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ICYMI: The education and health secretaries have written to all local public health directors telling them to support the government's line that schools are not moving to rotas or partial closures during the lockdown. https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-schools-must-stay-open-lockdown-health-chiefs-told
I think it's striking that this letter from Gavin Williamson & Matt Hancock has been written because the govt can see Covid rising, can see schools struggling to stay open and yet their response is to instruct health officials to help hold the line. https://www.tes.com/news/coronavirus-schools-must-stay-open-lockdown-health-chiefs-told
Another thing that jumps out is how different the government's approach to schools and colleges is to other aspects of life in Covid. Not just in terms of keeping schools open while shutting down most everything else . But also in its reluctance to allow localised approaches.
Before the national lockdown Boris Johnson had said a local approach to restrictions was better with a triple tier system created to do this. But on education heads who have asked for latitude to move to rotas locally have been told by the DfE that a national approach is needed.
At the sharp end of this in Hull, which has the country's highest Covid rates and attendance down to 65 per cent, heads had a request to move to rotas turned with DfE saying these decisions should not be taken locally. https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-covid-hotspot-school-attendance-down-65
I think the problem the DfE faces now is that schools were reassured before the start of term that a plan was in place to allow schools to move to rotas, or partially close to manage Covid in their areas, as we reported here: https://www.tes.com/news/dfe-reveals-worst-case-scenario-plan-covid-spikes
But now it seems all this, rotas, partial closures or staying open only for vulnerable children and those of critical workers sit on the other side of a red line that the govt is unwilling to cross. The question is how bad does Covid have to get before these measures are used?
In Hull, attendance is down to 65 per cent, more than 300 teachers and 8,000 pupils are off with Covid, Covid symptoms or because they are self isolating and yet the DfE response last week was that schools are staying fully open in the national lockdown. https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-covid-hotspot-school-attendance-down-65
But the truth is that schools are already not fully open. As @ASCL_UK general secretary @RealGeoffBarton said schools are already effectively on a "chaotic rota system by default" as Covid is meaning school year groups and bubbles stand down. https://www.tes.com/news/recognise-school-covid-chaos-and-allow-rotas-dfe-told
I think the longer this situation continues the more we will see schools and academy trusts making decisions for themselves - such as in this case where an academy trust in the North serving areas hard hit by Covid is closing a week early for Christmas. https://www.tes.com/news/trust-closing-schools-week-early-protect-teachers.
