Government under pressure to keep all schools shut

The National Education Union (NEU) said all primary and secondary schools should remain closed for two weeks following the Christmas break, while the NASUWT has written to the Education Secretary calling for an “immediate nationwide move to remote education” for all pupils.

On Friday, Gavin Williamson confirmed that all London primary schools will remain shut next week – rather than just those in certain boroughs as set out earlier in the week.

But unions say extending that to all schools in England is “the only sensible and credible option”.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson

• More than 600 new cases of Covid-19 in Dorset and the New Forest in 24 hours

General secretary of the NEU, Dr Mary Bousted, told BBC Breakfast: “The danger is that by opening schools as levels of infection are rising so high and are already so high amongst pupils, then we’re not going to break that chain and our NHS will become overwhelmed so we said all schools should be closed for the first two weeks.

“We regret to have to say that, we don’t want to have to say the schools will close but our fear is if we don’t do something now, they’re going to have to be closed for a much longer period later on this month.”

NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach said it was “now abundantly clear” that the pandemic was impacting on the ability of schools to operate normally.

“There is genuine concern that schools and colleges are not able to reopen fully and safely at this time,” he said.

“The NASUWT remains of the view that schools, colleges and other settings should only remain open to all pupils where it is safe for them to do so.”

• Walk-in Covid testing facilities to be ramped up in Christchurch and Poole

The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) called for the Government to move all schools to home learning for a “brief and determined period for most children”, adding that the new strain had created “intolerable risk” to schools, while the GMB union, which represents school support workers, said a consistent approach was needed, rather than “a postcode lottery”.

Mr Williamson had said the decision to close all London primary schools was a “last resort”.

From January 4, London primary schools will be required to provide remote learning for two weeks to all children except vulnerable children and those of key workers, who will be permitted to continue to attend.

Under the Government’s initial plan, secondary schools and colleges were set to be closed to most pupils for the first two weeks of January, while primary schools within 50 local authorities in London and the south of England were also told to keep their doors shut until January 18.

The row comes after figures showed a further 53,285 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Friday, with another 613 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

This was the fourth day in a row daily cases have been above 50,000, with a new record high of 55,892 cases reported on New Year’s Eve – the highest since mass testing began in late May.