Schools across the country are campaigning to finish the term early to avoid teachers potentially having to self-isolate over Christmas.

The TES reports that the rising discontent comes as official figures show the number of schools fully closed because of Covid has more than doubled in a week.

However, the DfE continues to insist that schools stay open until the very last day.

A parliamentary petition to “save Christmas”, which calls for schools to be allowed to switch to online learning only from December 9 now has 114,000 signatures.

And a separate petition calling on the government to close schools and colleges in order to “protect teachers and pupils and their families” has gathered 415,000 signatures.

Headteachers have warned of "mass disobedience" from schools if they are forced to stay open until the end of term.