BOLTON'S teachers have been praised for their efforts since schools reopened fully in September.

All schools remained open even when Bolton had the highest infection rates in the country, with only 'class bubbles' isolating ­— even when in some cases the majority of year groups were forced to shut after positive coronavirus tests.

The Bolton News revealed last week that a snapshot picture showed that Department for Education (DfE) figures released for the first time estimate up to 1,883 pupils in state secondary schools in Bolton were absent on December 10 ­— but the attendance rate of 82 per cent was a huge improvement, from the start of the academic year, which was in its 70s

By the end of the term the numbers of schools which had children and staff isolated had also dropped.

Cllr Anne Galloway, Executive Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said: "The attendance rates for pupils attending Bolton’s schools have improved since the first half of the autumn term. In fact our attendance rates are now above the national average. This is due to the decline in Bolton’s covid infection rates and also to the careful management by our schools of class ‘bubbles’ and their close contacts.

"Our teachers have gone above and beyond this term in keeping our schools open in the face of the extremely high prevalence of covid-19 in our borough.

"They deserve all our thanks and a recognition of the part they have played in ensuring our children can have the very best learning experience despite the pandemic.

"The Council know that pupils in Bolton have been disproportionately affected this term by absences due to the very high covid rates in the last few months and we have written to the Secretary of State for Education to ask that this needs to be taken into consideration for next summer’s exams."

Leader of Bolton Council Cllr David Greenhalgh and Cllr Anne Galloway, executive member for Children's Services, have written to the Government urging them to ensure children in Bolton are not disadvantages in their summer exams by urging the Government to change to teacher assessed grades.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he wants schools in England to reopen as planned at the start of January, but he said measures were being kept “under constant review”.

The Prime Minister said the Government wants secondary school pupils to return to face-to-face lessons in a staggered way in the new year if they “possibly can”.

But Mr Johnson said the “commonsensical thing to do” was to follow the path of the epidemic.

His comments came after Britain’s largest teachers’ union called on the Government to allow schools to move classes online for most pupils for a fortnight in January to allow Covid-19 cases to fall.

The leaders of the National Education Union (NEU) have written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to call for all students to be kept at home – except key workers’ children and vulnerable pupils – over the first two weeks of January to get mass testing set up.

Last week, the Government announced that most secondary school and college pupils’ return to class in England would be staggered in the first week of January to help schools roll out mass testing of students.

But scientists have suggested that the mutated coronavirus strain could more easily infect children.