Ministers must prepare for worst to do the best by schools: The Yorkshire Post says

Following a joint statement by the chief medical officers of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the weekend stating that children have an “exceptionally small risk” of dying from Covid-19 as well as there being a very low chance of them ending up in hospital with the disease, Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday urged families to get pupils back to school from next week.

But while the direct risk to children from coronavirus now thankfully appears to be minimal, the risk of it further disrupting their education this autumn appears sizeable and a detailed national Plan B is clearly needed should schools need to shut or classes self-isolate in the event of an outbreak.

As the Tory chair of the Education Committee Robert Halfon – who accurately warned of the problems with the A-level grade calculation system back in July – puts it, if there are local lockdowns or a national second wave, a strategy is needed to ensure children can still learn properly at home in a way that didn’t happen for too many pupils this spring and summer. One simple but entirely sensible suggestion he made is guaranteeing computers for those children who don’t have them by giving teachers vouchers to buy them.

Education unions have similarly urged the Government to come up with feasible strategy that “prepare for the worst while hoping for the best”.

While the Department for Education says it has set out clear guidelines to reduce the risk of coronavirus spreading in schools – such as staggered start times for different year groups – its focus must now be on what happens if, and more likely when in many cases, that approach does not stop every outbreak.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson