ANY Wokingham borough school that chooses to delay reopening for the new term will be supported by the council.
Earlier today, the Wokingham Borough Council leader John Halsall and his lead for education, Cllr UllaKarin Clark, issued a statement setting out their views on the current situation.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said schools were safe to reopen, while Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer has called for an immediate national lockdown in a bid to stem the spread of a new strain of coronavirus.
Just before the new year, education secretary Gavin Williamson announced a delay to in person lessons for secondary school pupils: Years 11 and 13 would return from January 11, all other years from January 18. The delay was to give schools enough time to implement a lateral testing regime.
Primary Schools in some tier 4 regions, not including Wokingham borough or Berkshire, would also close.
All schools will reopen this week for vulnerable pupils or children from keyworker families.
The reopening has been condemned by teaching unions, and legal action is planned against the government.
In their joint statement, Cllrs Halsall and Clark acknowledged concerns and fears of parents and school staff over these plans.
“The Department of Education is unclear as to the rationale for some Local Authorities’ schools to remain closed whilst others remain open (e.g. Wokingham). Many staff across the borough may feel that, given the advice of their Union, they cannot or should not return to school sites (but are still available for work),” they wrote.
“WBC will be supportive of any school that wishes to take two days at the start of term in order to undertake such risk assessment review and consultation necessary with their staff to enable full school opening. However, we would ask that schools wishing to do this make on-site provision available for vulnerable learners and children of critical key workers over these two days.
“If schools feel that their arrangements have already been reviewed in the light of the continually changing circumstances wish to continue to open fully, this too will be supported by WBC.
“WBC will support school Headteachers in the decisions that they choose to take.”
The council said that parents would need to check with their schools over the situation.
“We have sought further clarity from the Department for Education in respect of school opening in Wokingham. We are aware of a number of Local Authority areas that have been provided with an exemption enabling their schools to remain closed (something that Wokingham does not have at this moment in time),” they wrote.
They statement concluded with a call for action from the government: “We believe that teachers and school support staff should be prioritised in the vaccine rollouts to enable all children and staff to return to the classroom safely. We will be making this position clear to the Government.”
Cllr Andy Croy, the Wokingham Labour group leader, said: “The figures for admissions to the Royal Berkshire Hospital and for Covid-19 patients in the RBH are now higher than in April.
“This shows the scale of the crisis we face locally. We should have a full lockdown now.”
