Coronavirus UK: Boris Johnson keeps schools open despite fury

Boris Johnson is standing by his decision not to shut schools yet but insists that if they do, ‘plans are ready to go’ to help parents whose children might lose free school meals if they do.

The government has so far insisted school closures are not justified as part of the effort to combat Covid-19 despite concerns from worried parents they are ‘Russian Roulette’ with students across the country.

At his daily press conference today, the Prime Minister said: ‘On free school meals, as we come to the decision on schools we will have obviously plans ready to go on that.’

Boris Johnson (pictured yesterday evening at a press conference) has been accused of ‘playing Russian Roulette’ with school children across the UK

‘Gavin Williamson, the Education Secretary, has a plan to make sure that parents with kids who are eligible for free school meals get the compensation or the treatment they need one way or the other, we certainly anticipated that.’

The possibility of school closures is contained in the Government’s action plan for the pandemic and Number 10 sources said they had ‘never shied away from the fact’ that might have to happen.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, announcing the suspension of routine Ofsted inspections, said closures would only take place if the chief medical officer or chief scientific adviser say it is in the best interests of children and teachers.

The National Education Union called for schools to be closed ‘at least for some time and at least in some areas’ due to the outbreak.

The NEU said the running of schools will become ‘all the more complicated’ as they advise teachers and staff who are classed as vulnerable to self-isolate.

And a petition launched by worried parents and teachers has reached nearly 640,000 signatures and many parents have warned they will pull their children out of the education system.

A petition launched by worried parents has reached nearly 640,000 signatures

A petition launched by worried parents has reached nearly 640,000 signatures 

Social media users started the #Covid19Walkout trend yesterday, encouraging students and school pupils to stay at home and one school in Derbyshire. 

Last night the Prime Minister urged residents across the UK to implement social distancing and also advised a ban on mass gatherings.

But the government says it is keeping the situation in schools under review, with fears closing them would mean key workers in the NHS would have to drop their duties to look after children, and have limited benefits in reducing the spread.  

Chief medical officer Chris Whitty insisted last night that evidence suggested children tend to be less badly affected than adults. 

Teaching union urges Boris Johnson to close schools for ‘at least some time’

A teaching union has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson demanding schools are closed ‘at least for some time and at least in some areas’.

The letter from Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, said that they intend to advise all members who are in various vulnerable categories outlined by the Government, or those caring for people in them, to ‘stop attending schools and colleges from next Monday at the latest. Some will do so earlier’.

It added: ‘We also assume that the children of parents with those conditions should also avoid school or college.

‘This will make the running of schools all the more complicated.

‘Given your failure to release modelling comparing different scenarios of school closures, we are now forced to call on you to close schools, at least for some time and at least in some areas.’

So far there have been 55 deaths in the UK because of the virus and 1,543 confirmed cases. 

Prof Neil Ferguson, a scientist at Imperial College who has been advising the government on coronavirus, said closing schools and universities could stymie the spread of the coronavirus but warned of uncertainties and negative impacts of such a move on the NHS.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘From a purely epidemiological perspective, we think with a lot of uncertainty that closing schools and universities would further reduce transmission.

‘I have to say we don’t fully understand whether children are transmitting this virus in the same way they transmit other viruses but, assuming that, it would have an impact.

‘It would also have a number of negative impacts, particularly on health system capacity – a lot of nurses, a lot of doctors have school-aged children.

‘So what’s currently happening is there’s a very thorough review of what a likelihood of school closure would be.’

But Chris Keates, acting general secretary of teachers’ union the NASUWT said the lack of ‘clear and definitive’ direction from the government over what schools should do has ‘created a rising sense of panic’.

She said: ‘The NASUWT has to date been advising our members in the context of the advice issued by governments and administrations and public health bodies across the UK.

‘However, the lack of clear information with regard to the steps to protect teachers, headteachers and other staff working in schools in the context of commentators constantly referring to the threats posed by children carrying Covid-19 is causing chaos and confusion and placing intolerable pressure on all staff in schools and their families.’   

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union, wrote to the PM saying they intend to advise all members who are in various vulnerable categories outlined by the Government, or those caring for people in them, to ‘stop attending schools and colleges from next Monday at the latest. Some will do so earlier’.

It added: ‘We also assume that the children of parents with those conditions should also avoid school or college.

‘This will make the running of schools all the more complicated.

‘Given your failure to release modelling comparing different scenarios of school closures, we are now forced to call on you to close schools, at least for some time and at least in some areas.’ 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, Ian Robinson chief executive of Oak Partnership Trust in South West England which runs four schools said they are facing a number of issues.

‘I can’t criticise the government at the moment but I do feel the message isn’t clear enough for schools and where it is becoming clearer for other organisations. We are still playing catch up in schools, we have within our trust a special school which has a large number of children with medical conditions and we have children on education healthcare plans also with medical conditions and they are at increased risk to the coronavirus.

‘Schools are like a petri dish as soon as one child comes in with the coronavirus – our kids are great at a washing their hands they are really good but as soon as they wash their hands their hands are next to their face, they are holding hands with each other, they will hold hands with adults, I walked into school the other day and as soon as I walked in a child took my hand and led me to their work’.

He said he then went to wash his hands but as soon as he came out another child held his hand.

‘The challenge for schools is massive, we have got lots of vulnerable children and adults that will be affected by that very quickly’. 

Many parents have hit back at the advise with some claiming schools are like a ‘covid pit’. 

People across the UK hit back at Boris Johnson this morning as they claimed he was 'playing Russian Roulette with the lives of children across the UK

People across the UK hit back at Boris Johnson this morning as they claimed he was ‘playing Russian Roulette with the lives of children across the UK 

One said: ‘Boris is now playing Russian Roulette with the children of the UK, saying if he closes the schools to protect the children the adults will then have to stay at home to care for them & wont be able to get to work, looks like Boris is just about to lose any respect he had’. 

This is while one expert this morning said on BBC Radio 4 that classes are like ‘petri dishes for the deadly bug’. 

Another parent added: ‘Most of my partners’ kids’ teachers are off and self isolating (as she is – support staff at the same school). I’ve just dropped them off in a potential Covid pit because to not do so would be illegal’. 

One said children being ‘crammed’ inside school rooms and canteens would not help stop the spread of the virus.  

This is while some said that keeping schools open during the crucial early phase was a ‘poor decision by the UK’.

Another said people should ‘spare a thought for primary school teachers in the front line surrounded by hoardes of bio-hazards’.

It emerged today that one school in Derbyshire had closed due to the concerns around the virus.

This is while a school in Stretford said it was not ‘operationally possible to run the school’.

The school will close its doors today and will remained closed until April 14. In a letter she said: ‘We find ourselves in this situation because we cannot follow all of the government’s advice AND keep our children and our Stretford families safe.

Some highlighted what teachers would be going through while another said this could be a 'poor decision from the UK government

Some highlighted what teachers would be going through while another said this could be a ‘poor decision from the UK government

‘The staff members who have symptoms are not being tested. They won’t be tested because, thankfully, they are not seriously ill. I do not know if one, none or all have the virus.

‘This is not acceptable. Staff who work in sectors which are not being advised to work from home should be tested.

‘This would have allowed me to either keep the school open or to be able to identify who, if anyone, is at risk.

‘Even if we double up classes to accommodate staff absence, we cannot operate at this staffing level. I also do not feel comfortable grouping pupils into even bigger groups which increases the risk of spreading the virus.’

Mr Robinson added: ‘The idea of not going having to go mass gatherings for other people doesn’t seem to apply to schools at the moment.

‘The three criteria that was talked about in the briefing yesterday, we have staff that are within two of those criteria, staff with underlying health conditions and staff that are pregnant.

‘At this moment in time they are still being expected to go into school which is a mass gathering.

‘One of our headteachers, from last week we were told seven days in isolation, one of his children has a high temperature so was self-isolated from Monday. By the end of Monday when we were still in a meeting to discuss the rest of the week it had become 14 days and all family members, so already today I am facing the challenge of one of our schools not having a head teacher’.

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