It was a painstakingexercisethat involved sourcing data coveringmore than 8,000 schools, across scores of local authorities fromall nine regions in England.
And the results from theTes investigation into the number of Covid cases inschools were not insignificant. We found thatCovid-19 since the start of September.
So it is perhaps telling that the first reaction of many teachers when we revealed the results on Friday was to warn that the figures that councils provided were not telling the whole story.
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Questionswere raised that suggest that any underestimation of the extent of the virus in education may not just be down to local authorities. It may be because not all schools are reporting their cases in the first place.
Unfortunately, not all schools are reporting their cases. I’ve heard from some Heads who have actually been told by PHE that they don’t need to unless they need specific advice.
- Scott Jelferson (@scottjelfs)
Then there was the question of an absence of data from knowncoronavirus hotspots.
Coronavirus: The impact on schools
Tesaskedcouncils to provide figures for the number of schools that have had Covid cases since the start of term.
We found thatcases have been recorded in35per cent of schools across more than 60areasof the country since the start of the academic year.
But many councils chose not to respondto our request for information.
And reactingto theTesstory on social media, teachersnoted that among the authorities missingweresome of the areas likely to have particularly high figures.
One Twitter user, MrsTG,said: “Sefton, Liverpool and Knowsley missing. One of the most affected areas in the country.”
Sefton, Liverpool and Knowsley missing. One of the most affected areas in the country.
- MrsTG (@MarieTG2)
These Merseyside areas have all beenhit hard by the virus, and were moved into Tier 3 -the most severe level of local restrictions-before the new national lockdown came into force.
But when asked for the number of schools hit by Covid-19 since the start of term, none provided figures.
Liverpool City Council did not respond toTes’ request.
Sefton Council responded simply: “We are not releasing data of this kind at this time.”
And Knowsley Council did not provide figures, instead issuing a statementthat suggested there were plenty of cases to report.
A spokesperson said:“We know that all of our schools want to remain fully open to all pupils but, in view of the recent increases in rates of Covid-19 in the community, we have to recognise that there will be times that this may not be possible.”
Another Twitter userasked: “Where are Lancashire and Blackburn in this list?”
Where are Lancashire and Blackburn in this list?
- Karen Casson (@KarenCasson1)
Both areas were also moved to Tier 3 before the national lockdown.
When asked how many schools had been hit with Covid-19 cases, Lancashire County Council toldTesto contact the Department for Educationfor the information.
AndBlackburn with DarwenBorough Council did not respond at all.
Then there was the Isle of Wight, which provided Tes with the lowest figures saying that just 6 per cent of its schools had been hit by the virus since the start of term.
But that prompted a tweet fromKelly Wetherick, saying:“The Isle of Wight have had more than threejust in the last week.”
The Isle of Wight have had more than 3 just in the last week 🤷♀️
- Kelly Wetherick (@KWetherick)
When contacted to clarify the figures, the Isle of Wight Council said the information it submitted toTesat the end of last month would have been “totally accurate”but may now be outdated.
The pandemic is by its very nature a fast-moving situation. On the same day that theTesinvestigation was published, the government’s scientific advisers revealed there had nowbeen more than 1,000 clusters and outbreaks of Covid-19 in educational settings since schools fully reopened in September.
Accurate and fully comprehensive figures are hard to come by. Sadly the only thing that is completely clear is the huge pressure the coronavirus is nowplacing on so many of our schools.
