By Sean Coughlan
BBC News family and education correspondent
image copyrightPA MediaThere are 21% of secondary schools counted as not fully open - up from 18% the previous week and 8% in mid-September.
This is usually because they have sent home pupils in response to Covid cases.
About 7% of primary schools had to send home pupils, up from 5%.
These weekly figures from the Department for Education, based on responses from about 80% of state schools, show overall attendance remaining at about 90%.
Out of school
But they show a worsening picture for secondary schools being disrupted by the pandemic, with the highest figure for groups of pupils being sent home since schools went back in the autumn.
It follows the government announcing it would press ahead with a full set of GCSE and A-level exams next summer, prompting warnings about unfairness for those missing out on school.
Geoff Barton, leader of the ASCL head teachers' union, said the continuing fall in the number of fully open secondary schools showed how difficult it was to "operate amidst rising Covid infection rates".
image copyrightJoe GiddensHe says schools are having to try to balance "managing complex control measures while delivering education for those in school as well as those who are at home self-isolating".
"The pressure is immense," he said - and he raised concerns about the well-being of school staff.
The figures on secondary schools not being fully open were, based on previous Thursdays:
- 17 September: 8%
- 24 September: 16%
- 1 October: 18%
- 8 October: 21%
Few schools completely shut
But there are suggestions that when schools send home pupils, it is now a smaller number, and not necessarily a whole year group, as attendance in secondary school has slightly risen, from 86% to 87%.
There are also very few schools completely closed - only 0.2% of schools.
image copyrightJacob KingThere is no regional breakdown to show where problems are concentrated - but secondary schools seem to be more adversely affected than primary schools, with a rate of sending home pupils three times higher than primary schools.
Attendance in primary schools went down slightly, from 93% to 92%, but remains higher than in secondary.
Figures in special needs schools are even lower, at 82% attendance, and in state-funded alternative provision, such as for pupils who might have been excluded from mainstream schools, attendance is 60%.
England's Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said schools were able to provide more online lessons and "only a small minority of pupils are self isolating".
"Regular and full-time attendance in school is absolutely essential to help pupils catch up on time out of the classroom.
"It is encouraging to see the vast majority of schools are open," he said.
Related Topics
October 13, 2020 at 07:43PM
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-54524291
Covid secondary school disruption getting worse in England - BBC News
https://news.google.com/search?q=Send&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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