More than half of parents in Sheffield want to wait until September to send children back to school

More than 1,700 Sheffield parents filled out a questionnaire about when pupils should return to classrooms after the government forced them to close to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Of those, 52 per cent said they would comply with government guidance to send youngsters back now, but 55 per cent said, if given the chance, they would prefer to wait until the new academic year in September.

The survey was carried out by Sheffield Liberal Democrats, who said 24 per cent of respondents wanted more scientific evidence returning was safe and the same amount of people believed the way forward was for individual schools to be given more autonomy to work with unions and parents.

Coun Shaffaq Mohammed, Liberal Democrats group leader, said: “Councillors across the city have been inundated with emails from parents who have felt confused and anxious and been struggling to keep up with mixed messages from the government and the council.

“One message has kept coming up throughout - parents trusted teachers more than officials to get school reopenings right.

“Our results show there’s a long way to go before parents feel totally reassured.

“Opening schools was always going to be controversial, but our survey suggests parents need more clarity before they can be totally at ease with allowing their children back to the classroom.”

Initial government plans were to reopen schools on June 1, but just before that date Sheffield Council announced it was advising local institutions to stay closed until a test-and-trace system was working effectively for 14 days.

Greg Fell, city public health director, has since said he is now satisfied it is safe to begin reopening them more widely.

He said: “I know there will be cases associated with schools. I am satisfied we have the right arrangements to manage this. If at any time I feel the situation is changing and this will have a negative impact on the health of school children and staff, I will have no hesitation in changing my position.”

To fill out the survey, go to shefflibdems.typeform.com/to/tdN4XW

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