you need to know about kids heading back to the classroom.

Are all schools reopening in the UK?

Schools will reopen across the UK from the first week of September.

Some schools went back earlier as their summer holidays end in August, such as in Leicester and Scotland.

Boris Johnson promised to get all kids back to school by September, threatening legal enforcement on parents who do not comply, insisting there is a “moral duty” in reopening schools.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson made an announcement in July of the Government’s plan to send all pupils back to school in September.

Primary schools and nurseries began to reopen on June 1 for children in reception, Years 1 and 6 and in nursery.

Secondary schools, sixth forms and colleges opened for face-to-face contact from June 15.

Minutes from a meeting of the Government’s scientific advisory group for emergencies (SAGE) said planning for the reopening of schools should take into account health and educational benefits.

How will social distancing work? 

Evidence suggests that the transmission rate in schools is low.

Minutes from a meeting of the Government’s scientific advisory group for epidemics (SAGE) confirmed this.

Documents said: “Regarding reopening of schools, SAGE reiterated its advice that there is a low risk to children’s health from Covid-19 and significant harms from schools being closed.”

The Department for Education issued guidelines on May 11, before the two metre rule was reduced to one metre plus, on how schools should enforce social distancing – including limiting class sizes to 15 students.

The main points were:

• Children under two years need 3.5 metres squared per child, two-year-olds need 2.5 metres squared per child and children aged 3 to 5 years need 2.3 metres squared per child
• Ensuring any surfaces touched are cleaned several times a day
• A queuing system when parents arrive to picking up children, to limit contact with carers
• Enforcing that children with symptoms and staff who are symptomatic to not come in
• Ensure hands are washed regularly throughout the day and children are watched doing so
• Supplying disposable tissues throughout the setting to enforce “catch it, bin it, kill it” measures on spreading germs
• Arrange for children to be collected at the door if possible
• Limit visitors and keep windows open for ventilation

When schools reopened in June, Mr Johnson admitted full social distancing may not be possible.

Do kids have to wear face masks in school?

Under the current tier one system, schools in England have the discretion to require students in Year 7 and up to wear face coverings in corridors and communal areas.

The government’s guidance for areas in local lockdown is that face coverings should be worn by adults and pupils in secondary schools when moving around the school.

Masks should also be worn when distancing cannot be maintained.

Face coverings are not necessary in classrooms.

From August 31, pupils in Scotland must wear masks in communal areas and corridors.

Schools have also been ordered to put all year groups in “protective bubbles” to minimise contact and lessen the chance of transmission.

It would involve staggered start and end times and mean the whole bubble would be sent home to self-isolate if just one pupil caught the bug.

Head teachers will be told to follow up pupils’ absence and issue sanctions, including fines in some cases.

If there are two or more confirmed cases in a two-week period, health protection teams may ask a larger number of other children or young people to self-isolate at home as a precautionary measure.

That could mean that whole year groups or even schools have to isolate.

Schools will be sent home test kits for any kids who fall ill to be able to take them as quickly as possible.

Any local outbreaks would see schools shut for everyone but key workers again – like in the early days of the pandemic back in March.

If a child has Covid symptoms they should wait to be picked up in a room on their own with door closed and window open.

Teachers should wear PPE if they have to get close to someone who has suspected symptoms.

Schools are told to stagger lunch and break times, as well as drop-off and pick-up times, to reduce the number of pupils moving around at once.

They are also advised to look at bringing in a one-way system in corridors, or putting a divider in the middle to control the flow of kids.

Institutions are advised to remove all soft toys or any toys that are hard to clean.

When they reopened in June, the government told secondary schools and colleges to halve their classes.

That means that classrooms and workshops were rearranged “with sitting positions two metres apart.

“Where very small classes might result from halving, it would be acceptable to have more than half in a class, provided the space has been rearranged.

“Support staff may be drawn on in the event there are teacher shortages,” the advice added.

Williamson said if scientific advice proposed a “limited number” of children could be sent back to school, it was his duty to allow this to happen.

When did schools close and what has happened since?

• September 1 – Most
• August 24 – Schools reopen in Northern Ireland of for years 7, 12
• August 18 – All schools in Scotland to have reopened
• August 9 – Boris Johnson says the country has a “moral duty” to get children back in schools by September
• August 5 – Children’s commissioner Anne Longfield said children had become an “afterthought” in the pandemic and said schools should be the last to close and first to reopen if restrictions were to be reimposed.
• August 2 – Housing Minister Robert Jenrick insists the Government has no plans to close pubs to make way for schools opening
• August 1 – Scientists warn pubs may have to close for schools to reopen
• July 30 – All schools in Scotland will go back in three weeks, it was announced
• July 24 – Schools told to delay 11-plus test until late October
• July 20 – Boris Johnson handed schools a £2.2bn boost
• July 20 – Parents could face fines for not sending their child to school in September
• July 2 – It was announced schools must put pupils in “bubbles”
• July 2 – Gavin Williamson announced the Government’s plan to send all pupils back to school from September
• June 22 – Exams could be pushed back by two months next summer to help kids catch up
• June 15 – Secondary schools and colleges opened
• June 1 – Schools reopened doors for primary children other than key workers.
• May 28 – Mr Johnson confirmed schools will begin their phased reopening on June 1, with primary schools first followed by secondary schools.
• May 24 – The PM confirmed “we will be in the position to move to step two of the plan”, meaning some schools will reopen on June 1, with reception, year one and year six classes returning first.
• May 22 – Independent SAGE group warn that it is unsafe for schools to return on June 1
• May 20 – Justice Secretary Robert Buckland admits “doubts” schools will reopen on June 1
• May 19 – List of schools revolting against June 1 opening date grows, as towns in the North and Midlands vow to stay closed
• May 12 – Teaching union encourages school staff not to engage with June 1 plans, The National Education Union (NEU) advised members to tell headteachers they were “[awaiting] further advice from [their] union”
• May 11 –  The Government publishes detailed plans on the return to school, and plans are announced for secondary school pupils facing exams to see teachers before sitting tests. The Government says they will “ensure that the youngest children, and those preparing for the transition to secondary school, have maximum time with their teachers”
• May 10 – Boris Johnson announces plans for years one and six to get to back to the classroom
• March 20 – Schools closed and it was announced GCSE and A Level exams would be awarded in August based on mock exam results, to much criticism
• March 18 – It’s announced all schools will be closed in two days, excluding for “vulnerable children” and kids of key workers

When are schools reopening?

• Scotland: Starting in phases with all schools reopening by August 18
• England: From September 1 or September 2
• Wales: September 1 or September 14
• Northern Ireland: August 24 for Years 7, 12 and 14, September for others

Can I be fined if I don’t send my kids to school?

Yes. It will be against the law for all but a small number of exceptions to not send your kids back to school next September.

Mr Johnson said it would be “the law” for kids to be in class by September.

He also said teaching unions – who don’t want schools reopened yet due to safety fears – should “take their responsibilities seriously”.

“It’s the kids from the poorer families who aren’t going back, and so you are entrenching social injustice,” Mr Johnson said.

Kids who are exempt are those who are particularly vulnerable to coronavirus – those who have compromised immune systems.