Peterborough schools had one in 11 teachers off because of Covid-19 before Christmas

The Association of School and College Leaders says the past few months of the pandemic has put English schools under “enormous pressure”, calling for education staff to be prioritised for the vaccine.

Department for Education figures show 55 teachers and school leaders in Peterborough state schools were absent with either a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 on December 17.

There were also 137 forced to isolate.

This means 192 were off for Covid-19 related reasons on just one day – that is 9.3 per cent of all teaching staff employed in schools that remained open.

It was a rapidly worsening picture for teaching staff in the area as, it was up from 5.1 per cent on the same day the week before, and 2.2 per cent on October 15, the first date the survey was conducted.

The DfE figures also show 196 (6.1 per cent) teaching assistants and other school staff in Peterborough were absent for coronavirus-related reasons on December 17.

Of them, 52 had either a suspected or confirmed case of the disease, and 144 were isolating.

On December 17, all schools that responded to the survey in Peterborough were open, after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson threatened one council with legal action to prevent it closing schools.

Already in Tier 4, Peterborough was seeing a far worse picture than the average across England, where 4.4 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent because of coronavirus on what was the last day of term for many schools.

Absence rates due to Covid-19 varied widely throughout the country, from 17.9 per cent in the London borough of Havering, to just 0.5 per cent in Torbay, in Devon.

It is not known how many teachers in schools that had closed and moved to online-only lessons had coronavirus at the time, so the figures are likely to be under-estimates.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said: “The level of staff absence as a result of coronavirus is obviously affected by local infection rates, and the turbulence of the past few months has put schools under enormous pressure.

“It shows why it is important that the Government prioritises education staff in phase two of the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination programme.

“This will provide reassurance to staff and it will minimise further disruption when schools are fully open again.”

Pupils in schools and colleges – except children of key workers and vulnerable pupils – have been told to learn remotely until mid-February amid the lockdown.

Peterborough’s Director of Education Jonathan Lewis instructed schools in the city that they must cap bubbles for classes of key workers at 50 per cent.

The decision came after a tightening of guidance by the city council around who is permitted to attend school.

Schools in Peterborough are only required to admit vulnerable children and those of ‘critical workers,’ which includes the health and social care, education, food production and public safety industries.

The tightening was in response to a number of schools seeing higher numbers of pupils, whose parents are key workers, attending school than in the first national lockdown in March.

The move was to ensure the schools remain safe spaces for staff and pupils alike, and to help minimise the transmission of COVID-19.

Mr Lewis said: “Schools have to deliver both in school and remotely during this period of closure and this is placing significant pressure on staffing resources.”

Around 21% of the city’s primary school children and 31% of the city’s children in special schools are said to be being taught on site, compared to just five percent in secondary and all-through schools.

The figures are broadly the same across Cambridgeshire with 22 percent of primary and 32 percent of special school children receiving on-site provision.

The government is now indicating that schools could be opening up again before Easter.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries suggested that a regional approach may be taken when schools do reopen.

Asked by the Commons’ Education Select Committee whether there could be a regional or phased reopening, Dr Harries said: “I think it’s likely that we will have some sort of regional separation of interventions.”

The National Association of Head Teachers said the new figures show every school is experiencing the impact of Covid-19 differently, and therefore it was a sensible idea to reopen areas at different speeds.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, added: “If that is the Government’s plan, then we would urge them to provide clarity sooner rather than later on the local conditions that will need to be met.

“This will give vital time to prepare and enable a smoother reopening of schools and businesses.”

A DfE spokeswoman said the Government will keep plans for the return to school under review, but will work to reopen them as soon as possible.

The DfE is also consulting with schools, children and parents on the best way to mark and assess GCSE and A levels this summer, possibly including the ability for teachers to assess pupils’ coursework, possibly be moderated by another trusted teacher and even have mock exams (within school or at home) to help staff gauge the depth of pupil’s knowledge to generate a grade.