THE headteacher of a Basingstoke school has said a "long term plan"is needed on how they will reopen to all pupils.

Chris Edwards, headteacher of Brighton Hill Community School, says that it is now "unlikely" schools will reopen straight after February half term.

It comes after MPs asked the government to set out a "route map" on how schools will reopen.

Chairman of the education select committee, Robert Halfon, today asked for a plan to be laid out in the Commons.

Schools are currently closed to everyone but vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers.

When Boris Johnson announced the national lockdown earlier this month, he had initially said that schools would reopen after February half term - on February 22.

But the government has recently said that it is "too soon" to say when schools are able to reopen, and have promised to give parents two weeks notice.

Mr Halfon told the BBC that there was "enormous uncertainty" with some reports at the weekend saying schools would remain shut until Easter.

He told BBC Breakfast: "There are enormous pressures on parents at the moment, some of them are giving up their jobs or working part time, they are losing income because they have to stay at home to look after their children, they need to know what is going on."

Now, Mr Edwards has called for the government to publish a long term plan, allowing the community to know what will happen when they eventually reopen.

"I think it’s probably unlikely that a full reopening will be possible straight after half term," he told The Gazette.

"What we need really is a long term plan which allows us to ready our communities for what the reopening will look like, whether that be on a rota basis or otherwise."

The headteacher also said certainty was needed over how year 11 students will sit their GCSEs this year.

Exams were cancelled earlier this month, with "alternative arrangements" to replace it.

"Unfortunately it’s very difficult now if students don’t come back until Easter," Mr Edwards continued.

"The original consultation offered hope that they may be able to sit some form of external exams and we would still welcome that, most importantly to give the students the opportunity to prove themselves and to experience the process of actually sitting exams, which is an important learning process for the next phases of their education."