The Covid-19 rules that have led to thousands of pupils missing school due to self-isolation are being axed.

Education secretary Gavin Williamson has announced that the ‘bubble’ system that sees groups of children sent home when one tests positive will end after the summer term.

While the bubble system was necessary to help limit the spread of coronavirus within schools it causes mass disruption to pupil’s lives across the country, with 641,000 children isolating in England.

The new guidance will be implemented on July 19, along with the easing of other national restrictions that has been announced this week.

The Argus: Covid-19 school bubbles will be axed on July 19.

Nick Brook is the deputy general secretary of the union National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), he feels that the axing of the bubbles is “simply hoping the problem will go away.”

“No school wants to see restrictions in place any longer than they have to be, but we must ensure that in relaxing the rules we do not create further disruption.”

He has asked for the government to explain why restrictions that were crucial for pupil safety before are now no longer necessary.

“Whilst the government might argue that scrapping bubbles and changing rules around self-isolation will reduce the number of pupils missing education, we should be equally worried about the significant rise we have seen in confirmed and suspected cases in a single week” said Mr Brook.

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There have been 28,000 cases of children contracting the virus in the last week, nearly double the previous week’s figures, Mr Brook said there should be greater clarification on what comes next:

“School leaders and parents alike will want more reassurance than has been given so far that removal of restrictions is supported by scientific evidence, not driven by political convenience.”

He said that by placing responsibility on schools to reintroduce restrictions and rules if there is an outbreak the government “must not simply wash their hands of the problem.”

“Going forward, it is essential that school leaders are given the full backing of the government to do what is necessary to maintain education and keep pupils safe.”