By Gavin Mackintosh-
The number of Uk pupils at home self-isolating is at an all time high, and has nearly doubled in a week to over 550,000.
Almost two-thirds of secondary schools in the Uk have reported pupils being off because of coronavirus. Last month, Liverpool reported attendance figures up to 25 percentage points lower than the national average.
The report explains the drop in attendance to be “mainly due to the increased number of pupils self-isolating due to potential contact with a case of coronavirus”.
Overall, the number of state-funded schools reporting one or more pupils self-isolating due to contact with a Covid case within school jumped from 16 per cent to 29 per cent last week.
Today’s weekly attendance figures adds to the worries of parents and pupils over the spread of COVID-19 in schools. Attendance has seriously plummeted, once again threatening academic standards in England, particularly among fresh primary school pupils.
Over half of schools in Hull were partially closed on Monday, with 53 schools sending home full-year groups or ‘bubbles’. Council leaders in Hull yesterday wrote to the government , requesting more financial support to aid their course.
Hull Learning Partnership, which accounts for the majority of the city’s schools, has asked health secretary Matt Hancock to allow its schools to close for all but vulnerable children and the children of key workers. The requests mean more pupils will be at home idle, with vulnerable and impressionable pupils open to criminal influences from their bad peers or older associates.
Alarming
Today’s weekly attendance figures adds to growing tensions about the disruption spreading through schools. It One union leader has said schools now have a “chaotic rota system by default”, with attendance at its lowest since the full return of schools.
The British government’s weekly attendance data shows 64 per cent of state-funded secondary schools had pupils self-isolating who had been asked to do so due to potential contact with a case of coronavirus inside the school. This figure has almost doubled from 38 per cent the previous week.
The number of pupils self isolating has now roughly doubled from between 3.2 to 3.7 per cent in the week after half term, up to between 5.8 to 6.7 per cent last week – meaning up to 552,000 pupils were not in school.
Overall, attendance fell from 89.3 per cent to 86.5 per cent last week – the lowest since schools reopened. School attendance had been above 89 per cent each week since the start of October.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the “huge increase in the number of secondary schools having to send home pupils to self-isolate” meant schools need to be “given more latitude to move to a planned rota system if they feel that this would be less disruptive, more manageable, and in the best interests of their pupils”.
He said: “We understand the government’s desire to keep all pupils in school full-time. But when nearly two-thirds of secondaries are sending home pupils we have a chaotic rota system by default.”
Last month, areas such as Liverpool reported attendance figures up to 25 percentage points lower than the national average.
While Hamid Patel, chief executive of Star Academies, last week warned Covid-19 was widening the education divide between communities.
He said: “We can’t allow young people, already disadvantaged by the educational gap caused by deprivation, to have their prospects further limited by a “Covid penalty”.
Idle
Most first year secondary school pupils were off school since the first lockdown in March, with the exception of key worker’s children. A high percentage of pupils in state primary schools were idle at home, and had very minimal development in that time. Published research last week revealed a drop in primary school academic standards. Secondary school fresher pupils generally still have a primary school mentality and lack the motivation to work at home, except for those given demanding homework.
The government’s weekly attendance data shows 64 per cent of state-funded secondary schools had pupils self-isolating following orders due to potential contact with a case of coronavirus inside the school. This figure has almost doubled from 38 per cent the previous week.
Rota System
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) said the “huge increase in the number of secondary schools having to send home pupils to self-isolate” meant schools need to be “given more latitude to move to a planned rota system if they feel that this would be less disruptive, more manageable, and in the best interests of their pupils”.
He said: “We understand the government’s desire to keep all pupils in school full-time. But when nearly two-thirds of secondaries are sending home pupils we have a chaotic rota system by default.”
Barton called for more flexibility on rotas would give schools “the ability to deliver direct and remote learning around smaller groups rotating between school and home in a planned manner.