Yesterday the Government announced the easing of Covid restrictions with many decisions having a direct effect on schools. These included the announcement that students are no longer required to wear face masks in classrooms, while the Department for Education will remove guidance on their use within communal areas, such as corridors and dining halls.
As news of the changes circulated, Schools North East surveyed school leaders across the region and found that the majority remained concerned about the impact this would have and are very cautious about easing their own restrictions prematurely. Almost 61% of respondents did not support the easing of restrictions outside of schools; although there was some support for removing the guidance around mandatory face coverings in public places, working from home, and Covid passports.
66% of schools did not support the Department for Education’s decision to ease restrictions in schools.
Looking at the data, which we collected earlier this week, it is clear why school leaders would not support this decision with the pandemic still causing serious issues with staffing. 54% of schools across our region reported staffing levels of between 70%-90%, with 31% of schools reporting that staff levels were below 80%. Schools North East has previously identified significant issues across the region around levels of available supply cover. Our discussions with regional school leaders in December 2021 found that schools are also struggling to fill vacancies, including teaching assistants, site managers, cleaning, business, administrative, and catering staff. There were several worrying trends identified that may worsen both the quantity and quality of applications, such as schools losing essential support staff to sectors outside of education. CLICK HERE for details.
The urgent lack of supply staff, combined with staff still having to isolate for considerable periods of time, mean that relaxing covid restrictions prematurely could significantly exacerbate an already very difficult situation, again increasing the pressures on dedicated school staff.
The serious staffing situation is further complicated by significant levels of student absence. 20% of schools reported that their student attendance was below 80%. Only 10% of schools reported attendance above 90%. Combined with the very difficult staffing situation, this is keeping students out of the classroom for valuable lesson time as schools work hard to ‘catch up’ from the time lost earlier in the pandemic.
It is still unclear if this regional and local disruption will be accounted for in the summer exams for GCSE and A Levels, which will be ‘returning to normal’ for the first time in 2 years. This has the potential to leave the disadvantaged further behind once again and significantly affect student destinations.
With this local context in mind, despite the Secretary of State’s desire to ease restrictions and ‘return to normal’ as soon as possible, 92% of the schools who responded are intending to maintain their Covid-related measures for the foreseeable future.
Schools North East collated the information gathered in the survey and issued a press briefing to all of its media contacts, national and regional. This has been picked up by The Guardian, TES, Schools Week, ITV, and the BBC. Director of Schools North East, Chris Zarraga, spoke to BBC Radio Tees about the easing of restrictions. You can listen to his full interview here.
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