Headteachers have warned that relaxed government guidance on Covid-19 is “actively contributing” to the spread of the virus in schools, as children with positive cases in their home are still expected to attend lessons.

The NAHT school leaders’ union has said the vast majority of its members lack confidence in the Department for Education’s guidance and want to see it changed.

A new poll from the union reveals that more than one in four schools are seeing high enough levels of Covid to meet the DfE’s threshold for taking tougher measures to limit the spread of the virus - just weeks into the new term.

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The survey also shows that school leaders in England are experiencing “a high level of disruption” with nearly half reporting that pupil attendance this term is lower than expected in a usual year.

Covid: Schools suffering ‘a high level of disruption’

The most recent figures showed that, nationally, more than 100,000 pupils were off school with either a confirmed case or a suspected case of the coronavirus on a single day last month.

The latest findings come from a poll - the results of which were published today by the NAHT ahead of its annual conference on Friday - which asked more than 1,000 school leaders about the Covid situation in their schools.

It found that 26 per cent of schools have already reached the official threshold for considering extra action to stop the spread of Covid.

Government guidance says that if a certain threshold of Covid cases is reached, schools should “think about taking extra action” by contacting their local health teams.

The threshold is reached in either of the following two circumstances:

• Five children, pupils, students or staff, who are likely to have mixed closely, test positive for Covid-19 within a 10-day period, or
• 10 per cent of children, pupils, students or staff who are likely to have mixed closely test positive for Covid-19 within a 10-day period.

The NAHT poll shows that, on average, school leaders report having already had three members of staff absent because of Covid-19 this term.

And it also shows major concerns among school leaders about the government’s guidance for managing Covid.

The government has relaxed the need for self-isolation of Covid contacts and the need for masks or social distancing in school this term.

Close contacts of Covid cases no longer have to self-isolate if they are under 18 or double vaccinated.

This means that children are expected to attend school even if there is one or more Covid cases in their home.

But the poll shows that 80 per cent of heads want that guidance to be changed.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Clearly Covid and Covid-related absence is still interrupting education for staff and students. We are hearing from members on a daily basis who are still experiencing a high level of disruption.

“Our members are particularly concerned about the current guidance relating to siblings and household contacts. At the moment, if a child tests positive for Covid, their siblings can continue to attend school, even if they share a bedroom, for example. Our members say this is actively contributing to the spread of Covid in schools.

“School leaders want the government to revisit its guidance, particularly when it comes to contact tracing and self-isolation. No one wants to see a child miss any time off school, but there is a real risk that the current policy is inadvertently leading to more children missing school in the long run.”

Only 14 per cent of NAHT members who took part in the survey said they had any confidence in the government guidance, while 78 per lacked confidence.

Some 46 per cent of respondents said they were “unconfident” about the guidance while another 32 per cent said they were “very unconfident”.

Nearly three-fifths (59 per cent) of respondents want the government to do more to help improve ventilation in classrooms and 40 per cent called for the government to provide air filters where necessary.

‘This should be ringing alarm bells for government’

Mr Whiteman added: “The results of this survey, coupled with the latest data on case numbers among school-aged children, should be ringing alarm bells for government. Put simply, we cannot allow Covid to rage unchecked in schools as it will only lead to more disruption to children’s education.

“We now have a new secretary of state for education and we look forward to working with him to ensure that school leaders can have confidence in government guidance and that everything possible is done to minimise disruption to education as we move into the winter.”