Number of primary schools announce they won't re-open this week
A number of primary schools in the East have announced that they will not open this week- despite the Prime Minister saying today "There is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe".
In a letter to parents the head of Lavenham Primary School, Rory Michael said that the infection rate is now so high that the danger of opening 'to pupils, staff and the wider community outweighs the benefit of having pupils in school.'
In the letter he told parents: "As head teacher it is my responsibility to decide whether we can offer a full curriculum in a safe environment for all. Currently we are all in agreement that we cannot and so we will be unable to open on Tuesday as planned. This decision has been agreed by the Chair of Governors and in consultation with Suffolk County Council. We will therefore be offering an online solution for pupils for the first two weeks of term."
He added that the school would remain open for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.
Likewise Robert Kett Primary in Norfolk will remain closed to all children apart from those critical and vulnerable due to 'insufficient staffing levels.'
Sheringham County Primary School and Nursery has also told parents that they will remain closed for the next two days to all pupils except to those who are classed as vulnerable and the children of critical workers. On their website the head said it was to allow them reasonable time to assess staffing levels to see if the school could open safely for more pupils.
Norfolk County Council has announced it will support any school leader who makes a decision not to open for the majority of pupils on 4 January 2021. but that each school will be responsible for this decision.
In the latest figures Suffolk has recorded 340 cases per 100,000 in the population in the seven days to 29 December.
Cases are now rising fastest in Norfolk and Suffolk, which have both seen an increase of positive tests of 42% in the week to 29 December.
Meanwhile Essex County Council has announced that Primary schools in Colchester, Tendring and Uttlesford will stay closed on Tuesday 5 January while the council seeks urgent clarity from the Department for Education on the current position on Primary schools reopening amid rising Covid-19 infection levels in the area.
Schools in these three districts were the only primary schools in Essex due to re-open, with the rest of the County’s primary schools remaining closed until Monday 18 January.
Under DfE rules, schools can be included in a ‘contingency framework’ which means they will operate on a remote learning basis if there are high levels of infection locally and pressure on local health services. All primary schools across the rest of Essex are already included in the contingency framework because of high infection levels- but today the council wrote to the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson urging that the remaining three districts- Colchester, Tendring and Uttlesford are placed into the contingency framework.
Pressure is mounting on the government from both sides on whether children in England should return to school as normal following the Christmas holiday amid soaring Covid-19 rates.
The Prime Minister told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show that parents should send their children to primary schools that are open in England on Monday, "Yes, absolutely they should in areas where schools are open."
The Prime Minister's calls for children to return to school were echoed by Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman who has that children’s education cannot be “furloughed” for months while Covid-19 vaccinations are rolled out and the country waits for coronavirus cases to subside.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the head of England's schools watchdog said that time away from school should be kept to an “absolute minimum”.
Most other primary schools in England are expected to still open on Monday while secondary schools will reopen on a staggered basis, with exam year pupils returning on January 11 and others returning a week later.
Schools will remain open for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers, as they did when they were shut in the spring and early summer.