The Telegraph
Teaching unions have urged the Government to revisit the guidance on key workers after complaining that too many children are being sent to school during lockdown. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) has asked Gavin Williamson to consider scaling back on the number of children able to attend, with reports that some schools have seen up to two thirds of pupils turning up. Where schools are struggling with capacity, ministers have been asked to consider restricting places to children in two-parent families where both are key workers, as opposed to just one, as well as allowing heads to prioritise children according to need. ASCL and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) are also calling on the Government to provide guidance on the maximum safe number of children that there should be in school at once. Separately, the National Education Union has urged ministers to redraw the criteria for “vulnerable” youngsters, having told members to “minimise mixing as much as possible in order to get the virus levels down.” However, hitting back, Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Commons education committee, said it was “absolutely vital” that “everything is done to welcome these children into school.” “The key workers are on the frontline, just like teachers and support staff,” he told The Telegraph. “Everything should be done to welcome these children into school, rather than putting barriers in the way. It’s absolutely vital that their children can be educated and they are not left behind.”
Yahoo News
