Commenting on the government’s latest release of school
attendance data, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, which
represents leaders in the majority of schools, said:
“We know from our members that the national attendance figures
mask huge regional differences due to the prevalence of the Delta
variant in some areas. We are hearing that there has been a big
increase in outbreaks in some places. One school told us that “We
have seen more positive Covid cases in our school and its wider
community in the last 10 days than we have seen in the previous
440 days of the pandemic.”
“Given the current situation the government really had no other
option than to keep existing safety measures in place in schools.
Relaxing them at this stage would have been reckless, to say the
least.
“What the government needs to do now is starting talking to
schools about September. School leaders are already thinking
about plans for the start of the next term. While it is obviously
difficult to predict precisely how the situation will evolve in
the coming months, the government cannot simply assume that
things will be ‘back to normal’. Schools need to know what
possible scenarios to plan for, and they need to know well before
the summer break so that they can put the necessary arrangements
in place.
“Silence from the government will only lead to further disruption
to the quality and continuity of young people’s education.”
