With just days left of the current school term, fears are growing that pupils may not return in January as planned.
Amid a surge from the Omicron variant, many settings are having to close early for the festive break because of the impact cases are having on staff.
For many parents and teachers there's a real sense of deja vu, as it was this time last year when classes were being sent home to isolate with staff teaching remotely once again.
The government is maintaining the line that 'the classroom is the very best place for children', and just today issued a warning to parents not to take their children out of school before the term ends.
But with rates of the new Covid-19 strain expecting to soar over the next few months, ministers have refused to rule out future closures.
For headteachers and unions, who have already been calling for a Plan B for schools and colleges amid fears of the mass disruption the new year could bring, January has fast become 'the great unknown'.
In Oldham, schools and colleges are already feeling the impact, including Oldham Sixth Form, which has moved to remote learning for the rest of term amid staff shortages.
One mum, who has one child at the college and another at Oasis Academy Oldham, has received a letter from the latter's principal Marie Dillon warning of possible disruption in the new year.
And she says her youngest has been prepped for the fact he may not return as planned.
If that's the case, she told us she'd rather know now than it being announced at the last minute - or a day into the new term as was the case for some pupils last January.
"For me, I'd rather know now what's going to happen so I can prepare for my two at home," she said.
"My daughter is already on online lessons and my lad worked well online last year because he knew what was going on.
"I can't deal with the not knowing because it's hard to plan. I really think if they're thinking of closing education facilities, we should be forewarned."
That sentiment was echoed by a teacher at a secondary school in Trafford, who said schools are rarely given much warning.
"As yet we have not been told anything else about closures, but obviously all staff have it in the back of their minds," she said.
"As usual, we will probably be told by the authorities with not much warning and our senior leadership team will be left to organise everything."
Steve Chalke, head of the Oasis Academy chain, admits that for schools 'January is the great unknown'.
Secondaries have already been asked to test pupils on their return from the festive break but he said they are also making plans for the return of bubbles, rota lessons and staggered start times.
“We are quite prepared for online learning," he said. "If we get to January 2 and the Prime Minister says all schools need to be shut, we are prepared.
“January is the great unknown. But Omicron is sweeping London now and it is going to sweep the country.”
Jenna Carter, from Hyde, is mum to Chester, seven, and five-year-old Clark, and says even if the government did announce closures now, she doesn't know how her family would manage financially.
Working in sales admin for a carpet wholesaler, she relied on the furlough scheme during previous lockdowns and said: "I have no option other than school. My workplace can't accommodate working from home and I'm not classed as a key worker, so if schools do shut I'm kind of up the creek without a paddle.
"I got furlough last time, unless they reintroduce the furlough scheme I won't be able to pay bills, or put food on the table and I think a lot of parents would be in the same situation.
"I'm going to personally dig my heels in this time and insist that mine attend due to personal circumstances."
Jade Carroll doesn't want schools to close, but says the current situation cannot continue.
She'd just made the decision to take her daughter out of Whitefield's Mersey Drive Community Primary early because of the number of positive cases in her class. But on Wednesday parents were notified the school was closing to all year groups anyway because it was 'unable to maintain safe staffing levels'.
"I don’t think they should stay shut [in January], she said. "I think what they need is better management when they have cases in the class.
"So if the class have been requested to do a PCR test they shouldn’t be allowed back until results are negative, not allowed in whilst waiting for the results as the cycle needs to be broken.
"It will inevitably end in closures if it’s not managed better."
Has your child's school warned of disruption after Christmas? Is the new variant having an impact on your child's final week in school? Let us know in the comments here.
But not everyone wants schools to remain open, with some saying a 'firebreak' is required to curb transmission.
Alisha-marie Kaylor, from Old Trafford, has four sons - one in secondary and three in primary.
"I feel we are stuck in a real bad rut again with this new strain, it's ridiculous and scary," she said.
"Since September I've had to have my sons PCR tested five times because of coughs and colds. Now I have them at home and I'm not taking them to test centres where the queues are manic and people could be infected.
"I've requested home ones but they haven't come, but we are still locked in isolating."
For Alisha-marie, closures can't come soon enough.
"Schools should be shut as soon as possible and children should be kept indoors," she said.
"I know the kids need their education, especially now after they lost out on so much over last two years, but at what cost? More than likely sick, maybe even possible death. What can their education do for them then?"
Teaching unions have previously called on the government to 'urgently increase the level of mitigations to slow the spread of Covid' in schools - and say we'd be in much better position if their requests had been met.
Among the measures being requested are improved ventilation, the wearing of face masks in secondary classrooms and not just communal areas, and the reintroduction of one-way routes and staggered break times 'to minimise mixing between classes and year groups wherever possible'.
Peter Middleman, the National Education Union's north west regional secretary, said: "Teachers, support staff and school leaders will be eagerly anticipating a well-earned and restful Christmas beak whilst legitimately wondering if the experience of the last new year weekend is about to repeat itself.
"There’s now a new Education Minister in charge who, thankfully, appears to have demonstrated a greater capacity than his predecessor to listen to the profession – while apparently being equally hamstrung by a dysfunctional government front-bench and increasingly distracted Prime Minister.
"If, as we have consistently demanded, nurseries, schools and colleges had been provided with mechanical ventilation and air filtration devices last summer, we wouldn’t have reached the stage where almost ¼ million school students were absent for Covid-related reasons last week while, in some of the worst affected places, up to 25% of teachers are self-isolating placing educational continuity in serious jeopardy.
"Nobody really knows what January will bring, but ministers will be in possession of sophisticated modelling data which they should be sharing with school leaders to allow them to discuss contingencies with local public health officials according to local circumstances.
"If any educational disruption is suffered for the third consecutive academic year, the only people to blame will be the same ministers who had the power to prevent it and with public examinations on the horizon, it’s crucial that they break the habit of a lifetime and make the right calls at the right time."
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are incredibly grateful to teachers and all education staff for their efforts to protect face-to-face education. The classroom is the very best place for children and young people’s development.
“We have already taken action to help manage the Omicron variant, including asking older students and staff to wear face coverings in communal areas and asking secondary schools to offer on-site testing at the start of the spring term.
“We strongly encourage everyone to keep testing regularly and get their booster jab as soon as possible to help further protect education.”
Among its list of 'protective measures', the department has updated its contingency framework 'to reflect that that local directors of public health (DsPH) have discretion to advise additional measures locally'.
But it says that any such measures 'should only last for a temporary period, should be regularly reviewed, and be taken with the prioritisation of face-to-face education in mind'.
