Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said: “The government has not shared the rationale behind its decision to close some schools and not others, or explained why primaries and special schools are being treated differently to secondaries.

"There is obviously a huge amount of concern over how it can be safe for schools in some tier 4 areas to open while schools in other tier 4 areas are being told to move to remote learning. In some instances this means different approaches for schools only a few roads away from each other.

"For many schools, the government’s current guidance amounts to little more than ‘keep calm and carry on’ which is just not good enough when local infection rates and hospital admissions are soaring. We need to see much more transparency and honesty from the government. We will be formally asking government how it arrived at its decision over which areas should close schools, and how it justifies that.”

Press and Media contacts:

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

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363

Email : press.office@naht.org.uk