Commenting on the latest data from the government tracking school
pupil and staff attendance and Covid-related absence figures,
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT,
said:
“The number of pupils absent due to Covid dropped after half term
but, as today’s figures show, that reprieve was short-lived.
There has been a marked increase in Covid related absence once
again.
“In addition to the existing disruption, there is now also
significant concern about the impact the new variant of Covid
could have on schools. School leaders can’t help but remember
winter term 2020 and just how bad things got. The government was
too slow to act last year – it cannot repeat those same mistakes
this year.
“We can’t rely on the Christmas holidays acting as another
natural firebreak – the travel and family mixing done over
Christmas means infection is more likely to spread into the wider
population. It is better to act cautiously early on than to come
anywhere close to a position where schools are forced to close
again.
“More needs to be done to safeguard primary and special schools –
at the moment they seem to be being entirely overlooked by
government. And more support needs to be given to all schools to
help with ventilation, testing, close contact tracing, and staff
cover. We would urge the government to take every safety measure
possible while maintaining face-to-face education, in order to
avoid longer-term school closures.
“Given the current level of disruption and the pressure on
schools, it completely wrong that Ofsted are continuing to carry
out routine inspections at this time. Not only is it the very
last thing schools need when they are struggling to navigate the
current situation and are working flat-out just to keep open and
minimise disruption for learners, it is also a very bad idea for
people to be visiting multiple different schools and potentially
helping the – now even more contagious – virus to spread.
“School leaders have already been making difficult decisions
about nativities, based on the guidance they have received from
local health teams. Where this means cancelling nativities, or
parents being unable to attend, many schools will explore other
options such as online-only performances.”
