Primary schools: Send children to school on Monday, says PM

Parents should send their children to primary school on Monday as long as they are open in their area, the prime minister has said.

Boris Johnson said there was "no doubt in my mind that schools are safe".

The two-week school closures in London and the South East of England were "exceptional" due to a fast-spreading new variant of Covid-19, he said.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr the risk to children was "very, very low" and the benefit of education was "so huge".

But the prime minister did not rule out further school closures and indicated tougher restrictions could be introduced in "many parts of the country".

Most primary schools in England, except those in London and parts of the South East, are expected to open on Monday.

However, unions are telling primary school staff it is unsafe to return to work and are calling for

remote learning to be introduced across all primary schools.

Some local authorities have also expressed concerns about reopening schools after the Christmas break.

Mr Johnson said that while school closures would be kept "under constant review", the government would be "driven by public health considerations and by the massive importance of education".

"And if you think about the history of the pandemic, we've kept schools going for a long, long time in areas where the pandemic has really been at really high levels," he said.

On Friday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that all of London's primaries would remain shut to most pupils, after pressure from local councils to reverse an earlier decision to keep only schools in certain boroughs closed.

What is happening with schools across the UK?

Secondary schools in England will stagger their return with pupils taking exams in 2021 starting on 11 January, and other year groups returning in person on 18 January. Most primary schools in England will return on 4 January, but in London and some surrounding areas they will not open for most pupils until 18 January.

In Wales, local councils have been told they can be "flexible" with when they open - with many schools aiming to return for face-to-face lessons from 11 January.

In Northern Ireland, primary school pupils will be taught online until 11 January. In secondary schools, years 8 to 11 will be taught online throughout January. Years 12 to 14 will return to school after the first week of January.

In Scotland, the Christmas holidays have been extended to 11 January, and the following week will be online learning only. A full return to face-to-face learning is planned for 18 January.

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Mr Johnson said his message to councils and schools was to be "guided by the public health advice" which at the moment is "that schools are safe in those areas where we're not being driven by the new variant to close them".

But he said "we've got to be humble in the face of the impact of this new variant of the virus" and warned there would be "a very difficult few weeks and months" until the vaccine comes into effect.

The prime minister admitted the tiering system may need to get tougher and "clearly school closures which we had to do in March is one of those things" but added it was "not necessarily something we want to do".

Asked whether exams should be cancelled, Mr Johnson did not answer directly but said "we've got to be realistic" about the pace at which the new variant was spreading and its impact on the NHS.

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January 03, 2021 at 11:42PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55521580