Exceptions to Max 15 Person Bubble

[Jiff99]

My (much) younger brother is finally being allowed to return to school by our parents. However, the school have said from his two form Year 6 has been split into three bubbles of 15 and these are all full.

He's being offered a place in a catch-all bubble that has Years 1-4. He won't see any of his friends in this bubble and it is the lack of social contact that has resulted in the decision to let him to return. (Rightly or wrongly, parents are concerned about the virus).

My little brother is really upset about it all. I wouldn't quite go so far to say it is a mental health issue, but he has been looking forward to seeing his friends again, nagging to be allowed to go back to school every day, talking to them on Whatsapp in the evenings and hearing about what has been going on. But now is told that he can't joint them.

I was wondering if there are any deviations permitted from the 15 person bubble size?

I looked at the DfE guidance that says:

"For primary schools, classes should normally be split in half, with no more than 15 pupils per small group and one teacher (and, if needed, a teaching assistant)."

I'm wondering if the sell-being of my little brother can be adequate justification to depart from the guidance that "normally" classes should be no more than 15.

Grateful for any advice!

[Barbie222]

Hi, sorry to hear that your brother is in this situation. I'm afraid that we would not go above the recommended number of 15 per bubble at our school, as it would contravene our risk assessment. It sounds like he has been offered a place in the key worker bubble which is generous of the school if he doesn't have key worker parents.