Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “It is right to prioritise keeping children in school but we need more transparency on the risks to school staff.

"Schools are clearly very different to other workplaces, even those that are being asked to remain open during lockdown, and we have already seen that measures such as social distancing cannot be replicated in schools in the way they might be applied in many other workplaces.

"We have made clear to government that we are very concerned about this situation and are calling on them to do much more to demonstrate how and why it is safe for vulnerable staff to attend school and to give clearer guidance to schools on how staff can be protected.”

Press and Media contacts:

Steven George
NAHT Head of Press and Media
01444 472886
07970 907730

Rose Tremlett 
Senior Press Officer 
07545 354363

Email : press.office@naht.org.uk