Name: Covid absences in schools ‘a relentless battle’, says headteacher
Uploaded: 2021-06-28T20:49:14+00:00
Duration: 5 min 37 s
Description: The number of children not in school is at its highest since the March reopening. Entire classes and in many cases whole year groups have been sent home after one pupil has tested positive for Covid or come into contact with someone who has.

The number of children not in school is at its highest since the March reopening. Entire classes and in many cases whole year groups have been sent home after one pupil has tested positive for Covid or come into contact with someone who has.

This disruption comes on top of the loss of many weeks of school during lockdown and is causing alarm among parents and school staff.

We spoke to Glyn Potts, headteacher of Newman Roman Catholic College in Oldham – an area with one of the highest infection rates in the country, and Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the Teachers Union, the NEU.