Tony Blair’s Chief Scientific Adviser when he was prime minister today claimed it is not safe to reopen schools on June 1 as scores of councils also pulled their support. Sir David King, who chairs the ‘Independent Sage’ committee, said it is ‘too soon’ for children to return and claims ‘new modelling’ found the risk to … Read more
Plans to reopen primary schools are driven by welfare concerns not evidence younger year groups are less vulnerable to the virus, Sage source reveals PM wants children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 to go back to class on June 1 Decision was based on welfare not evidence younger pupils are less prone to … Read more
A review of the scientific evidence into the risks presented by re-opening schools amid the coronavirus crisis has concluded that doing so is unlikely to spread the disease among children or adults. The research, a systematic review of more than 47 separate studies, found that children are at a low risk of catching, spreading and suffering … Read more
How mostly Labour-run councils have refused to obey the Government and open primary schools on June 1 Opposed Brighton and Hove (Labour) Slough (Labour) Teesside Labour) Solihull (Conservative) Stockport (Labour) Bury (Labour) Liverpool (Labour) Hartlepool (Labour) Wirrall (Labour) Calderdale (Labour) Birmingham (Labour) Bradford (Labour) Leeds (Labour) Have expressed ‘reservations’ but leaving it to schools Wakefield … Read more
Doctors U-turn on support for teaching unions and say schools SHOULD reopen if they are safe – but doubts remain over June 1 date as scientists say track and trace must be in place first Chair of BMA’s Public Health Medicine Committee said there is ‘growing evidence that the risk to individual children from Covid-19 … Read more
Schools should reopen if it is safe to do so, the British Medical Association has said, in an effort to row back from support they threw to the teaching unions. Last night a final decision on whether to reopen schools on June 1 was left hanging in the balance after discussions between Education Secretary Gavin … Read more
Tony Blair has said Boris Johnson’s administration is right to be opening schools again. The Prime Minister’s plans to start sending children back to school next month has come under attack from teaching unions and some local authorities, with critics arguing it is too soon to lift the coronavirus-related lockdown restrictions. Mr Johnson, in his … Read more
Coronavirus does not spread widely in schools, according to new research being considered by government advisers. The study looked at 18 infected students and teachers in 15 schools, and found that despite them being in close contact with 863 people at the schools, only two caught the virus, according to The Telegraph. It shows that the … Read more
The wartime President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt, once proclaimed that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. And at this critical moment, nothing could be more true – not least when it comes to the inflammatory debate about whether or not some primary-aged children should return to the classroom … Read more
The row over Left-wing unions trying to stop schools from reopening escalated last night as a senior medical figure was accused of using misleading research about the health risks of returning to the classroom. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the British Medical Association, had told the National Education Union that it was ‘absolutely right’ … Read more