ASCL comment on Week 48 school attendance statistics

Commenting on Week 48 school attendance statistics, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“The number of schools that had to send home children to self-isolate fell slightly last week compared to the week before, but the level of disruption is still very significant.

“The Health Secretary yesterday said the national lockdown had helped to bring coronavirus back under control.

“It will not feel like that in many schools which continue to operate under very difficult circumstances because of the impact of the pandemic.

“We are particularly concerned about the final week of term when any positive cases will result in many children and staff having to self-isolate over Christmas in line with Covid protocols.

“We are pressing the government to allow schools to move to partial or full remote learning during that week if they feel this would help address the situation.

“Parents, children, and school staff surely deserve this small degree of flexibility from the government at the end of an extremely stressful term.”