Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “We want to see children in school. It is the best place for their education and their wider wellbeing.

“We understand that the government has been seeking to strike a balance between minimising the risk of transfer of COVID-19 and providing face to face education for all children. However, the latest data shows that in large parts of the country,control of infection has been lost and the lack of understanding regarding the new strain has now created intolerable risk to many school communities.”

We believe that the government should take the following steps:

• Move all schools to home learning for a brief and determined period for most children.
• During this time, proper support to make the home learning experience as good as it can be should be provided. That includes technology and learning resources but also the flexibility for school leaders to respond to their circumstances. A centralised, prescriptive approach is too constrained.
• The government should then establish a properly organised, resourced and funded mass testing regime for schools in place of the botched DIY system currently being imposed.
• Work should be undertaken with school leaders and PHE to establish and agree new covid-related safety measures in schools during the temporary restriction.
• Urgently review its approach to special schools, APs and Maintained Nursery Schools to protect all staff and pupils in those communities.  
• Immediately prioritise vaccinations in education
• Then agree an orderly return

Mr Whiteman continued: “We believe that it is wrong to keep people in harm’s way whilst the implications of the new variant of the virus are still being discovered. The currently available information contains no solid scientific evidence regarding the impact of the new variant on schools. In particular, there is nothing that outlines the risks to pupils and teachers of maintaining in-person tuition. With this in mind we had begun legal proceedings against the government to force them to disclose the scientific information they are withholding.

“We have asked the government to share the evidence justifying distinctions drawn between primary and secondary schools, the geographical distinctions they have made and the evidence justifying the compulsory introduction of mass-testing.”

Press and Media contacts:

Steven George
NAHT Head of Press and Media
01444 472886
07970 907730

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363