TEACHING unions, politicians and medical experts called on the government today to prioritise the protection of school staff and pupils as it ploughs ahead with its plan to reopen classrooms.
Ministers and the Department for Education discussed concerns over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus ahead of the return to school following the festive break.
Scientists have suggested that the mutated coronavirus strain could more easily infect children, with Sir Jeremy Farrar, a member of the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), claiming the arguments for reopening schools were “very finely balanced.”
NEU members at Woodfield School in north London are taking sustained industrial action against enforced cuts to learning support assistants’ hours and pay. MARY ADOSSIDES reports
With 170,000 children living in poverty in north-east England and teachers leaving in droves over 20 per cent real-terms pay cuts since 2010, all while private companies siphon off billions, it is time to unite and fight for education, writes MATT WRACK


