Commenting on the Government’s announcement regarding the easing of legal requirements surrounding Covid-19 measures, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union, NAHT, said:

“There is no doubt that today’s announcement by the Prime Minister has the potential to have an enormous impact on schools. What is absolutely essential now is that government very quickly provides clear and unambiguous guidance so that schools and parents have a clear understanding of what to do should a child or member of staff have covid. Without that clarity, there is a real risk the government could create a chaotic situation in schools and put school leaders in an impossible position. We simply cannot expect schools to manage this on an individual basis, there must be clear guidance from the public health experts.

“It is important that parents remember that schools are only finding out about this today, just as they are. Like parents, they will have a wide range of questions that they need government to answer.  We ask that parents are patient with schools as it will obviously take some time for them to unpick and implement yet another set of changes.

“Judging from what the Prime Minister has said, the Government has replaced the legal responsibility for testing and isolation with a personal responsibility to keep each other safe.

“Schools and families will still need to co-operate to keep schools open. Access to lateral flow tests is an important part of any plan to live with Covid as we move forward. It’s crucial that they remain free for all pupils, or the consequences and disruption for disadvantaged pupils, in particular, could be severe.”