The South Ribble-based teacher who chairs the health and safety group of the country’s largest education union has described the decision to fully reopen all schools on the same day next month as “a complete gamble”.

Ian Watkinson, from the National Education Union (NEU), says that the move flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s assertion that lockdown-lifting measures will be undertaken on the basis of “data not dates”.

He was speaking after Boris Johnson briefed the Commons on his plan for schools to welcome back all pupils from March 8.  

They have been open only to vulnerable children and the children of key workers on all but one day so far this year.

The Prime Minister told MPs:  “Based on our assessment of the current data, I can tell the House that, two weeks from now, pupils and staff in all schools and further education settings can safely return to face-to-face teaching.”

However, Mr. Watkinson said that the claim did not reflect the reality in Lancashire.

“The number of cases in schools in the county went up, week-on week, all the way through January.

“They have now started to come down, but we’ve still got around 1,000 children isolating – and that’s just when schools are partially open.   What do people think is going to happen when everybody is sent back?

“It appears that we’re taking a punt and setting ourselves up for another yo-yo period of lockdown and disruption,” said Mr. Watkinson.

Under new Department for Education guidance, all secondary pupils will be tested three times in school and then once at home during their first fortnight back in class, using rapid-turnaround lateral flow tests.   From then on, they will be expected to take twice-weekly tests at home using the same technology, which analysis has previously shown detects around 59 percent of positive cases.

Pupils will be able to return to school upon their first negative test result.

There will be no asymptomatic testing of primary school pupils.

It has also been recommended for the first time that secondary-age students wear face masks in the classroom “unless social distancing can be maintained” – or where doing so would impact on a pupil’s ability to take part in a lesson.

This is an extension of a previous recommendation for masks to be worn when students are moving through communal areas of their school – and comes with guidance on the safe use of masks, including a requirement to keep them in sealable plastic bags in between use and to clean hands before and after touching them.

However, Ian Watkinson says that masking in the classroom should be the norm – and also apply in primary schools.   It is one of many mitigation measures which he says is missing from the government’s plans – including better ventilation and investment in so-called “Nightingale classrooms”, larger facilities to enable social distancing.

He added that a phased return to school should have been pursued – based on infections levels in different areas.

“The Independent SAGE group set out a traffic light system similar to one in Norway, where if cases are above 100 per 100,000 people, you remain open only to key worker children.

“At a rate of between 50 and 100, you then start with rotas, alternating between home and classroom learning – so you ease your way back in.”

Preston’s case rate in the week to 17th February was 239 – the highest in Lancashire, which, at 156, is itself above the England average of 125.

However, the headteacher of a secondary school in Chorley has welcomed what he describes as the government’s decision to “prioritise education” in its lockdown-lifting plan for England.

Peter Mayland, who leads Albany Academy on Bolton Road, says that while a phased return would have helped with the practicalities of mass testing pupils for Covid, the pay-off for a wholesale reopening was “getting all children in for the three weeks before we break up for Easter”.

“That is worth the headaches that we’re going to face [with testing],” he said.

“We have done a survey of all students and staff about the way we have done things [during the lockdown] and there has been lots of positive feedback.

“We have kept things as consistent as possible for the children who are at home and those in school – they are all following the same subjects and all learning the same content.

“But there were some concerns, of course, about what children aren’t getting [when learning from home] – which is why we’re really pleased to see that they will be back on 8th March.”

The school will be continuing the Covid precautions that it has had in place since it first fully reopened in the autumn term – with pupils split into separate ‘bubbles’ to reduce the risk of infection spreading if cases do occur.   Social distancing will also be practised between staff and students.

The situation will be slightly different at Chorley New Road Primary Academy – which is also operated by the umbrella Albany Learning Trust, a Lancashire-based charity which provides education to over 1,000 pupils – where social distancing between teachers and children will not be required because of the practical difficulties of doing so with pupils of a younger age.

Mr. Mayland believes that it is primary school children who will see the greatest benefit of the return to class next month, as they are more likely to have found online learning “harder to access”.

At the Albany, however, he says that their mixture of live online lessons and pre-set work, with teachers on-hand for feedback, has been engaged with “positively” by pupils – and he is optimistic about the ability of youngsters to bridge any gaps in their learning after nearly a year of disruption to their education.

“We wanted to maintain the integrity of the curriculum as much as possible – but in certain subjects, there have had to be compromises, so that has had an effect on the amount that children have learned.

“In science, it’s been the practical work – children at home are having to resort to watching videos of other people doing it, rather than experiencing it themselves.   And PE has not been delivered in the way that it normally would since last March, so the specific sports skills that would have been taught have just been off the curriculum.

“But in subjects like maths and English, the loss has been less.

“There will be some catch-up [needed], but that’s the normality when teaching children face-to-face – you always have some who are absent and some who struggle with topics and you have to go over them again.

“So this isn’t new for teachers or a particular challenge,” Mr. Mayland added.

Last month, the government announced another £300m in funding for catch-up tutoring, in addition to a £1bn commitment made last summer.

Commenting on the full reopening of schools in a fortnight, Lancashire County Council’s cabinet member for children, young people and schools, Phillippa Williamson, said: “Staff in our schools have done a tremendous job supporting vulnerable children and children of key workers at school and by delivering remote learning throughout this lockdown.

“They will continue to support learning until all our pupils and young people are safely back in school.

“Our schools have put measures in place to support children safely and help prevent the spread of the virus.

“We know this has been a difficult time, but it is vital for schools to follow government guidelines to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in our community,” County Cllr Williamson added.