Dozens of Dorset teachers were absent due to coronavirus

The Association of School and College Leaders said the past few months of the pandemic had put English schools under “enormous pressure”, calling for education staff to be prioritised for the vaccine.

Department for Education figures show nine teachers and school leaders in Dorset state schools were absent with either a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 on December 17.

There were also 25 forced to isolate.

This means 34 were off for Covid-19 related reasons on just one day – 1.6% of all teachers in schools that remained open.

This was unchanged from the same day the week before, but down from 2.1% on October 15, the first date the survey was conducted.

On December 17, all schools that responded to the survey in Dorset were open, after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson threatened one council with legal action to prevent it closing schools.

Across England, 4.4% of teachers and school leaders were absent because of coronavirus on what was the last day of term for many schools.

Absence rates due to Covid-19 varied widely throughout the country, from 17.9% in the London borough of Havering, to just 0.5% in Torbay.

It is not known how many teachers in schools that had closed and moved to online-only lessons had coronavirus at the time, so the figures are likely to be under-estimates.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said: “The level of staff absence as a result of coronavirus is obviously affected by local infection rates, and the turbulence of the past few months has put schools under enormous pressure.

"It shows why it is important that the Government prioritises education staff in phase two of the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination programme.

"This will provide reassurance to staff and it will minimise further disruption when schools are fully open again."

Pupils in schools and colleges – except children of key workers and vulnerable pupils – have been told to learn remotely until mid-February amid the lockdown.

And England’s deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries suggested that a regional approach may be taken when schools do reopen.

Asked by the Commons’ Education Select Committee whether there could be a regional or phased reopening, Dr Harries said: “I think it’s likely that we will have some sort of regional separation of interventions.”

The DfE figures also show 40 (1.2%) teaching assistants and other school staff in Dorset were absent for coronavirus-related reasons on December 17.

Of them, seven had either a suspected or confirmed case of the disease, and 33 were isolating.

The National Association of Head Teachers said the new figures show every school is experiencing the impact of Covid-19 differently, and therefore it was a sensible idea to reopen areas at different speeds.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, added: "If that is the Government’s plan, then we would urge them to provide clarity sooner rather than later on the local conditions that will need to be met.

"This will give vital time to prepare and enable a smoother reopening of schools and businesses.”

A DfE spokeswoman said the Government will keep plans for the return to school under review, but will work to reopen them as soon as possible.