Commenting as both the Secretaries of State for Health and Education refused to rule out the possibility of school closures due to Covid, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said:

“School leaders and their teams have been working tirelessly to keep children in school. They are the very last to want to see schools close.

“But I am pleased to see the that both the Secretaries of State for Health and Education are showing a bit of realism here. It is already chaos in some schools as the omicron wave hits. Delaying action until vaccination can take hold may actually keep children away from school longer in the long-term. We would urge the government to take every safety measure possible while maintaining face-to-face education, in order to avoid longer-term school closures.

“Infection rates in schools have been growing unabated for a long time. Simply relying on the fact that children tend to suffer less from the virus is not good enough. We have to account for further transmission too.

"The government must act now to deliver ventilation solutions, sensible and effective isolation protocols, and lift the unnecessary pressure of inspection and other bureaucratic burdens. That way we can concentrate on keeping children where they should be.”