MORE than 2,000 children attended school this week, although trade unions continue to be “very concerned” over the planned reopening, St Helens Council has said.

The vast majority of schools in St Helens did not welcome back pupils in reception, Year 1 and Year 6, on June 1, as the government had planned.

More schools were due to bring back more children this week, but some heads put back the wider opening after it was revealed that the reproduction ‘R’ number for coronavirus had risen to above 1 in the North West.

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And on Tuesday, Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced that the government was abandoning plans to bring back all primary school children before the summer holidays.

He told MPs in the House of Commons that the plan is to bring all children back to school in September, calling it a “cautious, phased return”.

The U-turn comes after mounting concerns from teaching unions and headteachers over the difficulty of maintaining social distancing in schools, most of which have remained open throughout the pandemic for the children of key workers and those who are vulnerable.

St Helens Star: Education Secretary Gavin Williamson addressed MPs in the House of Commons this weekEducation Secretary Gavin Williamson addressed MPs in the House of Commons this week

Cllr Murphy, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for developing young people, said the announcement from the Education Secretary had an “inevitability about it”.

“There is now no compulsion from government for schools to reopen for children before September,” Cllr Murphy said.

“Many of our schools were finding the directive extremely difficult to comply with, were rightly concerned for the safety of staff, pupils and families and were acutely aware that many parents were unwilling in these circumstances to send their children to school.

“Despite this we all want to open our schools but only if it’s safe to do so. In reality nearly all of our schools have never closed and they continue to remain open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers. This provides an essential service both of children and for their families.

“This week over 2,000 children have attended school every day. This is more than eight per cent of the total school population.

“This week a small number of schools opened for reception, Year 1 and 6 and we know that more were planning to do so in the coming weeks.”

Cllr Murphy said the council will do all it can to support schools if they decide to open for the key transition year groups outlined by the government.

But the Labour councillor warned that there is still much work to do in order to reopen all schools for September.

“The government have stated that they want to ensure schools are open from September and we will work towards this with families, heads, governors, trade unions,” Cllr Murphy said.

“Much needs to be done to make this happen safely.”

St Helens Star: Cllr Murphy, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for developing young peopleCllr Murphy, St Helens Borough Council’s cabinet member for developing young people

Jim Leivers, the council’s interim director of children’s services, said more schools will continue to take in more children next week.

He said things are going to be “different”, but assured parents the authority is not “compromising the safety and welfare of children and staff”.

Mr Leivers said: “We have all worked incredibly hard to make sure schools can support a wider group of children and young people and we will continue to do so.

“A number of people, headteachers, governors, parents and young people have written to me over the last couple of weeks to support the decision to open.

“This week has been quiet and only a small number of schools have felt able to safely open. Next week there will be more and in the coming months hopefully we will be able to sensitively and carefully reopen most of our schools for most of our children.

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“We are all aware things are going to be different, social distancing and the other requirements arising from the coronavirus pandemic will make life at school different.

“This can only be done when we can be assured that we are not compromising the safety and welfare of children and staff. We have continued to work with our trade union colleagues to ensure that our school environment is safe.

“The trade unions have been supportive and have worked well with us. They are however still very concerned about the government’s decision to reopen and we will continue to work with them and with schools to give needed reassurance and support.”