With Wales announcing that primary school pupils will be returning on Monday, schools across the UK are preparing to return to classroom as soon as the 8th of March.

Kent MPs have been urging the government to prioritise teachers for vaccines during the half term this week.

However, no measures have been put in place. Now many could face a return to the schools with no protection.

On Monday, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to address the nation with a plan of our route back to normality. 

However, details have been emerging over the past week that all primary and secondary school pupils in England will be heading back to the classroom on the 8th of March. 

Medway Labour Councillor Tristan Osborne believes that this could lead to a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. He said: “If SAGE advice is right, we know that primary and secondary schools are the major vector, the transmission centre for community transmissions. If we don’t flatten that curve, more and more people will die.”

Despite the vaccine rollout being firmly on track reaching everyone in the top four priority groups earlier this week, some Kent MPs have criticised the government for not vaccinating teachers during the half term.

This is something the Conservative MP for North Thanet, Sir Roger Gale, has been arguing for months. 

He said: “I feel very strongly now that we should not be sending children back to school at primary or secondary level, until teachers have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.”

However, teachers are desperate to get back to the classroom. Ruth Powell is the headteacher at St Katherine’s Primary School in Snodland. She believes schools can be safe although children are a little unpredictable and “just like adults they forget and they get close”.

So, it seems the biggest test for the government will be just how successful this roadmap is, with the world watching to see if they make the grade.