Covid: Parents concerned about impact of isolation on learning

Covid: Parents concerned about impact of isolation on learning

Pupils are facing "huge" disruption to SLOTXO their learning in Greater Manchester and Cheshire due to spikes in Covid-19 cases in schools, parents have said.

More than 170,000 pupils are self-isolating across England, with thousands in the North West areas.

One mother said providing home learning was "really difficult", while another said remote lessons were a "poor substitute for being in the classroom".

Head teacher Simon Kidwell said schools "urgently need a plan for September".

The two areas have some of the highest Covid infection rates in England and have seen thousands of pupils needing to self-isolate due to sharp rises caused by the Delta variant.

In Oldham, which had an infection rate of 228 cases per 100,000 people in the week leading up to 19 June, more than 3,000 children and 200 staff are now isolating with 84 out of 100 schools affected in some way.

Burnage Academy for Boys in Manchester has shut for three days for cleaning after a "significant" rise in cases, its head teacher said.

Karl Harrison said about 600 pupils were currently self-isolating, a number which was vastly higher than the few cases the school had been seeing in the three months previous.

He said the school had closely monitored "very rigorous risk assessments" and continued to use face masks even when they were made optional, but had taken "appropriate measures" after the "escalation in the community... affected us greatly".