Parents who keep their children out of school from September due to concerns over them catching Covid-19 risk losing their place at the school, according to North Yorkshire County Council.
From next month the government says all primary and secondary school pupils must return after being away from the classroom since March, when the lockdown began.
The Stray Ferret put a range of questions about schools in the Harrogate district going back in September to Cllr Patrick Mulligan, executive member for schools at North Yorkshire County Council. His responses are below.
Cllr Patrick Mulligan, executive member for schools, North Yorkshire County Council.
Professor Neil Ferguson said last week that schools re-opening in September risks a second wave of Covid-19. Do you agree?
“There are so many different points of view about this but we’re listening to advice from the government. With young people and children, the risk of contracting coronavirus is very low.
“I’ve had a lot of contact with parents who are upset with the school lockdown. They say their kids are not getting an education.
“The government didn’t give so much guidance so it was up to the governors and teachers about what should be done. So in one village the school might have been doing everything electronically and in another village, they were doing hardly anything.
“The government didn’t have a national policy so it was up to the individual school. NYCC didn’t have the power to intervene if a school wasn’t doing anything because it was at their discretion.
“That turned out to be problematic. It was one of those things that was unforeseen when the lockdown occurred.”
Are you preparing to close schools if there is a second spike?
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons and it’s the last thing we want to see. We’re trying to mitigate it through local lockdowns and the same could be true for schools. Theoretically, the NHS could come in and shut a school down. Everything is evolving from day to day.
“If it did happen again we would hope there would be better internet provision and lessons set up. It’s a difficulty if children don’t have electronic devices or anyone at home supporting them.”
Will school buses be at full capacity?
“If the government had said we’d have to maintain social distancing for school transport that would be a huge issue for NYCC because frankly, we don’t have the number of vehicles to make two or three trips to the school instead of one.
“But the government has said where there’s a dedicated school bus service there doesn’t have to be social distancing.”
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What options does a parent have if they don’t want to send their child back to school in September due to safety concerns?
“As it stands now, the parents would have to keep their children at home then they would have to say they would home school their child. The risk is they would lose their child’s place at the school.
“Otherwise, if you keep your child off school then they are liable for a fine. That’s a big issue.
“Our absolute priority is to keep the children safe. If there is any thought they won’t be safe then we’d be advising the school to close.
“All the schools are taking it very seriously and implementing safety recommendations.”
Will teachers receive any extra training to prepare for any mental health issues children may face in September?
“It’s so hard to say what the mental health of our children is. Our mental health officers say there have been less calls than usual, which might be worrying.
“My daughter went back to school in June for a bit and she was quite relieved to see her friends and have more structure in her education.”
Does a teacher have to go back to work if they, for example, have a partner at home who is shielding?
“I think they’d be allowed to wear PPE if they wanted to. It’s a very difficult one and it’s an individual choice. If someone wanted to stop working then that’s their choice.
“I don’t think there’s any more risk to a teacher than to someone in any other workplace. It’s completely understandable that someone might be nervous going back to work. In my experience, people are getting more confident about going out.”
Have there been any positives for children not being at school for so long?
“Maybe they have learnt to value things they have took for granted, just like all of us. My main concern is about their education. But I’d like to think they’ve learnt the value of family a bit more.”
