We are grandparents, non-parents, parents, educators or other. All of us are people who care about the well-being of children in our communities but many don't have a voice in the public debate about the re-opening of the schools on 1st June.

We strongly support the NEU's positive, evidence-based approach to *opening schools only when it's safe*. This safety isn't only for the children and their families, the teachers and other workers in the schools and their families but for all of us: this country has become number one in the terrible death league table by size of population, and we need to take secure steps forward to control the disease including responsible plans for wide testing before pushing more children into schools.

We do not understand why state school children should be rushed back when Eton, Harrow and other schools for the rich won't return till September.

And we are horrified at the idea that our very little ones will be given an anti-education in order to make this happen: schooling with many resources and creativity stripped out (see description by a teacher below(*)). Pictures of them in denuded classrooms, apart from each other and no hugs even if they fall - what are we teaching them? This is abuse of our community's small ones and will have bad repercussions for them and for us all in years to come.

Please do continue with distance learning, with special help for key workers' children and for others with particular needs if they want it, and please leave the others out of school for the summer: this is the most sensible step for us all.

(*) Facebook post from a primary teacher 17/5/20. " So under ‘covid secure’ guidance, our nursery to year one children (aged 3 to 6), and year 6 (aged 10 to 11), must have:

-all soft furnishings and soft toys removed, including hessian boards; marked off, one-way areas on floors; classes split in half with separate playtimes and lunchtimes; children sitting on their own desks two metres from the other desks, and staggered start and end times to the school day.

There will be no assemblies or staff meetings over 15 children or from different groupings. Everything-pencils, storybooks, learning resources- will need disinfecting, every day.

So we need twice the amount of staff, twice the amount of classrooms, twice the amount of cleaners and we need our SEN and vulnerable to understand that they will in all likelihood be taught by unqualified TAs, teachers from different year groups or supply teachers. They need to know they cannot touch anyone, ever, especially not for a hug if they are crying, and they need to remember the two metre rule at all times.

If anyone coughs we need to stop teaching and immediately take their temperature. If it’s a bit high we need to leave the rest of the class to rush the hot child off to a quarantine area, then wait with them while we locate their parents and arrange a corona test. Then we need to work out if the entire class need quarantining too, and if so, we need to tell all the fifteen families of the rest of the class to get tested as soon as possible, plus the adults that all of those children have come into contact with at school. Oh, and quickly disinfect everything the hot child touched that day, or the day before. In fact, disinfect everything that any of them have touched, just in case.

If any of the three year olds still suck their thumbs, or if any of them pick their noses or touch their faces, they need to remember to tell an adult immediately, so that we can leave the rest of the class (again) to rush them off to clean their hands, while they sing happy birthday twice.So that’s alright then."