Commenting on a Bill to be proposed this week by Robert Halfon MP, chair of the Education Committee, to introduce a 'triple lock' to prevent any future school closures, including a Parliamentary vote, Nick Brook, deputy general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said:

“No-one wants to see any further school closures. School leaders have seen first-hand the impact that Covid lockdowns had on the learning and wellbeing of their pupils and they have been working tirelessly to support children since day one of the pandemic.

“But this Bill misses the point. Rather than thinking about political mechanisms to prevent school closures, we need the government to do far more to help keep classes open.

“The reality is that currently thousands of pupils are missing out on face-to-face education as a result of record numbers of Covid cases in schools. Disruption to education is rife because of the government’s failure to do more to prevent the spread of Covid in classrooms.

“No-one has a crystal-ball to know what situations we may face in the future. Whatever the future holds, we need to be confident that government balances the advice of all relevant experts in determining the appropriate course of action, aware of the consequences on health, education and wellbeing of decisions taken. Parents and schools alike need to be confident that government will make the right decision, on the balance of evidence, in a timely way – when any delay could have disastrous consequences.

“Triple-locking the stable door after the horse has bolted will do nothing to address the learning loss experienced from lockdown and the growing mental health crisis in schools. Right now, the government should be focused on providing schools with the support they need to stay open: funding to meet ever-growing supply costs, help to improve key mitigations such as better ventilation, and an effective track and trace systems to ensure cases are identified early.”