Government insists schools will reopen on June 1 after row with unions

A number of local authorities have said they will refuse to reopen schools in June.

The government has insisted children will return to school on June 1 as long as coronavirus infections continue to decrease.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street briefing, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said it was important for vulnerable and disadvantaged children to get back into the classroom as soon as possible.

It comes after Liverpool City Council and Hartlepool Council said they will refuse to follow the government guidelines as they don’t think it is safe.

The plans have also been challenged by teachers’ unions, who have disagreed with the Department for Education over whether it is safe to return to school.

Mr Williamson said: ‘We have been quite clear all along, that we’d only start inviting more children back into schools when our five key tests have been met. That position has not changed, nor will it, and it is what is guiding all of our actions.

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‘But we do want to see children back in school because we know how much children grow and benefit from being in school. We can now start for planning for a very limited return to school for some pupils, potentially as early as next month.’

Explaining how this will work, he said those in reception, year one and year six will go back first, but in smaller class sizes.

He said: ‘We’re also planning to get some secondary school students back, those years in 10 and 12, to make sure they have the opportunity to come back to school on a limited basis and have some face-to-face time with their teachers.’

He said the government was prioritising these children as ‘they stand to lose more by staying away from school’.

‘The first years of school are pivotal for children to develop social and behavioural skills and to learn the basics. Those are going to have a huge baring on how well they do in their life’ he said.

‘Students in years 10 and 12 are facing the fact that they are going to be sitting exams next year and it’s vital that we do all that we can to help them succeed and help them do well.’

The cabinet minister said he appreciated there were teachers who are ‘anxious’ about the plans and some would prefer schools not to open. But he said it was particularly important for ‘vulnerable and disadvantaged young people’ who stand to lose the most by missing out on their education.

He said: ‘There are some who would like to delay the wider opening of schools, but there is a consequence to this. The longer that schools are closed, the more children miss out. Teachers know this. Teachers know that there are children out there who have not spoken or played with another child their own age for the last two months.

‘They know there are children from difficult or very unhappy homes, for whom school is the happiest moment in their week. And it’s also the safest place for them to be – and it’s thanks to their teachers, and the support that their teachers give to them that they are safe and that they are happy.’

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said this week that he would resist government plans to reopen schools on June 1.

The city and the wider region has seen some of the UK’s highest infection rates for coronavirus, well above the average in England. Liverpool’s Labour-run local authority said schools reopening will be staggered, with all pupils only allowed in when headteachers, governing bodies, council officials and unions are satisfied it is safe to do so.

Hartlepool, in Country Durham, says it has agreed with schools that they will not reopen as the number of coronavirus cases are rising locally.

Doctors have come out in support of teachers in the dispute over schools. The British Medical Association (BMA) said it was ‘completely aligned’ with teachers’ unions that are concerned coronavirus infection rates are currently too high to welcome children back on June 1.

Unions are calling for more answers from the government over whether children and staff will be safe if schools reopen in England following a meeting with chief scientific advisers. One leader of a teachers’ union said the scientific evidence presented at the briefing with the Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and other experts on Friday afternoon was ‘flimsy at best’.

Mr Williamson said the government is asking schools to adopt a number of strict protective measures, including reducing class sizes and making sure pupils stay within these small groups, ‘creating a protective and small bubble around them’.

He added: ‘Schools will also be rigorous about hygiene, cleaning and hand washing. School staff can already be tested for the virus, but from June 1st, we’ll extend that to cover children and their families if any of them develop symptoms. Track and trace methods will then be used to prevent the virus from spreading. Together, these measures will create an inherently safer system, where the risk of transmission is substantially reduced for children, their teachers and also their families.’

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