Covid: Leicestershire head teacher fears staff shortages

Secondary school pupils in England should now wear masks in classrooms

As schools reopen, a head teacher fears classes may be cancelled due to staff absences caused by rising Covid cases.

During the Christmas break infection rates surged prompting the government to rule that secondary school pupils in England should wear masks in class.

At Manor High School, in Oadby, mass testing was carried out on pupils and staff to manage the Omicron variant.

Head teacher Liam Powell said maintaining a safe level of staffing was the "biggest challenge".

The Leicestershire school has reopened with pupils returning at different times and testing taking place over two days in preparation for the spring term ahead.

Mr Powell said: "The biggest challenge for us immediately is maintaining high levels of staffing that are needed to support safety and learning.

"There may come a tipping point where it is safer for children to be at home learning remotely."

He said that the "financial implications are significant" for covering staff absences.

"We have had staff away with Covid and sometimes in significant numbers and we've had to put extra steps in place," he said.

"We've had to double up some classes and make alternative arrangements and there's a cost to all of that."

Head teacher Liam Powell said the "financial implications are significant" for covering staff absences

In England, secondary school pupils are required to wear masks in classrooms until 26 January, when there will be a review. Previously masks were only required in communal areas.

The rule has brought the country in line with other parts of the UK.

Remee said "you need to protect everyone around you"

Year 9 pupils at Manor High School said they understood the need for the latest restriction.

Remee said: "You need to wear masks because you need to protect everyone around you.

"Plus you're in school, so there's a lot of people around."

Anjali said it would be "hard to communicate" wearing masks

Anjali said: "It'll be different with the masks.

"It'll be hard to communicate but I can't wait to start the new term, learn more and be back at school."

Mahanimah added: "Me and all my friends are all happy to be back together.

"It's good that we are all doing [Covid] testing and putting masks back on because it's about everybody being safe."

Mahanimah said it was "good" to put masks back on

The school closed for two days at the end of November due to a surge in positive cases.

Geoff Barton, from the Association of School and College Leaders, said he feared the financial cost of covering staff shortages during the pandemic would have a negative impact on children's learning.

"Schools are not awash with money, he said.

"If you are going to find that money, you are going to have to take it away from somewhere else."

Mr Barton said young people could miss out on opportunities, teaching assistants' support and one-to-one tuition.

"The kinds of things we know can make a real difference to young people - we could at the back of this see that those are being lost unless the government makes it easier to reclaim that money," said.

The Department for Education has acknowledged the Omicron variant was "expected to cause increased staff absence levels in the spring term".

It has advised schools to merge classes if needed to mange staffing levels.