Close special schools to prevent the spread of covid 19

Rejected 18 signatures

What the petition asks

It was announced this week that schools will be closed from Monday 23rd March, except for children of key workers or with SEN. For special schools however this is the entire school population which means SEN teachers and children with SEN will continue to be exposed to large groups of people.

The government should give headteachers the power to select which children within special schools should be considered vulnerable at this time and close all special schools. Children in these schools are likely to have low immune systems and be more physically vulnerable than children in mainstream meaning they are more likely to experience severe symptoms if they catch the virus. We must protect high risk students and the general population.

Why it was rejected

The UK Government or Parliament was already taking the action it asked for.

Since you started your petition, the Government has published guidance which states that 'Those with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan should be risk-assessed by their school or college in consultation with the local authority (LA) and parents, to decide whether they need to continue to be offered a school or college place in order to meet their needs, or whether they can safely have their needs met at home'. Find out more here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people.

You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:

www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips

You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/

You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/

Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/

Timeline

19 Mar 2020	Petition opened for signatures
9 Apr 2020	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 18

Status Rejected

Rejected 9 Apr 2020

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