Sage to advise on schools’ return based on the welfare of children

‘Any decisions regarding particular year groups will be made on welfare reasons and education reasons’

THE official advice on the safety of reopening primary schools will be published today, as modelling suggests there is little evidence to show that different year groups are at higher risk from coronavirus.

As the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (Sage) prepares to set out the evidence for a phased return from

June 1, experts on the group have suggested the decision to begin with younger age groups is rooted in concern for their welfare over the science.

While over-70s are believed to be more at risk from Covid-19, a source on Sage’s subcommittee on schools said that work conducted by the infectious disease modelling groups shows there is “no increased risk to one year group over another”.

The source added: “Any decisions regarding particular year groups should be made on welfare reasons and education reasons, because there isn’t the modelling to suggest different age groups are more at risk than others.”

Those comments are likely to prompt fresh questions from teachers’ unions opposed to the plans, who argue that social distancing among primary children is harder to enforce.

However, it remains unclear whether this modelling will be published today, with the source suggesting that documents chosen for release had been prioritised according to the public interest. It comes after Downing

Street yesterday confirmed that Sage would today publish the evidence justifying the Government’s plans for Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils to return next month.

Yet it remains to be seen whether the disclosure will be enough to convince some of the country’s largest teaching unions.

Asked when a final decision would be made on schools reopening, the Prime Minister’s spokesman told reporters: “We are continuing to hold discussions with them [teachers’ unions and councils] and to listen to their concerns. “I’m not in a position to say to you, definitively, when we will be able to say that. Our intention remains to get as many children into school as soon as possible but in a safe way.” Meanwhile, ministers also came under renewed pressure to ensure that contact tracing is being carried out by June, with Sage sources warning that the plan for schools reopening was “absolutely” conditional on the system being operational.

One said that without contact tracing, there was a significant risk that the R rate – the average number of people someone with Covid-19 infects – would rise above 1, while another said much of the work undertaken by Sage for lifting lockdown measures next month was predicated on it being ready.