Coronavirus: Primary schools back but mixed picture on turn-out

Head teachers are reporting “highly variable” levels of attendance, ranging from 40% to 70%, as primary schools in England bring back more pupils.

Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL heads’ union, says the return has been “very mixed” – with some schools not yet open and some children staying away.

Children in Reception, Years 1 and 6 are the first groups able to return.

It comes as lockdown measures are eased in England, including groups of six people being allowed to meet outside. Schools have remained open throughout the coronavirus restrictions for the children of key workers and vulnerable children – but from Monday more than two million more pupils have been invited back.

Latest government figures show 39,045 people with the virus have died in the UK, across all settings. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there had been a day-on-day increase of 111 deaths and 1,570 new positive tests.

An additional 445 deaths have been added to the overall death toll in the past day. The increase is explained by the retrospective inclusion of some patients whose tests were carried out by commercial partners, rather than the NHS or Public Health England.

The head teachers’ leader says the “first impression” has been of a very varied local picture – with not all schools either open or bringing back pupils as outlined in the government’s plans.

Some local authorities have not yet started to bring back more pupils, some schools have limited space, some are still training and not all staff are available, he said.

“Caution is the watchword, and everybody is approaching this task with the safety of pupils and staff as their absolute priority,” said Mr Barton.

But he said more key workers’ children seemed to be coming in and he expected the overall numbers to increase as “more parents become confident”.

The biggest teachers’ union, the National Education Union, has warned it was not yet safe to open schools – and the union’s co-leader, Kevin Courtney, said delaying the wider opening of schools would “make our communities safer”.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said children needed to catch up with missed lessons and at school they “will be with their teachers and friends again”.

“I’m excited to see my friends and see everyone but not excited for the work,” says 11-year-old Sean, returning to school in Mortlake, West London.