Schools boss: Closures would be a ‘last resort’
A SCHOOLS chief says keeping children in classrooms is the “number one priority”, as Covid cases skyrocket and fears grow over staff shortages.
There have been severe warnings over the pressure on vital frontline services as the region’s infection rate continues to hit record highs as Omicron continues to hammer the UK.
Amid concerns that children could face major disruption to learning, Newcastle City Council education boss Mark Patton said complete or partial closures of any schools would only come as a “last resort”.
The local authority’s assistant director for education and skills said the only enforced closure du to staff shortages is a nursery class at Dinnington First School.
In a Q&A session on the
ChronicleLive Facebook page, he sought to reassure parents that Newcastle had been “very successful” in keeping schools open during the pandemic and said his priority was to “keep schools open as far as we possibly can and for as many children as we can”.
It has been reported that schools may be forced to merge classes, send some year groups home, or suspend teaching of certain subjects if Covid absences among staff reach critical levels. According to latest figures published by the city council, the average Covid infection rate in the North East is now 2,111 cases per 100,000 people – the highest since the pandemic began. Mr Patton said: “One of the biggest factors that will help a headteacher or their team make a decision about the viability of teaching classes in school is the size of the school itself. “At one extreme, very sma l l schools are much more vulnerable to full or partial closure if even one or two members of staff are not able to come into work because they are poorly, whereas very large schools have a little bit more flexibility and a little bit more opportunity to move staff around to cover arrangements.
“As far as where we are at the moment, our heads are working closely with their staff and parents and carers, but also with other headteachers within their trusts and their localities to make sure they can remain open for pupils as far as they possibly can - that is our number one priority, after making sure everyone is safe and well.”
James Andriot, principal of Excelsior Academy in the city’s West End, said that staff absence was “not a big problem for us at the moment” since the start of the new term on Tuesday, adding: “Staff absence is not a new phenomenon during this pandemic.”
Mr Patton said that sufficient testing provision was available for pupils to be tested for Covid in school at the start of this term, a “huge improvement” compared to last year, and encouraged parents to approach their children’s schools to ask about spare lateral flow tests if they are struggling to order any online.