BACK TO SCHOOL
Defiant Boris urges parents to send kids to school today as teaching unions bid to halt return
BORIS Johnson yesterday urged parents to send their kids to school today as he has “no doubt” they are safe.
But the Prime Minister, amid mounting pressure from teaching unions, was unable to guarantee all will reopen again as planned on January 18.
⚠️Read our schools live blog for the latest news & updates
6
6
6
6
Militant teachers were last night planning to use employment and health and safety regulations to demand classes close after a rise in Covid infection levels.
Primary schools in London and parts of Kent, Essex, Bucks, West Sussex and Herts — over one million children — will remain shut today as they are in the most infectious areas.
But some councils are siding with unions to demand all primaries stay shut for at least two weeks — when secondaries are due to fully reopen.
Yesterday the PM said to parents: “Look at where your area is. Overwhelmingly you’ll be in a part of the country where primary schools tomorrow will be open.”
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.”
A series of councils want the PM to keep gates locked — with Brighton chiefs urging pupils to stay away. Others will not force schools to reopen if heads feel they are unsafe.
The PM said public health advice is “schools are safe in those areas where we’re not being driven by the new variant to close them”.
But he could give no guarantee over the January 18 restart. He said: “We’re going to continue to assess the impact of the Tier 4 measures.”
Asked if it meant GCSE and A levels face the axe, the PM said we had to be realistic about the spread of the new variant.
He added: “We’ve got to be humble in the face of this virus.”
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
Expected return dates for schools
Most primary schools: Open on January 4 as planned
Key exam years: return on January 11 as planned
Secondary schools: Delayed until January 18 (due to go back on January 11)
Covid hotspots: all primary and schools stay shut except for key workers and vulnerable kids. No timetable, but likely to be beyond January 18
But yesterday other ministers were more bullish.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson added: “We must ensure the youngest in our society do not bear the heaviest cost.”
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss told Times Radio: “I’m a parent of secondary school children myself, so I know the challenges of making sure your children are keeping in touch with online learning, and we want to get those schools open.”
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman also warned against closures, and said youngsters’ futures were in danger of being furloughed.
She urged the Government to make sure classes were the “last to close and first to open”.
She added: “It is clear that children’s lives cannot just be put on hold while we wait for vaccination programmes to take effect, and for waves of infection to subside. We cannot furlough young people’s learning or their wider development. The longer the pandemic continues, the more true this is.”
Anne Longfield, Children’s Commissioner for England, wants teachers to be bumped up the list for vaccination.
She said: “The risk of school closures demands immediate action, and vaccination is part of that defence.”
Militant teachers were threatening to boycott the return by invoking their rights under the Employment Act.
Section 44 states they can refuse to work, without fear of the sack, if they believe it is unsafe to do so.
'STAFF ARE ANGRY'
Some schools in Luton, Beds, are preparing to close after a number of staff vowed to defy the Government.
One said: “Staff are angry. As things stand, it is unsafe for us and the pupils to return. Our school is holding an emergency meeting.
“But if enough teachers invoke their section 44 rights and stay at home they will have no choice but to close.”
The teacher said at least seven other local schools, each with around 600 pupils, were also likely to shut.
Warren Chambers, of the National Education Union, said: “We are letting members know there is a piece of legislation they can use which entitles them to say they do not feel safe but will [allow them] to be available to work from home.
“A few weeks or a month away from learning is not going to damage children irreparably.”
He said staff wanted to work but the rise in infections “can be linked to schools”.
Birmingham City Council Leader Ian Ward said: “We will support any school leader who assesses that it is not safe to open.”
Gil Denham, head of Marish Academy in Slough closed her school after telling parents it was not safe.
Berkshire Council later said it will support any school’s decision to close, joining Norfolk, Greater Manchester and Southampton.
Sun says
CHILDREN remain least likely to fall ill from coronavirus and yet they are bearing an unfair brunt of the pandemic with the effect it has had on their education.
The most vulnerable kids have suffered the most and the gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their more privileged schoolmates will continue to grow while classrooms are empty.
That is why Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield is right to say that any school closures should be for “the absolute minimum of time”.
With the increased spread of the mutated virus, it would be wrong to suggest teachers do not have concerns.
So we applaud the staff of a school in Gravesend who took advantage of vaccines that might otherwise have gone to waste so that they can continue to teach.
Everything that can be done should be done to get teachers vaccinated and feeling safe.
Then children can get back into class.
Most read in News
Gildersome Primary in Leeds will shut after 16 staff “exercised their right not to teach”.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Headteacher Caroline Hoyle wrote to parents: “I know this will cause anxieties, strains and potential financial losses to families and I cannot apologise enough for this and the late notice.”
Last night the Local Government Association called for heads and councils to be allowed to keep schools shut if they deem it necessary.
6
6
SAGE adviser Professor Mark Walport says the new coronavirus variant is 'transmitting more readily in younger age groups'
Topics