Today (Thursday 12 November 2020) school leaders’ union NAHT will meet Public Health England alongside other education unions to further query what we know about transmission in schools and to establish the exact risks of schools remaining open during lockdown. NAHT’s general secretary Paul Whiteman will say:

“It is right to prioritise keeping pupils in school. No-one is more committed to ensuring that children’s learning is not interrupted than those that have dedicated their working lives to education. But equally no one wants to see pupils or staff put in harm’s way.

“We are calling on government and Public Health England to provide complete transparency on the risks to children, families and school staff of keeping all pupils in school, and to give clear guidance on what additional measures schools may have to take in order to keep everyone safe.

“We are concerned that there is considerable ambiguity about whether it is safe for those who live with those who are clinically extremely vulnerable to continue to work in a school.

“It is clear from the government’s own attendance figures that older children have been more affected by the rise in infections so far. We need to know more about how the virus is spread amongst different age groups and more about transmission from asymptomatic children to adults.

“It is right to prioritise keeping children in school but we are calling for complete transparency on the risks.”

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