Covid: Concern pupils being kept off school to protect holidays

Nationally, there are 375,000 pupils out of school - but only 15,000 are positive cases

Parents worried about Covid outbreaks jeopardising family holidays are being warned not to remove children from school before the term ends.

In a letter to families, Leicestershire County Council acknowledged some parents' concerns, but said pupils were required to attend until the holidays.

The council said it had anecdotal evidence some were being kept off to reduce the risk of having to isolate.

But a union said it sympathised with concerned parents.

'Unauthorised'

Leicestershire and Leicester are the earliest local authority areas in England to break up, with schools closing to many pupils from 9 July.

Nationally, there are 375,000 pupils out of school - but only 15,000 are positive cases.

At the start of July, 3,364 pupils in Leicestershire were self-isolating, with 45 staff members and 235 students having been infected with the virus.

A union said holidays were good for children's mental health

The county council said it believed some families who had planned holidays did not want to risk their children having to isolate if their school bubble is affected.

In a letter to parents, it said schools were "a safe place" with "robust systems in place to limit the spread of Covid".

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It blamed the recent rise in cases on community gatherings.

It warned: "Absences not due to Covid symptoms, positive test results or close contact with a case, are treated as unauthorised absences."

Deborah Taylor, the council's member for children and families, said: "We know many families are looking forward to the summer holidays starting but we are aware some have been keeping their children off unnecessarily in advance because they are worried about Covid.

"We want to reassure them schools have been working incredibly hard to remain safe."

A teaching union has criticised infection control measures in schools

But Simon Clarkson, from the Leicestershire National Education Union, said the council had not invested in mitigation methods like ventilation and was not insisting on masks being worn in schools.

"I sympathise with parents who are concerned about the safety of their children within schools," he said.

"It would be surprising if the Delta variant was not being transmitted at least in part by in school transmission, especially within bubbles of unvaccinated children.

"Parents quite rightly recognise the importance of holidays in improving the mental health of their children.

"We call for better ventilation in schools and for masks being required in the classroom to help reduce spread, preserve education and save our children's holidays."

According to figures, infections in parts of the county are rising but Covid hospital admissions in Leicester remain low, with just seven in the week ending 25 June.