Union leader’s call for half-term ‘circuit break’
PORTSMOUTH teacher and president of the UK’s biggest teaching union, Amanda Martin, has called on the government to use a two-week extended October half-term as part of a ‘circuit break’ to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
The proposal would see Portsmouth and Hampshire schools closed for an additional period during the first week of November.
A statement on the National
Education Union’s (NEU) website said: ‘In the face of rapidly rising infection levels amongst secondary pupils, the NEU is calling for an urgent circuit breaker to suppress Covid cases.
‘Alongside other nationwide measures to suppress coronavirus, schools and colleges should be closed for two weeks at half-term for secondary and post-16 students.’
Last week Portsmouth
City Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson called for a two-week circuit breaker to stop the rise in cases.
The stance comes as the incidence of coronavirus in Portsmouth schools increased to 17, five of which resulted in no need for additional pupils to self-isolate. General community transmission is also on the increase with the latest figures showing an infection rate of 99.6/100,000 during the seven day period up to October 11.
Ms Martin said: ‘The latest infection survey report from the Office for National Statistics (October 16) shows infection rates rising sharply amongst secondary age pupils - much more sharply than in any section of the population apart from university students.
‘This should be no surprise to either the prime minister or the Department for Education,’