The COVID Diaries – 45 12th May
National Association of Head Teachers head Paul Whiteman has told Members of Parliament that, based on his union’s understanding of the official guidance, it would not be possible to reopen primaries as the government planned – many schools would not be able to accommodate the advised 15 pupils in their classrooms.
He told MPs “School leaders and teachers are in a position that they are not quite sure of the basics of the return, and the amount of risk that’s being assumed in the school setting, and all of the survey data that we are getting at the moment is that the vast majority of children’s parents at the moment don’t have the confidence of a return around the 1st of June.”
“If we are going to fill that void, we need to understand the underpinning science, we need to understand the medical advice that goes with it so we can then determine whether it’s possible in that setting or not,” he added.