A group of Island parents have signed an open letter to the Isle of Wight Council, calling on it to close primary schools from Monday and to abandon fines for families choosing to keep children at home.

Scroll down to read the letter...

It follows an announcement by the Government's education secretary Gavin Williamson yesterday (Wednesday), about what schools should do when term restarts.

Mr Williamson said primary schools will open as normal on Monday, while secondaries will only be open for vulnerable children and those of keyworkers.

Then, years 11 and 13 will return on January 11, while all others will go back on January 18.

Mass testing of secondary school-age children is also expected - with schools told they now have more time to set up testing programmes.

In response to the statement, the open letter calls for better protection for Islanders.

Its signatories want the local authority not to follow the government instruction to open primary schools to all - asking instead that only vulnerable children and those from keyworker families are accommodated.

It argues that if it is not safe for non-essential shops, leisure centres and businesses to be open, it is 'not safe' for primary schools and special schools either.

Isle of Wight Council has issued a statement saying it will remain in line with the government's policy.

It said: “Isle of Wight schools will be following the national guidance that the government published yesterday which takes into account all of the scientific evidence.

"In doing this they will be doing exactly the same as their colleague teachers all over the country with the exception of those few areas where the government determined that the schools should stay closed for longer.”

Study

There is disagreement over the scale of the impact of the new variant of Covid-19 on children.

In November, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine tested nearly 10,000 students and staff across England.

  • Read the study in full

It found 1.24 per cent of pupils and 1.29 per cent of staff tested positive - mirroring the virus outside schools.

Although a higher percentage of secondary school staff tested positive, compared to primary staff, the study said that was not statistically significant.

It added a lockdown similar to the one in November - when schools stayed open - was "unlikely" to reduce the rate of infection R Rate to below one, "unless primary schools, secondary schools, and universities are also closed", Sky News reported on Tuesday.

The new variant is known to be transmitted much faster and it has fuelled the sharp rise in positive tests on the Isle of Wight.

What does the letter say?

The open letter says: "We are parents and residents of the Isle of Wight who are very concerned about the levels of virus on our Island.

"The number of positive cases, hospitalisations and deaths are rising at an alarming rate – we have seen the risk from the virus escalating as we moved from the medium risk status of Tier 1 to the highest 'Stay at Home' status of Tier 4 in only the last seven days."

The rate of hospitalisation on the Isle of Wight is not published. Yesterday, the Isle of Wight County Press reported four more deaths in December, within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test, bringing the total of hospital deaths to 56 and the overall total to 108 (at home, in care homes and in the hospice), since the start of the pandemic.

The open letter continued: "Whilst there are positive developments, in terms of the offer of vaccinations, the vast majority of us will not see the benefit until Easter – which is over 3 months away.

"Meanwhile, the Tier 4 'Stay At Home' order is completely inadequate, as it does not include our Isle of Wight schools – in particular our Primary and Special schools who are instructed to be fully open from Monday.

"If it is not safe for our shops, leisure centres and businesses to be open; if our NHS is being overwhelmed; if our Secondary students are being instructed to learn from home – then it is *not safe* for our Isle of Wight Primary and Special school pupils to be mixing together with dozens of households inside our school buildings for several hours a day.

"As responsible parents and residents, we wish to follow the government's instructions to Stay At Home to save lives and protect the NHS.

"We know that the Isle of Wight Council also wants us to follow the rules. We request that you please support our Island families during this height of the pandemic by taking the following actions:

  • Close our Isle of Wight Primary and Special schools from Monday (4.1.21) to all but the vulnerable and the children of keyworkers.
  • Keep all our Isle of Wight Primary, Special, Secondary and Colleges closed (apart from vulnerable and keyworkers) during the next critical weeks of January to ensure that we can reduce transmission of the virus
  • Publicly confirm that no parents keeping their children home will be fined by the Isle of Wight Council. They are protecting their children, families and the wider Island community by ensuring that learning is completed at home during this heightened time of risk.

"We know that the Isle of Wight Council want to Keep The Island Safe during this national crisis and hope that you can reassure the public by announcing that you will be taking these steps, as soon as possible."

Among those who have signed is the Isle of Wight Green Party's Vix Lowthion - the political group's national spokesperson on education.

Meanwhile, teaching union the NEU wants all schools to remain closed for a fortnight and has called for more information to be shared about the impact of Covid-19 on those working in education.