Parents worry that schools across England will be closed again next month, because principals begin to use their own "circuit breakers" to combat the new crown virus.

Due to the increasing number of cases, the children have been sent home from the classroom and learning is back online.

St Mary's Church of England Primary in Hereford and Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio in Lancashire have been closed for at least a week.

Now activists worry that more schools will follow suit before the Christmas holiday.

They say that children are treated as "second-class citizens" and must be allowed to stay in the classroom.

The parent group UsForThem is opposed to the move, which has worked hard to get the children back into the classroom after the lockdown last year.

Mom, Arabella Skinner, told the Daily Telegraph: “As the experience of last year has shown, these isolated cases of school closures will not be isolated for long.

"The worrying thing is that on Christmas Eve, we will see more examples of this.

"How long do we want our children to be second-class citizens?"

Molly Kingsley, the founder of the organization, added: "We are deeply saddened to see schools closed due to the new coronavirus.

"The children missed too much face-to-face time this year. They just need to go back to the classroom to study and be children with friends.

"It seems particularly unfair to close schools when adults are about to enjoy Christmas parties and mixing.

"It's time for our children to continue their lives."

UsForThem stated that distance learning is a "failed experiment" and that "we should not repeat this experiment in an almost fully vaccinated adult population."

St Mary's in the village of Credenhill was closed for a week yesterday in response to the rising number of Covid cases.

The principal Bernadette Davies wrote to the parents: "The purpose of this break is to act as a circuit breaker and stop the spread of Covid-19 throughout the school."

Darwen Aldridge Enterprise Studio, a secondary school for students aged 13-19, is transferring courses online.

It told the family that “in view of the number of cases and the advice given,” children will not be able to learn remotely until at least next Thursday.

Principal Colin Grand told the Manchester Evening News: "As with all small schools, even a slight increase in the number of employees who test positive for Covid will have a significant impact on our ability to provide face-to-face courses.

"We made the difficult decision to establish and switch to distance learning in a short period of time, until December 2nd we hope to welcome our employees and students back."

At the same time, an elementary school in Essex County urged all parents to get their children tested after five cases were detected.

It said that if students have a positive PCR test result or show any Covid symptoms, they should stay at home.

The Ministry of Education has guided that schools can be closed under "extreme circumstances", but only as a "last resort."

It said these should be "short-term attendance restrictions" and only "all other risk mitigation measures did not break the chain of transmission within the school."

The news came after the health director made changes to the UK's testing rules to restrict Covid before Christmas.

Tens of thousands of people are diagnosed with the virus every day, and this number may rise further as the holiday season approaches.

The lateral flow test is a swab test that can be performed at home, and results can be obtained within 30 minutes. 

They can be ordered online for free, or they can be picked up from pharmacies or workplaces.

Initially, the Ministry of Health recommended that everyone in England use it twice a week in order to detect cases of the virus in people who are not showing symptoms.

But experts said it changed the guidelines with little public attention.

The website now says that you should conduct a horizontal flow test:

A "high risk" situation is considered a situation where you will be in a closed and crowded space (such as a club or party) or where fresh air is limited.

The suggestion remains that if you experience any Covid symptoms, you should get a free NHS PCR test immediately.

A spokesperson for the UK Health and Security Agency said: “About one-third of people infected with Covid-19 have no symptoms but can still infect others.

"Having a free rapid lateral flow test before the high-risk period will give you peace of mind because you are unlikely to be infectious and able to spread Covid-19."

Before the busy holiday season, people will spend more time visiting relatives, shopping or attending Christmas parties.

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