AROUND a quarter of parents of students in their GCSE exam year in Liskeard have said they won’t be sending their children back into school next month.

Schools around the country have been tasked with getting ready to provide safe classroom space and teaching at a social distance from June 1 for children in Reception and Year 6.

And the Government has said it expects schools to provide ‘some face-to-face contact’ for students in their exam years – the current Year 10s and Year 12s.

At Liskeard School and Community College, headteacher Alex Lingard said that of the Year 10 parents contacted by the school, 26 per cent had said their child would not be coming in for face-to-face sessions.

When asked by the Cornish Times last week, Mr Lingard said that 37 per cent had said they would be attending, another 23 per cent had not made up their minds, and the school was busy ringing around the 14 percent who had not responded.

Of the sixth formers, 57 per cent said they would be attending and 22 per cent had said they would not, said the school.

In a letter to parents, Mr Lingard said: ‘We will take a cautious approach and offer something that we deem to be manageable, but also purposeful and worthwhile.

‘Students will be put into groups of approximately 10 (or even less for Year 12). To minimise contact with others, each group will be assigned

an entrance and exit to the school, a classroom, a toilet block and an outdoor space.

’All areas used throughout the day will be deep cleaned at the end of each day.

’We may take students’ temperatures upon arrival in the morning using non-contact thermometers., and any students displaying symptoms of the coronavirus will not be allowed to attend school.’

Meanwhile in Looe, feedback was also being collected from parents this week before a decision was made on how the provision for Year 10 and 12 would look.

In his letter to parents, headteacher Scott Yalden said: ’You will undoubtedly be apprehensive about your child’s return to school, which is understandable given several weeks of repetitive government messages to stay home.

’We will continue to adopt our risk management approach, taking account of government guidance.’

Some parents in Looe have suggested video calling as a way to have contact with students. One parent said: ’I’m worried so many will fall behind, it’s such an important time for them. But the children’s health comes first and those who have vulnerable family members at home. I still think a FaceTime group would be better to help them.’

Teachers’ unions have criticised the decision to reopen schools and many local authorities have said their schools won’t be ready to open more widely.

The matter is made more difficult still for those running schools, as a final decision as to what is required by the Government will not be made until Thursday – just a few days ahead of June 1.

There has also been added confusion for educators after the Department for Education issued guidance on its website that ’strongly encouraged’ parents of key workers to send their children to school from now on, reagrdless of what year group they are in, and whether or not they have childcare available at home. Yet workers in other sectors who have been asked to return to work, may find that their children can’t go back to school, so they could be stuck for childcare.

The Government has stated that coronavirus testing will now be available to everyone over the age of five, and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said that teachers and pupils with symptoms will be prioritised for testing. But questions remain over the ability of the Government to fulfil its pledge of 200,000 tests per day by the end of the month – and over the introduction of contact tracing.