Joint statement from the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Association of Head Teachers, Unite, the GMB and Unison representing school support staff, school governors, sixth form and further education college heads.
“We are increasingly concerned that the government is minded to order a full return of all pupils on Monday 8 March in England. This would seem a reckless course of action. It could trigger another spike in Covid infections, prolong the disruption of education, and risk throwing away the hard-won progress made in suppressing the virus over the course of the latest lockdown.”
The group said Johnson should “commit to 8 March only if the scientific evidence is absolutely clear that this is safe, and at that point go no further than a phased return of children and young people with sufficient time to assess the impact before moving to the next phase”.
Saying school reopening would directly affect 10 million students and staff, nearly a fifth of England’s population, the group said: “This is not a small easing of lockdown restrictions. It is a massive step.”
They're going to do it again, aren't they...remove restrictions too early and then we'll be into another catastrophe costing another 100,000 lives and have more lockdowns to try and get on top of it.