Most school staff want attendance rotas to be used when all pupils return, a Tes survey has revealed.

More than 8,700 school staff across the UK responded, and 58 per cent said they would like to see rota attendance when their school fully reopened.

The finding suggest they oppose the position of the government, in which has removed attendance rotas from its school Covid safety measures. 

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Less than a fifth of school staff disagreed with the idea of rota attendance. The proportions were identical when the 7,000 teachers’ responses were taken alone.

Some commented that using rotas would be the best chance of keeping schools open to all students.

One state secondary teacher in England said: “We are surely entitled to social distancing, plus rotas are our best chance of staying open.

“I personally think we should have done this from September and we would have seen a lot less disruption to learning.”

Another said: “Yes, best idea, we need 50 per cent or less of the kids in school. Good idea; make it happen.”

And a secondary depute head in Scotland said, “Absolutely, for pupils and staff. Limit people in the building to keep people safe.”

But some respondents queried how practical running rotas would be.

“Possibly, if logistically possible, without creating ridiculous work load,” one state secondary school teacher in England said.

“Distance learning is very time consuming and results in a lot of screen time.”

Another said: “I cannot see how this would be practical in the schools where I work. We are already struggling due to fewer staff members teaching, as they are shielding. This would just increase the burden on the remaining teachers further.”

Last week, schools minister Nick Gibb said that rotas would be “difficult” for schools to operate when educating vulnerable students and key workers’ children.

Mr Gibb said that school rotas were a “less effective means” of reducing Covid-19 transmission risk than the approach set out in the Department for Education’s own contingency framework.

But headteachers have previously said schools should have the power to choose whether or not to adopt attendance rotas.

In November last year, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that plans for the DfE to scrap its own four-tier Covid system - which included allowing schools to move to rotas where necessary - were “strange to the point of being surreal”.