uk education
Despite the new Covid variant, Boris Johnson has said he wants schools in England to reopen.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson has confirmed some pupils will learn online for a week to enable mass testing to be rolled out.
Gavin Williamson told councils to expect legal action if they closed their schools early for Christmas due to Covid spikes.
Pupils will also be tested daily if they have been in close contact with a positive case, in a move Gavin Williamson called a "milestone".
The education secretary said closing schools was "not in children's best interests" despite London's Covid spike.
The level of anxiety when our children returned after lockdown was a huge surprise. And it wasn’t just them – we needed to do a lot of work reassuring parents too
Stand-off between education secretary and Greenwich as three authorities advise schools to switch to online amid Covid surge.
Local authority leader Danny Thorpe said ‘immediate action’ was needed.
One headteacher in Hertfordshire has already been sent a “minded to direct” letter from schools minister Nick Gibb warning emergency powers could be used.
Julie Bishop, who has a brain aneurysm and auto-immune condition, was refused access to home learning materials.