About 90% of Westminster schools are set to reopen from Monday, June 1, according to Timothy Barnes, cabinet member for children’s services at Westminster council.
This decision is part of the government’s plan to see children in nursery, reception, year one and year six to return to school on June 1. Schools are currently only open for vulnerable children or the children of key workers.
Mr Barnes said: “The vast majority of our schools will be open from next week. Some are taking a day or two for training so will not be open on Monday, but we expect by the middle of the week the vast majority will be open.”
He said the few schools that will not open have chosen to remain closed because of particular concerns about the layout of their site, or because they are part of a group of schools that will reopen other sites instead.
Social distancing measures are being introduced in the schools reopening but some teachers, parents and unions have expressed safety concerns and some local authorities say their schools will not be ready to open.
Mr Barnes said some parents will keep children at home and schools will not have “anything like normal capacity”.
