Schools’ U-turn over decision to close early for Christmas

SCHOOLS have been forced to U-turn on plans to close early for the Christmas holidays.

Leaders of Focus Trust - which includes Deeplish Primary Academy - were under pressure from the government to reverse their plan to shut a week earlier than planned.

They had announced last week that all 15 of their schools would close on December 11, instead of the original planned date of December 18.

The decision came amid growing concerns over the number of families that could be forced to isolate over the festive period because of positive cases in the run-up to the holidays.

Families with children at Focus Trust schools were initially told that during the week, pupils would be be expected to work from home, but it was then decided to class it as a normal holiday.

Unhappy with the plan to shut early, the Department for Education asked the Trust to review its decision, stressing that it ‘remains a national priority’ to keep schools open full-time and ‘avoid further disruption to education.’

The Trust has now written to parents, telling them the original closure date now stands.

It said that ‘while the plan to commence the holiday early had been made in the best interest of families and staff,’ the Trust ‘received a formal letter directing them to overturn the decision by the DfE.’

The Trust was also informed by the Regional Schools Commissioner that under the Coronavirus Act 2020, it was not permitted to change the term dates for Covid related reasons. And a further request for two inset days at the end of term - instead of the five days’ holiday - was also rejected.

In a joint statement, chair of the Trust Board Clive Davies, and the Trust’s chief executive Helen Rowland, said: “All of our decisions are taken with the best interests of our children, staff and the community in mind.

“This has been a very disruptive and exceptional term for all concerned, with the impact of Covid-19 being felt throughout our schools, resulting in absenteeism and staff shortages across the board.”