Commenting on the latest Department for Education school
attendance figures published today,
showing the proportion of fully open secondary schools decreased
from 84% on Thursday 24 September to 82% on Thursday 1 October,
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and
College Leaders, said:
“This is the second week of a downward trend in the number of
fully open secondary schools, and means that since September 17
the number that are fully open has fallen by 10% from 92% to 82%.
It reflects the extremely tough circumstances in which schools
are operating due to the impact of Covid.
“We remain concerned that schools lack the support from the
government that they need in this challenging task.
“Ofsted released a report
this morning based on 121 school visits in September which says
that many leaders saw the lack of availability of Covid testing
in their area as a real barrier to getting – or staying –
properly up and running again. It reports that leaders also often
commented on the lack of clarity in the national and local
guidance that they had to draw on. Many said that they received
conflicting information from different agencies, or from
different parts of the same agency.
“These concerns chime with the reports that ASCL receives from
school leaders. The government must redouble its efforts to
improve the Covid testing system, and ensure that schools are
supported by clear and consistent guidance.”
