Mr. Michael Gillespie:

I have heard from several schools - I cannot put an exact number on it because the information comes in on an area basis - where social distancing was worrying to our representatives.

The schools are going back in a staggered way, so we are not 100% sure how much movement has been made. Through the lead worker representatives in these schools, we have clearly set out a procedure to all our members to follow if they have concerns, and they are following it. We have had schools that have changed timetables to make sure they got 24 students into classrooms measuring 49 sq. m. Very big classes have been divided into smaller areas or have been taught through live streaming. If schools go through the 1:6 regime, they can solve this. As I said, we have seen very big schools, namely, those with 1,600 pupils, managing to do so. Where we receive a report that a school is not doing so, we tell it to get advice and call the Department's helpline, and then it should be able to do it. Sometimes it is because the school has not pushed the last bit to get there. We will not, however, allow our members to work in those schools where the basic precautions - such as physical distancing of in excess of 2 m, or between 1 m and 2 m when wearing masks - are not in place.

It is early days yet, and we may get more specific information. We certainly heard a lot in the first day or two from teachers worried about the way in which their classrooms were laid out. As Ms Magner stated, it was interesting that we had maps to lay out the classrooms in order that we could make sure we had 1 m social distancing in classrooms. We have actually had to give maps to schools to make sure we know how many students can go into classrooms of various sizes. Our classrooms are tiny. Across Europe, 30 students go into classrooms that are nearly 100 sq. m, and our biggest classrooms are 49 sq. m. Some of our newer buildings might contain classrooms that are up to 55 sq. m and we can put 24 students into those. In certain countries in Europe, they put 15 students into classrooms measuring nearly 100 sq. m.