The Hertfordshire teachers absent in December due to Covid-19

The Association of School and College Leaders said the past few months of the pandemic had put English schools under “enormous pressure”, calling for education staff to be prioritised for the vaccine.

Department for Education figures show 90 teachers and school leaders in Hertfordshire state schools were absent with either a suspected or confirmed case of Covid-19 on December 17.

There were also 262 staff forced to isolate, meaning 352 people were off for Covid-19 related reasons on just one day – making up 4.3 per cent of all teachers in schools that remained open.

This was up from 3.8 per cent on the same day the week before, and 1.6 per cent on October 15, when the survey was first conducted.

The DfE figures also show 397 (3.6 per cent) teaching assistants and other school staff in Hertfordshire were absent for coronavirus-related reasons on December 17.

Of them, 116 had either a suspected or confirmed case of the disease, and 281 were isolating.

It shows that when schools were open to all children, education was often disrupted as staff needed to self-isolate.

On December 17, 97.7 per cent of schools that responded to the survey in Hertfordshire were open, after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson threatened Greenwich council with legal action to prevent it closing schools.

Across England, 4.4 per cent of teachers and school leaders were absent because of coronavirus on what was the last day of term for many schools.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the ASCL, said: “The level of staff absence as a result of coronavirus is obviously affected by local infection rates, and the turbulence of the past few months has put schools under enormous pressure.

"It shows why it is important that the Government prioritises education staff in phase two of the rollout of the coronavirus vaccination programme.

"This will provide reassurance to staff and it will minimise further disruption when schools are fully open again."