Half a million pupils stay at home as local councils keep schools closed

More than 50 authorities back unions in defiance of Government’s intention to open English classrooms

AS MANY as 550,000 primary school pupils were kept at home yesterday after more than 50 councils defied the Government’s plan to reopen classrooms to Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 students.

Councils across England sided with teachers’ unions, which have argued it is still not safe to send pupils back to school, with the rate of coronavirus infection in some areas still high.

At least 54 councils told schools not to reopen yesterday, or left the decision up to head teachers.

More than half a million primary school pupils who would have gone back to classes yesterday could still be at home, receiving home schooling from their parents or filling in worksheets online.

Schools in Brighton and Hove, Calderdale, East Yorkshire and the Wirral have been told to stay closed, while some councils in London have told schools they can make up their own minds, even though the virus level is lower in the capital.

Greenwich, Harrow and Islington councils all said that local authority schools under their jurisdiction could remain closed.

Academy schools across England are able to make their own decision on reopening since they are independent of local authority control.

Separately, a poll by the National Foundation for Educational Research suggested that almost half of parents kept their children at home yesterday, even if their schools were open.

The true number of pupils in Reception, Year 1 or Year 6 kept at home, despite the Government’s wishes, could be as high as a million.

Early indications suggested that between 30 and 60 per cent of pupils stayed at home yesterday.

Teachers were pictured scanning the foreheads of pupils with electronic thermometers on their way into the building to test for a fever, which is one of the virus’s main symptoms. Schools marked out work spaces on the floor to encourage social distancing between pupils, while teachers have been instructed to stay with their class groups at all times to enforce “bubbles” of students and prevent the spread of Covid-19.

At some primary schools there was chaos at the gates, with parents arriving to drop their children off, only to discover that the school was staying closed for another week.

The Prime Minister has acknowledged that the June 1 start date for primary schools was controversial, admitting in a press conference last month that it would not be possible everywhere.

“I acknowledge that a June 1 opening may not be possible for all schools, but the Government will continue to support and work with the sector to ensure that any schools experiencing difficulties are able to open more widely as soon as possible,” Boris Johnson said.

Some teachers’ unions have called on the Government to delay school start times or to publish evidence showing it is safe for children to return.

Geoff Barton, leader of the Association of School and College Leaders head teachers’ union, said the return had been “very mixed”.

“Caution is the watchword, and everybody is approaching this task with the safety of pupils and staff as their absolute priority,” he said.

Rebecca Long-bailey, the shadow education secretary, raised questions on Sunday night about the return to school the next day.

“Tonight, parents of children expected to attend school tomorrow will be agonising about the choice they are about to make,” she said on Twitter.

“Will they be safe? Am I doing the right thing? Will their teaching staff be at risk? Will our family be at risk? Will there be a spike in the R rate?”

The Government has insisted that it is safe for children to return.

Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has pointed to the developmental risks of keeping young children out of school for too long.