THE UK Government's plan for children to be able to return to primary schools in England before summer look to be in disarray.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is expected to admit on Tuesday that not all pupils will go back.
The aim had been for all primary pupils in England to spend four weeks in school before the summer break, but some schools say they are already full and cannot accommodate more children.
Department for Education guidance says school classes should be capped at 15 pupils, but some schools have admitted fewer pupils than this during the phased re-opening for the school years Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.
Schools have said they are limited by classroom sizes, the need for social distancing and inadequate staff numbers.
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The BBC reported that schools will now be given "flexibility" by the Government over whether or not to admit more pupils.
Headteachers' leaders said it had never been a practical possibility to open schools further.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union the NAHT, said: "Returning all pupils before the end of this term will present unsolvable practical barriers if the hierarchies of control are to be maintained.
"If confirmed in the House of Commons later, we're pleased to see the Government will not force the impossible.
"Schools will continue to use their flexibilities intelligently to deliver the very best for all the pupils in their school."
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said he was not surprised the plan to bring back all primary pupils before the summer holidays had been dropped.
He said: "The 'ambition' to bring back all primary year groups for a month before the end of the summer term was a case of the Government over-promising something that wasn't deliverable.
"It isn't possible to do that while maintaining small class sizes and social bubbles, so we aren't surprised that the policy has been jettisoned."
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union, said it has been "abundantly clear" that the Government's dates for re-opening schools were "ill-considered, premature and unworkable".
He said: "The Government's rush to seek to re-open schools as part of wider efforts to restart the economy has been in the face of deep concerns and mounting evidence that this would contribute to a second wave of infections and deaths from the coronavirus."
"The Government must now accept that its plans for wider re-opening of schools are no longer credible," Dr Roach added.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), welcomed news that the ambition for a full return to primary schools before the summer could be dropped.
But he added: "The Government needs to have a plan to support disadvantaged children during the summer holidays.
"There needs to be a plan for what happens during the next school year. Education will be disrupted during the autumn term at least."
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