Education leaders call for 'certainty' from Government amid 'lack of confidence' in guidance ahead of pupils returning to classroom

Students could be left wearing coats in the classroom over the winter months as teachers try to keep spaces ventilated in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, one headmaster has warned

Pepe Di’Iasio, head teacher at the Wales High School in Rotherham told The Yorkshire Post he would like to see “a strategic plan” as well as more support and resources for appropriate ventilation in school buildings.

Looking ahead towards the winter months, he said: “Students will probably be in coats again because we’re not being able to ventilate the school or give everybody a sense of confidence that it’s safe to be in the school unless we can keep the windows open.”

Citing concerns about how often Government guidance has changed, Mr Di’Iasio added: "It’s the lack of confidence in central Government that we're worried most about, what we really want are the scientists to reassure us that what we’re doing and where we will be in terms of schools in the autumn term and heading into winter, that we will be safe."

He went on: "What I’d really want if I got the Secretary of State on the phone now would be a strategic plan and the resourcing of a strategic plan so it wasn’t just tutoring, it wasn’t just summer schools but support for mental health or for proper resourcing of schools to be ventilated."

His concerns were echoed by Professor Samantha Twiselton, director of the Sheffield Institute of Education at Sheffield Hallam University, who said that school leaders are crying out for “certainty and consistency”.

“They need the message to be really clear and they need it to stay rather than having the shifting sands that they were constantly experiencing last year,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

The trustee at the Shine Education Charity based in Leeds added: “That must have been a nightmare for parents as well I imagine, but it was school leaders who really felt they were at the sharp end of quite serious safety issues for their staff and for their children.”

A spokesperson at the Department for Education said “Our plans for testing at the start of term are as they were when schools reopened in March.

“They were published two months ago, and set out that secondary schools and colleges can begin testing before the start of term and can stagger the return of pupils across the first week to help manage this process.

“Education remains a national priority, and the plans for autumn will make sure schools and colleges deliver high-quality, face-to-face education to all pupils with minimal disruption.