This is the point - no-one wants schools to stay closed. People want schools to open safely and in a way that will permit them to stay open for as long as possible.
Here's Gavin Williamson's five points, I think it is worth coming back to them:
"First we must protect the NHS's ability to cope, and be sure that it can continue to provide critical care and specialist treatment right across the whole of the United Kingdom.
"Second, we need to see daily death rates from coronavirus coming down.
"Third, we need to have reliable data that shows the rate of infection is decreasing to manageable levels.
"Four, we need to be confident that testing capacity and PPE is being managed, with supply able to meet, not just today's demand, but future demand.
"And fifth, and perhaps most crucially, we need to be confident that any changes we do make will not risk a second peak of infections.
"When we can be sure that we have met these five essential points, we can think about getting children into schools again, learning, mastering new ideas and being with their friends once more."
I think we're probably good for the first three. I worry about four, but I don't think there's any way, as a lay person, we can know if we'll have enough capacity in advance of winter. Regarding five, I think we are definitely risking a second peak with the school returns we have planned - risking, not guaranteeing.
We really need to be coming up with a plan that says, "If this happens, we're going to do this." Not just "We're going to open schools up, come what may, all or nothing." Because there is a very big chance that all will definitely be followed by nothing.