Just 1% of pupils attend school

THE vast majority of children entitled to be at school have stayed away during the lockdown with attendances as low as 1 per cent, figures showed yesterday.

Schools, which are only open to teach the children of key workers and pupils in vulnerable situations, have reported rates of between 1 and 3 per cent.

As of April 17, only 24,000 vulnerable children were attending – just 5 per cent of the 480,000 eligible. And only 62,000 children of key workers – 2 per cent – were in school, according to the department for Education.

Geoff Barton, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the figures were a ‘very serious concern’.

He added: ‘The definition of vulnerable children covers a range of circumstances and it is accepted that some of these young people can be safely supported at home.

‘However, there is a particular worry about young people who are at risk of abuse or neglect when they are out of school.

‘We are all working on ways of reaching out to these families to encourage these pupils to attend the emergency provision.’

Schools reported overall attendance rates in late March at over 3 per cent, falling to just 1 per cent by the middle of April while nurseries saw 4 per cent of their usual numbers. Kevin Courtney, of the National Education

Union, said: ‘We think it’s clear that some parents aren’t sending their children to school because they think it is unsafe.

‘This makes the point that the Government will have to present evidence that a return to schools will be safe.’ Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has previously said he wants local authorities ‘to ensure every vulnerable child knows that their school is there to support them’.

A former boss of education watchdog Ofsted told the BBC that schools should be reopen ‘as soon as it is safe to do so’. But Sir Michael Wilshaw also warned that some children may need to repeat a year. He said: ‘Those who are preparing for examinations next year...I think [they] possibly need to repeat the year and perhaps others as well.’