Just over half of of primary schools reopened to more pupils last week, official government figures show.
Attendance data from around 18,500 educational settings shows just 52 per cent of schools that normally educate nursery, reception or years 1 or 6 pupils welcomed back at least one of those year groups last Thursday, June 4.
But the outlook was worse earlier in the week. Just 35 per cent welcomed back more pupils on Monday June 1, the government’s target date for wider reopening.
The data also shows that overall attendance rose to 6.9 per cent of all pupils by Thursday, with 91 per cent of all educational settings open.
This is up from 2.6 per cent attendance on May 21, the Thursday before half term, when 80 per cent of institutions remained open for vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.
The DfE also reported that the proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan attending school rose to 15 per cent last Thursday, up from 8 per cent on May 21, while the proportion of key worker children attending rose from 6 to 9 per cent over the same period.
The number of teaching staff attending schools also rose to 183,000 last Thursday, while the number of non-teaching staff in attendance reached 238,000. This is up from 125,000 and 87,000 on May 21.
Education secretary Gavin Williamson said it was “encouraging to see the majority of primary schools open their doors to more pupils, and almost double the number of children now attending early years settings”.
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