I can assure Nigel Gann (Letters, 4 January) that I am required to complete an online form for the Department for Education on a daily basis, collecting Covid data from the school at which I am an administrator. I am required to say whether we are open and for whom, how many children there are on the rolls, how many are absent and why (Covid in school, Covid out of school, other illness or absence reason), and then repeat the process for teaching and support staff. I have been doing this since March 2020. I have no idea what the DfE is doing with the information, but it always thanks me for sending it.
Nicola Moignard
Oakley, Buckinghamshire
• Judith Wright (Letters, 5 January) says: “Surely the best way of ensuring safe schools would be to vaccinate school staff. This would enable children to return to school, allowing parents to work and kickstart the economy.” This ignores the fact that children can, and do, catch and spread the virus, so while school staff may be safe, the parents, grandparents and siblings of the children would remain at risk.
Edward Collier
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
