A MUM who is facing the possibility of sending her child back to school has said she is worried her son will not be protected against Covid-19.

Primary schools in England could reopen to pupils in reception, year 1 and year 6 from June 1 “at the earliest”, Boris Johnson said in his address to the nation on Sunday evening.

Jemma Thompson, whose son Ollie is in reception at North Worcester Primary Academy, said: “If it dramatically improves and is safe then it’s OK, but if not I don’t think the young ones should be used as guinea pigs to open up schools.

“They are little transmitters of illness as it is. They have absolutely no idea about social distancing and are far too young to be away from parents.

“For example, if they hurt themselves, they can no longer have a hug off a teacher, and they are far too little to understand why.

“Plus, they constantly have their fingers in their mouths and noses etc then touch everything.

“When all they do is mainly play, I think it would be more dangerous and pointless.

“At the age of four and five they will have plenty of time to catch up on any missed education when it’s all back to normal.”

Miss Thompson said she is waiting for a response from Parliament after she asked if she will be prosecuted if she doesn’t send her son back to school in June if she feels it isn’t safe to do so.

Andrew Richards, headteacher at Grimley and Holt CE Primary School, said: “I think everyone’s main concern is social distancing. It will need careful planning in order to ensure the youngest children are assisted with this.

“Another factor is that many school staff have young children in childcare settings or primary school year groups that will not be part of the early stages of the government’s phased planning. Hopefully, we will be given plenty of room to develop what they want, but able to modify strategies based on local context.”

Spencer Morris, headteacher at Red Hill CE Primary School, posted this message on the school’s website: “I wanted to make you all aware that, over the past few weeks, my senior leadership team, governors and I have already started to make plans on a possible return to Red Hill, depending on what the government announced yesterday evening.

“With any decision we make, the safety and wellbeing of children, staff and parents will always come first when, and how, we consider reopening for these classes.”