Children of key workers could overwhelm schools, heads warn

THE school closure policy descended into chaos last night as the “key worker” list will see thousands of children continue to attend.

Schools were ordered to close their doors yesterday and remain open next week only for the most vulnerable children and those whose parents are considered to be key workers.

But head teachers warned that the Government’s list of key workers was “far more extensive” than had previously been hinted at.

They said schools faced being “overwhelmed”, as they pleaded with parents to only use schools if it was not safe to keep them at home.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said the decision to close schools should not be “unpicked” by a “poorly thought out” definition of key workers.

“The whole point of closing the schools is to reduce the amount of virus transmission so you can’t just reopen them with huge numbers of children,” he said.

The list of key workers is so long that it could result in some schools having the majority of pupils attending, the NEU said. Government officials said earlier this week that key workers would include NHS staff, police and delivery drivers, but the list published by the Cabinet Office also includes religious staff, those who work in banks and those in the energy sectors.

Official guidance says that any child with at least one parent or carer defined as a key worker can go to school.

According to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, 44 per cent of key workers with children – and almost half (49 per cent) of key workers in the health sector – are either partnered with another key worker or have no partner at home, meaning they will be reliant on schools for child care.

Teachers are understood to be anxious about having to decide who can attend.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “I think it would be overwhelming if everyone on [the] key worker list sent their children to school … that’s a very long list and takes us beyond what the system can cope with.”

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said parents should only send their children to school if there is “no safe alternative”.

Government sources insisted last night that schools should only be used as a “last resort” by key workers.

“We want to keep it as few children as possible in schools,” the source said. “Lots of key workers will still be able to work from home.”

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, said: “We must ask parents, even those who are critical workers but able to work from home, to look after their child at home – helping schools to focus on those who need it most.

“We’ve taken this action to stop the spread of this virus while keeping our country’s key functions running.”