600K PUPILS SENT HOME OVER COVID

Almost one in five had to isolate last week – but just 10,000 tested positive

ALMOST 600,000 secondary school pupils were forced to isolate at home for Covid-related reasons last week.

The alarming figures from the Department for Education show nearly a fifth of children were off on October 22.

But the majority of those sent home had not contracted Covid and simply had potential contact with someone infected.

Only a minuscule number, or around 10,000, have actually tested positive, the figures showed. Parents’ group Us For Them said state schools were struggling with DfE guidance which has left swathes of children being unnecessarily out of school.

Co-founder Molly Kingsley said: ‘We know some schools are being sensible but we also know others are sending home whole bubbles or year groups home. It means we have healthy children who have already missed a lot of schools being sent home again.

‘I think it just goes to show that the rules themselves need urgent review. We ought to move to a system where only sick children are sent home. Nordic countries are leading the way on this.’

Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield has also previously spoken of the ‘chaos’ in some schools.

She said last week: ‘Some are sending entire year groups home for a fortnight because a single pupil tests positive for Covid, something that is actually against government guidance and should stop.’

The figures, which exclude schools on half term, also show secondary schools continue to be disrupted to a far greater extent than primaries.

It will pile further pressure on the Government’s plans to steam ahead with exams next summer.

More than 55 per cent of secondary schools had at least one child selfisolating at home, compared to 20 per cent of primaries.

Between 16 and 18 per cent of schools have needed to send 30 or

‘Williamson acting ostrich-like’

more children home. Overall, school attendance dropped from 89 per cent a week earlier to 86 per cent on October 22.

The figures prompted fresh criticism of Gavin Williamson from teaching unions.

Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, called the figures ‘shocking’ and accused the Education Secretary of having his head in the sand.

She said: ‘The challenge is not going away, so Gavin Williamson must take steps to expand school space, increase staff numbers and help us maintain social distancing.

‘Instead he is ostrich-like, producing increasingly bizarre responses to attendance statistics that insist black is white and all is well. This is plainly not true.’

Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, added: ‘This analysis paints a grim picture of the increasingly challenging situation facing schools with attendance falling amidst rising Covid infection rates.’

Separate figures for October 15 showed the North West and Yorkshire and Humber were the regions with lowest attendances in their secondary schools at 81 per cent. The South West had the highest at 90 per cent.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘As we would expect, some pupils are self-isolating in line with public health advice, but the average size of those groups is relatively small compared to the total number of pupils on roll.’