Most secondary pupils will not return to classrooms until January 18 as the Government struggles to contain a coronavirus surge – but primary schools will reopen on January 4 in all but the ‘highest infection’ areas.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson delivered the grim news to the House of Commons this afternoon as he admitted more time is needed to get mass Covid-19 testing facilities in place for pupils and staff.
Students in years 11 and 13 who are facing exams will physically return on January 11 – a date which had originally been earmarked for the return of all secondary and college pupils in England.
Students in the other year groups will now have to wait an extra week until January 18 to return to allow testing to be rolled out.
Meanwhile, primary schools in ‘high infection’ areas will be shut beyond January 4, although Mr Williamson stressed that will not apply to all of Tier 4.
The Government’s original plan was for the majority of secondary school and college pupils to start the term online from January 4 before resuming face-to-face lessons from January 11.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson delivered the grim news to the Commons as he admitted more time is needed to getting mass testing facilities in place
Mr Williamson has faced massive pressure in recent weeks over the proposed staggered restart of schools as teachers, unions and scientists all called for a delay.
The Education Secretary told MPs: ‘We will be opening the majority of primary schools as planned on Monday January 4.
‘We know how vitally important it is for younger children to be in school for their education, wellbeing and wider development.
‘In a small number of areas where the infection rates are highest we will implement our existing contingency framework such as only vulnerable children and children of critical workers will attend face-to-face.
‘We will publish this list of areas today on the gov.uk website.’
Mr Williamson stressed the restrictions on primary schools will only apply in the worst infection hotspots and that the ‘overwhelming majority’ will open as planned.
He also said areas which are subject to the restrictions on face-to-face teaching will be regularly reviewed.
On the issue of secondary schools and colleges, the Education Secretary said the coronavirus infection rate is ‘particularly high among this age group’ and as a result ‘we are going to allow more time so that every school and college is able to fully roll out testing for all of its pupils and staff’.
He said: ‘All pupils in exam years are to return during the week beginning January 11, with all secondary school and college students returning full time on January 18.
‘During the first week of term on or after January 4, secondary schools and colleges will prepare to test as many staff and students as possible and will only be open to vulnerable children and the children of key workers.’
Mr Williamson said he expected the ‘full return of all pupils in all year groups’ on January 18.
The timing of the announcement of the rethink sparked a furious reaction from union leaders.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) said: ‘This is another last-minute mess which could so easily have been avoided if the Government had listened to school leaders before the holidays.
‘Instead, back then, schools which wanted to shift to remote learning were threatened with legal action. Now we have a situation where the Government is instructing schools to reduce the amount of teaching time available.
‘If we’d had the freedom to take action before the holidays, we might have been in a position to have more schools open for more pupils. School leaders will be baffled, frustrated and justifiably angry tonight.’
Jon Richards, head of education at the union Unison, said: ‘Everyone agrees it’s important for schools and colleges to open but it can’t be at any expense when infections are rising.
‘This delay for secondary schools is a sensible decision, giving more time to organise mass testing effectively to limit the spread. Primary and early years reopening should also be delayed because social distancing isn’t really possible.
‘Ministers should also ensure any moves to extend the vaccine priority list must cover all school staff and not just teachers.’
The Government’s initial plan was for exam year pupils to physically return to secondary schools and colleges from January 4 while the other students took part in online learning before then going back on January 11.
Mr Williamson’s announcement comes after a number of senior scientists called for schools to remain completely shut in January, arguing that such drastic action is the only way to bring infection rates down.
Professor Neil Ferguson, a member of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said there had been a ‘balancing act’ since lockdown was initially eased between keeping control of the virus and maintaining ‘some semblance of normal society’.
But he said the planned reopening of schools from next week may have to be postponed.
He told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme yesterday: ‘Clearly nobody wants to keep schools shut. But if that’s the only alternative to having exponentially growing numbers of hospitalisations, that may be required at least for a period.
‘There are no easy solutions here. My real concern is that even if universities, schools, do have staggered returns or even stay closed, how easy it would be to maintain control of the virus is unclear now, given how much more transmissible this variant is.’
Earlier, Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) members Professor Andrew Hayward and Dr Mike Tildesley had signalled the possibility of a ‘slight delay’ to having pupils back in the classroom.
Figures published yesterday by NHS England showed a further 365 people who tested positive for Covid-19 had died, taking the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 49,225.
Downing Street said yesterday that it was ‘still planning for a staggered opening of schools’ after Christmas but insisted the plans were being kept under constant review.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman told a Westminster briefing: ‘We’re still planning for a staggered opening of schools and we are working to ensure testing is in place.
‘As we have said throughout the pandemic, we obviously keep all measures under constant review.’