ASCL comment on school attendance statistics

Commenting on the latest school attendance statistics, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“It is worrying that demand for school places is obviously rising during the course of the lockdown.

“Schools are being placed in the very difficult position of much higher demand than in the first lockdown and no guidance from the government about how many children should be in school at any one time.

“Many schools are having to juggle in-school teaching for quite large numbers of pupils with remote education for everyone else.

“We have asked the government for guidance over whether numbers should be capped, but we have not had a satisfactory response.

“It is very difficult to square this with the government’s message to the public to stay home, protect the NHS, and save lives.”