Options around reopening are already being discussed in the media, and there has been speculation that prioritisation of teachers for the vaccine could lead to fully reopening schools. Schools North East wrote to Gavin Williamson, Education Secretary, this week to highlight that contingency plans must be put in place as soon as possible and that any return should be done on a local level, based on the evidence and trusting in the judgement of our school leaders.
Phased reopening
Schools North East fully support reopening schools to all students, but only when it is safe to do this, and currently any return to school opening which sees all students return at once is likely to have the same impact as in the Autumn term with transmission rising, and huge disruption with bubbles in and out of school.
This week during the House of Commons’ education committee on the impact of Covid-19 on education, the deputy chief medical officer Jenny Harries said ‘it is highly likely that when we come out of this national lockdown we will not have consistent patterns of infection in our communities across the country. And therefore as we had prior to the national lockdown it may well be possible we need to have some differential application.’ While this idea of a regional approach to school opening starts an important conversation about how we get students back into school, this approach is too wide to be effective.
If a one-size-fits-all approach was taken for the North East, which has a vast range of areas and geography, students in some areas could be prevented from returning to school, even if rates in their local area were low. This is particularly likely to adversely affect more rural areas. It also doesn’t address the issue of rising transmission in schools if all children were to return. It was reported this week that Scotland is considering a phased return which will see younger children return first. While this approach will help reduce transmission, it fails to address the differing levels of disruption groups have experienced, and the support they need as part of the first steps towards recovery.
Instead, Schools North East has proposed a ‘phased return’, operating at a local authority level with flexibility over how and which groups return. This would take into account figures from local health trusts, with a joined-up approach between education, health and the local authority to make a decision that is right for each area. Alongside this, where it is deemed safe for schools to have students return, Head Teachers and CEOs should be given flexibility and discretion around how this will work for their school or trust, with the ability to implement rotas and prioritise the groups who need the most support. With this approach school leaders could identify a year group that missed a significant amount due to isolating, or choose to bring in a group of students who have struggled to engage with home-learning for example.
Under this approach, the reopening could look different from school to school, but it would place trust in the professional judgement of staff to make the right decision for their school. Given the disparity in how schools were affected during the Autumn term this level of flexibility is necessary, and our school leaders are best placed to know what is needed in their setting.
February Half Term Opening
Our letter to the Education Secretary also highlighted that a decision on whether schools should remain open over half-term must be taken immediately. We have advised that schools should remain closed during this time, to give our staff a well deserved break. Teaching and support staff have gone above and beyond throughout the pandemic with in-school and remote learning, and seen Christmas holidays disrupted with test and trace and government u-turns. Staff are exhausted and Schools North East surveys show that wellbeing has plummeted, with leaders reporting that staff morale is worse than in the Autumn term. If schools need to be open during the half-term, we have recommended that this is at minimum capacity to only support key workers delivering the vaccine.
Vaccine
We reiterated our call to prioritise teaching staff for a vaccine, highlighting that this is vital to protect school staff and support the reopening of schools. Without this, we would once again see huge levels of disruption from staff absence, and would be continuing to put staff at risk. However, we have made it clear that the vaccine cannot be used as a tool to facilitate full reopening. There is currently no evidence on whether the vaccines reduce transmission, and so if staff could potentially pass on the virus, fully reopening would require all the same safety measures and could still see a rise in infections. A phased opening, limiting contact time with bubbles would limit this.
Decision-making
We urged the Education Secretary to make these crucial decisions urgently. While the announcement of two week’s notice for the return to school is appreciated, this does not go far enough. School staff are teaching in-school and remotely and planning for any change must take place alongside this. Contingency plans should be released as soon as possible, giving staff the best opportunity to put these in place.
Lack of clear and decisive guidance is creating unnecessary stress and additional workload for staff. Rising tensions around this lack of leadership is being reflected in the media, with schools and staff unfairly portrayed in a negative light, when the reality is that they have gone above and beyond in the effort against the pandemic and have been a vital part of the national response to this public health emergency. Decisive action going forward is crucial to resolve this and support staff in their roles.
As ever, Schools North East is working hard to represent the voice of North East schools and ensure that when it comes to the response to the pandemic, the region’s schools and students are not left behind. This continues the work of our Manifesto for North East Education, which challenges some of the perennial issues exposed by the pandemic.
If you would like to get in touch on this or other issues please contact us at policy@schoolsnortheast.com
