Government to scrap plan for all primary age kids to return to school before summer

Matt Hancock has hinted that schools may not fully reopen until after September amid concerns from educators that it may be impossible to practise social distancing once classrooms are filled. 

In England, primary schools have already been given the green light to reopen for some year six, year one and reception aged-children to return to education, although reports this morning say the government is about to scrap plans to reopen them to all ages before summer.

A number of councils have already refused to ask schools in their area to reopen, due to the concerns raised from unions that teachers and students wouldn’t be able to be kept safe from the virus that has killed more than 40,000 people in the country.  

The education secretary, Gavin Williamson, is set to update the House of Commons later, but it is being widely reported that proposals to get all primary school pupils back to school before the start of the summer holidays will be scrapped.

According to the Department of Education, it was still the ‘ambition’ to get all primary school kids back into school before summer holidays, but it also wouldn’t deny reports that Mr Williamson accepts this plan might not be possible.

The health secretary has said that the ‘current working plan’ for education is to resume in September, but has hinted that even that might not be possible when the next academic year begins.

When asked at the Downing Street press conference if schools would be reopen fully at the start of the next academic year with social distancing in place, Mr Hancock said: “That is our current working plan – that secondary schools won’t open until September at the earliest.

“I very much hope that they can because the impact on children’s education is so significant.

“But what we have to do – not only in schools, but right across the board – is work out how we can get the other things that matter going.

“Like schools, like hospitality – especially outdoor hospitality, like retail. And get them going safely and carefully, in a way that doesn’t lead to the spread of the virus, and that is going to require ingenuity.”

It comes after schools were urged to reconsider their reopening when the R rate had risen beyond one in areas like the north west, meaning it was increasingly spreading across the community. 

Mr Hancock also unveiled plans for pupils and teachers across England to receive coronavirus testing, with approval from parents and guardians.

They are aiming to have up to 100 schools tested across England by the end of the summer term, totalling to around 200 staff and pupils.

The Department of Health and Social Care recorded the lowest total daily death figure since March 23rd, before the lockdown began, on Saturday, with 77 people dying on the day. 

Many people are still concerned that lockdown was eased too early, however Mr Hancock said that the R rate of transmission of COVID-19 remains below the crucial level of one in the country.