Return to schools is 'going as well as can be expected' in Northamptonshire, says education officer

The county council says the return to schools in Northamptonshire is going 'as well as can be expected' after three weeks of pupils and teachers learning to adjust to Covid-19 regulations at large.

The Chronicle & Echo has reported on more than a dozen schools in the last few weeks who have seen outbreaks, and in some cases have had to send entire year groups home.

However, new figures have revealed that in the week leading up to September 20, a total of 89 per cent of pupils in Northamptonshire had attended school - compared to 95 per cent last year when there were no coronavirus restrictions.

Now, a senior education officer for Northamptonshire County Council Paul Andrews says he is optimistic about how schools will continue to learn from teaching again at full capacity with restrictions in place.

Mr Andrews said: "A lot of the things schools have put in place are untested. So they're learning by experience. DfE guidance is asking them to balance infection prevention and the delivery for curriculum.

"As they work thought this and get cases they will be refining their risk assessments as they go on.

"The approach in a secondary school will be very different from the approach in a primary school. And although we are seeing some whole year groups being sent home we are also seeing other schools where very limited numbers of young people are having to isolate.

"The number of young people isolating is broadly similar from week to week. Although we're not complacent about that, we're actually fairly comfortable and fairly confident that things are going as well as can be expected seeing as this is something that's never really been addressed before."

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