Covid in Wales: Youngest set to return to primary schools from 22 February

Children aged three to seven will return to school after the February half-term, the Welsh Government is expected to confirm on Friday.

Most pupils been have learning from home after a surge in Covid cases led to a Welsh lockdown.

The decision would mean the foundation phase of primary schools returning from 22 February.

It follows a fall in the number of infections, and negotiations with teaching trade unions.

They have called for a series of measures to ensure safety and said teachers should be in the priority list for vaccinations.

Education Minister Kirsty Williams is expected to make the announcement at a lunchtime press conference on Friday.

The Welsh Government had been under pressure to set out plans for a return to face-to-face teaching after weeks of lockdown.

It comes as other parts of the UK consider when children can return to face-to-face teaching.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said 8 March was the earliest date schools in England could reopen and that "depends on lots of things going right".

In Northern Ireland pupils will not return to school until 8 March at the earliest while Scotland's youngest pupils are likely to return to the classroom full time from 22 February as schools start a phased reopening.

The Covid case rate in Wales is currently the lowest of the UK nations.

It now stands at 126 per 100,000 people over seven days - a fall from about 700 before Christmas.

All schools and colleges in Wales were told to move to online learning before the start of this term in an effort to "suppress the virus", Ms Williams said at the start of January.

Some schools had been due to open in the new year but unions called for the return to be delayed amid concerns about a variant of coronavirus blamed for a rise in cases before Christmas.

Schools and colleges have remained open for children of critical workers and vulnerable pupils, as well as for children who needed to complete essential exams or assessments.

Earlier teachers' union NASUWT said a joint group of unions had given the Welsh Government a list of "mitigations" they wanted to see put in place.

They include strict social distancing, medical grade masks for teachers in the foundation phase and a "further consideration of a flexible and phased return".

Neil Butler, its national official in Wales, said: "We believe that the operational guidance is being reviewed and we would expect the mitigations that we have asked for to be reflected in that review".

He added that the union wanted to see "education workers that would engage in face-to-face teaching from 22 February being given priority access to vaccinations and that there needs to be effective and sufficient PPE available for all education workers".

Ucac general secretary Dilwyn Roberts-Young said there needed to be "local flexibility to stagger the return of foundation phase children".

"We'll also need clear guidelines about social distancing, the use of face-coverings, sufficient ventilation, and which staff are exempt from return and can continue to work from home.

"Above all, school staff need to hear that they figure in the government's priority list for vaccination, particularly those in the foundation phase where it is almost impossible to ensure social distancing."

Plaid Cymru's education spokeswoman Siân Gwenllian called for school staff and other key workers to be moved to the top of the list in each vaccination priority group.

"Parents, learners and staff need reassurance that the school environment is safe, and there are certainly things that can be done to give them confidence, such as more extensive use of ventilation, school workers moved to the top of their vaccine priority group, and schools must be given all options to enable adequate social distancing in classrooms.

"With a year of hindsight, it pains me to think how much more face-to-face education our children and young people could have had, if Welsh Government had used all the tools in their gift earlier."

Education spokeswoman for the Welsh Conservatives Suzy Davies welcomed the return but questioned the staggered approach.

She added: "It's been a tough period for children, parents and teachers, and it makes sense for primaries to go back to catch up with each other; these youngest pupils have lost most in terms of learning and vital early-years socialisation.

"We need a can-do, will-do approach from ministers as teachers on the front line want to return to the classroom so long as it's safe to do so.

"They must now put plans in place for those critical secondary years, and to get in the maximum amount of learning to prepare our older learners for college and university with an even more dynamic, innovative, flexible and ultimately safe approach to secondary schools."

The first minister said the youngest pupils would be back in school if virus rates carried on falling.

A week later, the indicators are going in the right direction, suggesting three to seven-year-olds will be back in classes on or soon after 22 February.

But this process feels different to the return after the summer or after the first lockdown.

The virus variants have added another layer of anxiety, and the approach is even more cautious.

Older primary pupils may have to learn from home for a while longer, and a return for secondary and college pupils, apart from those doing practical qualifications, still seems to be some way off.

The first easing of the strictest lockdown rules was last Saturday, when people were able to meet one other person from another household to exercise outside.

But people in Wales have been warned they are unlikely to see a "radical and significant" easing of the restrictions this month.

The health minister said there would need to "continued" reductions before the rules can be eased.

Vaughan Gething added any "available headroom" would be used to help children go back to school.

The next Welsh lockdown review is scheduled for 19 February.