Signs that some primaries will simply ignore government instructions to open to more pupils on 1 June are growing.
Individual headteachers have stated their intention to go against the plan and one large local authority is warning that it “simply cannot” open its schools in line with the government’s timetable.
Exclusive: Schools to defy DfE over pupil rotas
Background: Reception, Y1 and Y6 may return to school from 1 June
School openings: Teachers demand more evidence
Related: DfE to hold crunch back-to-school talks today
Headteacher Chris Dyson has tweeted that he is not even considering re-opening his school for Year 1 or Reception children by June 1.
He said welcoming Year 6 pupils back to school could be achieved, but that for Reception classes and Year 1 pupils it was “no chance Jose,” adding that 47 teachers had already died from coronavirus and he would not let the government “add my staff to the list”.
Mr Dyson, the headteacher of Parklands Primary in Leeds, has since told Tes: “I’m just going to do Year 6 for now and see how that goes.
“It’s too soon. Touch wood, before July I can have my Year 1s and Reception back in, but at this very moment in time, there’s not a chance.”
He added: “Our local authority yesterday informed us that headteachers have to decide how best to manage this.
”[They asked us] ‘Are you just going to introduce one year group and see how that goes and then gently build up?’ And I think that’s the way we’re definitely going to go.”
Other schools are warning that although they may open to more pupils on 1 June, they will ignore government guidance, and bring them in on a rota system.
In Liverpool, the Liverpool Echo reported that the council’s director for children and young people’s services, Steve Reddy, wrote to the city’s parents today stating that only key workers’ children were likely to be back by June 1.
“We have been working really hard with heads and trade unions over the last few days to look at how and when we can reopen our schools safely and I would like to thank them for their support,” Mr Reddy said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that we simply cannot reopen schools in line with the suggested timetable outlined by the government. The layout of every school is different and they all have different challenges to overcome in terms of maintaining social distancing and hygiene.
“Together with heads, we are committed to keeping parents up to date, and each school will be communicating with them when they are in a position to know more. All I can say at this stage is that we do not envisage primary age pupils being able to return until mid-June at the very least.”
And in Kent, a headteacher has written to parents calling on them not to send their children back to school by 1 June because “there is no such thing as social distancing in a school”.
Howard Fisher, head of St George’s Church of England Primary School in Sheerness, Kent, wrote: “I can be truthful here and categorically tell you there is no such thing as social distancing in a school; it does not exist and would never exist.
“The reason childhood illnesses spread in a school is we are all in contact with each other. I can put two children in opposite classrooms and they will still get chickenpox because that’s how it is in a school. This virus we are led to believe is a super spreader.
“Believe me, I would rather any child repeats a year than go back too soon and have to lose a child,” he added.
Today, the major teaching unions met with government scientists for crunch talks over the reopening of schools.
