As Boris Johnson attempts to move attention back to his pre-coronavirus election agenda, one of the biggest blockers that remains is the failure to get all pupils back to school. Having revised down a previous ambition to get all primary school children in the classroom before the summer holidays, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson held a press conference on Thursday to explain how – with ‘concrete determination’ – he would get everyone back in September.
Under new government guidelines, groups of children will be separated by their class or year into ‘bubbles’ thereby minimising contacts between them. Within each bubble there will be normal interaction but different bubbles will avoid contact in school – with different groups given different starting, finishing, lunch and break times. Big group events such as school assemblies are on hold. Should infections arise, there will be test and trace in place.
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