Primary and secondary-age children are currently the only age groups with an increasing rate of Covid-19 infection, survey data shows.

It comes as around 876,000 pupils did not attend school last week for reasons related to coronavirus – up from 550,000 the week before. Of these, around 18,000 had a confirmed case of Covid-19, while 31,000 or so had suspected cases.

The National Education Union (NEU) has labelled this a “collapse in attendance” and wants action to protect schools.

School leaders, meanwhile, have renewed their pleas for the government to allow rota systems to be put in place – arguing that with so many pupils self-isolating many schools are effectively operating a chaotic rota system anyway.

However, the Department for Education (DfE) has so far refused to budge on the rota issue and the government’s Covid-19 Winter Plan, published earlier this week by prime minister Boris Johnson, also rules out allowing schools to close early for Christmas.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here