‘This could wipe out my entire family’ – Sheffield mum’s fury over school Covid row

Allison Liversidge, aged 41, and her two girls, Teegan and Tiana, were last week told they must both attend their Brigantia Learning Trust schools or face serious consequences.

Both girls have health conditions which make them vulnerable, as does their father and both their grandmas, all of whom live together in the same Wincobank house.

But the learning trust says 11-year-old Teegan and six-year-old Tiana, who go to Hinde House and Wincobank Nursery Infant schools respectively, must attend or face being classed as a ‘child missing in education’ in Teegan’s case or being branded a truant in Tiana’s.

While she is keen to get them back to school after the coronavirus lockdown brought an end to face-to-face lessons in March, Allison says she is simply not prepared to risk her family’s health to do so.

She said: “Tiana’s school initially said it was fine but Brigantia now says if I don’t send both of them to school they won’t put Teegan on the roll and I will have to home school Tiana.

“They are asking me to choose between my kids going to school and something that could potentially wipe out five members of my family.

"I don’t know why they don’t trial it with healthy families first for a few weeks and then if it is working I could send them in.”

Of the six people who live in the family’s Merton Road home, five have illnesses that could make them vulnerable to coronavirus.

Teegan and her dad Carlos both have blood clots in their lungs, while Tiana has an immune condition, Allison’s mum has dementia and the girls’ other grandma is undergoing radiotherapy for cancer.

Mike Westerdale, the CEO of the Brigantia Learning Trust, said: “We are extremely sorry that the family feel we are being unreasonable.

“As a trust we have worked extremely hard to make every effort to support all our families and community members, many who have very specific circumstances in these very difficult times.

“Both girls have allocated places at academies within the trust and we have tried very hard to reassure the family that we have placed safety at the forefront of our September opening strategy where pupils remain in ‘bubbles’ taught as a single class throughout the day with one teacher.

“Based on very strict, recently published DfE guidance recording attendance in relation to coronavirus (COVID-19) during the 2020 to 2021 academic year, we have no alternative but to record pupils who do not attend as being absent.

"Any COVID related absences have a special absence code but this situation does not meet the criteria as there is currently no local lockdown scenario in which those pupils judged to be shielding can be marked down using the new code.

“We look forward to the girls returning to their academies as soon as possible.”

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