Boris Johnson dismisses chances of schools closing early so pupils can self isolate before Christmas

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

forced to U-turn on plans to close early for the Christmas holidays this week. The M.E.N revealed that leaders of Focus Trust were under pressure from the government to reverse their plan to shut a week earlier than planned.

They had announced last week that all 15 of their schools - seven of which are in Greater Manchester - would close on December 11, instead of the original planned date of December 18.

The decision came amid growing concerns over the number of families that could be forced to isolate over the festive period because of positive cases in the run-up to the holidays.Unhappy with the plan to shut early, the Department for Education asked the Trust to review its decision, stressing that it 'remains a national priority' to keep.