Plans to test all secondary pupils for Covid in the first week back to school would not “stack up”, even if staggered reopenings were allowed, headteachers have warned.
The prospect of testing all pupils when they are due to return to school is “logistically a huge challenge” - and something that “cannot be rushed”, according to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL).
While it is understood that all children will return to the classroom on 8 March, it has been reported that a few days’ flexibility may be built in to help schools test pupils on arrival.
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Unions joined forces on Friday to warn that a “full return of all pupils on Monday 8 March” would be “reckless”.
And now ASCL has warned that even if secondary schools are allowed to take a staggered approach to aid testing in the first week, “the numbers just do not stack up”.
Julie McCulloch, ASCL’s director of policy, told Tes: “The vast majority of secondary schools have set up testing facilities, which they have used to identify asymptomatic Covid cases among the relatively small numbers of pupils and staff who have been on site during the latest lockdown. This has been a significant undertaking and they have been doing an excellent job.
“However, the prospect of having to test all pupils in the week beginning 8 March is logistically a huge challenge, simply because we are talking about massively increased numbers of children.
“Many secondary schools have well in excess of a thousand pupils and, even if they are allowed to take a staggered approach during the first week, the numbers just do not stack up.
“The testing process, by necessity, cannot be rushed and getting hundreds of pupils through testing booths is going to need schools to allocate significant resources in terms of time and staff.
“We cannot honestly see how it is going to be possible to get all pupils through testing before they start to mix with each other and this is the whole purpose of testing them in the first place.”
The prime minister is set to outline the finalised back-to-school plan in a statement to the Commons this afternoon.
Boris Johnson has stressed the need to relax restrictions in a “cautious” manner, saying that the government would make decisions based on the latest data at every step.
