COUGH.. AND YOU ARE OFF!
Pupils to be suspended for Covid jokes
KIDS will be kicked out of school if they make pretend coughs as a joke in class under strict Covid-19 rules.
PUPILS could be sent home for coughing at classmates, using another year group’s toilets or making quips about coronavirus.
Strict new measures have been issued as schools across the country welcome children back to the classroom this week.
But tough rules introduced by some headteachers mean kids could soon find themselves back home again.
The Ark Alexandra Academy in Hastings, East Sussex, has set out a list of “coronavirus red lines” which will result in temporary expulsions for pupils if they are breached.
They include “deliberate or malicious” coughs or sneezes, “humorous, inappropriate comments or statements” related to Covid-19 and “purposeful physical contact with any other person”.
In a letter to parents, principal Jerome Scafe said: “Any student that needs to have a fixed-term exclusion during the pandemic will not return to main circulation until a risk assessment.”
Meanwhile, Ark Byron Primary Academy in Acton, west London, warned pupils who refuse to follow hygiene routines and social distancing rules will “immediately be moved to a separate area”.
In a letter to parents it said: “Some behaviours (e.g coughing deliberately on another person) that were previously ‘simply’ antisocial are now potentially extremely serious.”
Millions of children will return to school from today – many for the first time since lockdown in March. But more than 700 schools will defy government orders and block the return of all students.
They want to do a phased return instead over safety concerns, according to a survey by the National Association of Head Teachers.
Department for Education chiefs fear months off school with no routine may cause bad behaviour among pupils.
It said schools should work with pupils “who may struggle to re-engage” by providing them with support “to help them re-integrate back into school life”.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: “I do not underestimate how challenging the last few months have been but I do know how important it is for children to be back in school.”