PRESSURE is mounting for the government to close schools in England, as teaching unions have told primary school staff it is “unsafe” to return to work because of rising Covid infections. The Gazette posed the question to our readers yesterday, and many of those who responded believe schools should not open on Monday. However, the head of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, has now spoken out to say closing schools to tackle Covid puts children’s lives on hold and should be kept to an “absolute minimum”. The government has said school closures are a “last resort” to control the virus. A statement released by the National Education Union said it is “calling on all primary schools to move to remote learning for the first two weeks of January except to vulnerable children and the children of key workers”.