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Directors have asked the government to clarify whether they will have to fine parents who refuse to return their children to school after the coronavirus blockade is alleviated.
More than 1.7 million students who are vulnerable, or whose parents are key workers, may be asked to return to school next week, while ministers target June 1 for a broader reopening of elementary schools.
However, principals have urged ministers to clarify whether attending schools will be mandatory or optional once the restrictions are eased.
Parents could typically face fines of £ 60 if their children are absent from school without good reason, which then doubles to £ 120 if not paid within 21 days.
If after 28 days the fine is still not paid, the parents could be prosecuted by the local authority.
However, ministers have yet to clarify whether these rules would apply after the blockade.
Children of key workers abide by social distancing rules while attending a central school for pupils in central Edinburgh
Drummond Community High School students in Edinburgh already meet social distancing rules
Paul Whiteman, secretary general of the National Directors Association, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘If parents do not have the confidence, it is not the director’s job to make decisions on whether or not to be fined.
‘If we open schools and nobody comes, it seems like a bit of a useless exercise. Children are precious to parents.
‘They don’t want to take risks with their health and their future. ‘
Geoff Barton, secretary general of the Association of School and University Leaders, said: “If they don’t think it’s safe to send their children to school, they won’t.”
It has asked for official guidance to make it clear that vulnerable children at risk of serious illness if exposed to the coronavirus are exempt from returning to school.
Barton added: “School attendance should be based on families feeling confident that it is safe to return to school rather than any element of compulsion.”
The NAHT, which is the primary union for elementary school principals, is now conducting a survey of parents and their attitudes toward reopening schools.
The results of the survey will be reported to ministers later this week.
Yesterday, it was revealed that schoolchildren will be asked to sit 6 feet apart with strict social distancing measures in patios and dining rooms as they readjust to life after the lockdown.
One in five children will be urged to return to the classroom starting next week as part of a gradual reopening of schools.
They are expected to follow new strict rules that they will see the children are divided into small groups with siblings in the same class.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and other ministers have been asked to clarify whether returning to school is mandatory.
More than 1.7 million students who are vulnerable or whose parents are key workers will be asked to return.
Students in the sixth year will be the first full classes through the gates, possibly beginning June 1, to help them prepare for the transition to high school.
Ministers will target later that week for a broader reopening of elementary schools, before high schools allow the return of students in the 10s and 12s.
Measures of social distancing already exist at Drummond Community High School in Edinburgh.
The school is acting as a hub for 12 schools in the city, taking children from P1, the first year of primary school, to S2.
There are 29 children on the register and the principals of the 12 schools take turns leading each day, bringing with them teachers from their own schools.
Children have been divided into six groups, with no more than six students per class, to adhere to social distancing measures, and siblings are kept together in the same class.
Social distancing also takes place in the dining room, while classes take turns rotating around different areas of the playground.
Stephen Gilhooley, Quality Improvement Officer for schools in Northeast Edinburgh, said teachers are adjusting well to the unusual teaching environment and showing impressive dedication.
When not working at the central school, teachers work from home with their own classes, through distance learning.
At the Edinburgh school, teachers work to ensure that social distancing measures are maintained.
Key workers have the right to continue sending their children to class during the closure, but when schools closed six weeks ago, they were urged to care for them at home whenever possible.
The government is now preparing to issue guidance that will instead encourage these parents to send their children to school.
Only one parent must be a key worker in order for their child to be eligible, but the parents will not be fined for not sending them.
The Emergency Scientific Advisory Group, which advises the government, is targeting June 1 for all six-year-olds to be sent back to class.
These children are seen as the priority to return to class because they transferred to high school in September.
A Whitehall source told the Guardian: “ The goal is to get the elementary students back first, but only if the R [a measure of how the virus is spreading] It is on a safe level.
“After the elementary schools have returned, we will look at the 10s and 12s.”
Department of Education figures show that 3.7 percent of pupils in England attended school the first day schools closed, falling to 1.3 percent at the beginning of the second week.
Attendance dropped to 0.4 percent during the week that would have been the Easter break.
But the numbers have started to increase with an average of 165,000 children (1.7 percent of students) showing up every day of the previous week.
At the Downing Street press conference last night, Michael Gove said the government was “particularly interested in helping vulnerable and disadvantaged children continue their education during the pandemic.”
This category includes those at risk of abuse or neglect or with particular special needs.
Schools are expected to begin allowing non-vulnerable students or children of key workers beginning in June, starting with elementary schools.
Officials are looking for options that include classes on alternate days or weeks to allow them to be extended.
Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman said yesterday that there is “great logic” for younger children to return to the classroom.
She told Sophy Ridge on Sunday that the younger they are ‘the more they need routine.’
But Kevin Courtney, joint secretary general of the National Union of Education, said: “While we all want to see a return to some kind of normalcy, the National Union of Education believes it is really premature to talk about a return date in June.”
Kevin Courtney (pictured left), secretary general of the National Union of Education, the largest teachers’ union in England and Wales, says talks about a reopening in June are “very premature.” But Ofsted chief inspector Amanda Spielman (pictured right) says there is “great logic” for younger children to return to the classroom.
