The government has published their latest safety plans for England’s return to school in September, based upon the principle of keeping year groups separate in distinct “bubbles”.
Schools have been promised testing kits to hand over to parents should children develop coronavirus symptoms while at school, and mobile testing units may also be sent to schools which suffer from an outbreak of the virus.
In a Downing Street press briefing, education secretary, Gavin Williamson, said that: "By working together we will make sure that their hopes and dreams for the future are not to be knocked off course.” He continued that: "We cannot sit back and... just say that children are not going to go back to school."
Williamson noted that through the use of a "system of control" schools would be able to "minimise the risk" from Covid-19. He promised that children would not be taught a "watered-down" curriculum.
The announcement follows criticism from Kate Green, the shadow education secretary, who accused the government of being "asleep at the wheel" when it came to sending children back to school.
Head teachers have criticised the current plans, saying that it would be "mind-boggling" to keep school children apart all day while at school.
England’s deputy chief medical officer, Dr Jenny Harries, said that the government would also encourage families to "control their teenagers in the social interactions outside school".
Parents in England who do not send their children back to school in September without “a good reason for absence” risk paying fines.
