Nursery World - Coronavirus: PM confirms schools should press ahead with reopening from 1 June

Primary schools should prepare for a phased reopening on 1 June, Boris Johnson has said, as teaching unions eagerly await confirmation of how their five safety tests will be met prior to the final decision being made on Thursday.

A quarter of parents said that they would be happy with a September return date for children going back to school

Speaking at the daily Downing Street briefing on Sunday, the prime minister said that teachers and parents could ‘plan in earnest’ for school to resume in just over a week, although he acknowledged that many schools would not be ready to do it by that date.

The Government has said it will make a final decision on reopening schools on 28 May, the date set for entering phase two of ending the lockdown.

At the Downing Street briefing on Sunday, Mr Johnson said, 'Today I can confirm I do believe we will be in a position to move to step two of our plan. As part of step two, we set out plans for a phased reopening of schools because the education of our children is crucial for their welfare, their health and their long-term future and for social justice.

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