Return of schools and colleges on March 8

Responses from key stakeholders to the Prime Minister’s plan for education.

Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

“Today’s announcement that all pupils will return to English schools on 8 March demonstrates, again, that Boris Johnson has, despite all his words of caution, failed to learn the lessons of his previous mistakes.

Whilst cases of Covid infection are falling, along with hospitalisation rates, it remains the case, unfortunately, that cases are three times higher now than when schools re-opened last September. This fact, alone, should have induced caution rather than, in the words of Nadhim Zahawi an ‘ambitious’ school return which runs the risk of schools, once again, becoming, in the Prime Minister’s words on 4 January, ‘vector of transmission’ into the community. This risk is greatly elevated because of the new variants of Covid which are significantly more transmissive.

Why has the English government not taken the same route as Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland whose cautious, phased approach to school opening will enable their governments to assess the impact a return to the classroom will have on the R rate and to make necessary adjustments to their plans.

A ‘big bang’ school reopening brings 10 million people back into crowded buildings with no social distancing and inadequate ventilation. The wearing of face masks by pupils and staff in in secondary school lessons is a welcome measure but it is not, on its own enough. The government has had two months to put extra mitigations in place to stop the growth in infection in schools that was seen from September to December. Where are the ventilation units for classrooms? Where are the nightingale classrooms? Where is the PHE testing which school leaders could rely upon to give more accurate results? It is no good political parties talking about these safeguards when they know very well that they have not been put in place and will not be put in place by 8 March. Words are cheap. Actions are needed.

The government must publish the science and the modelling which informs their unique school return plan. It should also make plans to protect vulnerable and older education staff who should be supported to work from home until their vaccinations take effect.

While schools and colleges will, as always, go the extra mile, headteachers should have been given the flexibility offered in the other nations to plan for a phased school return. It would have been far better to take that time to plan and implement a successful and sustainable wider opening — which today’s announcement does not, unfortunately, guarantee.”

Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said:

“The Prime Minister has stated that it is his priority to get all pupils back to school and college. However, re-opening schools and colleges fully on 8 March is one thing; keeping them open and preventing the need for further national restrictions is quite another.

The Government’s failure to demonstrate that it has taken full account of the scientific evidence to support its decision on full reopening risks undermining the confidence of the public and those working in schools and colleges.

It is vital that the Government recognises that it has already lost the trust of many teachers and needs to do much more to win the confidence of a profession that has continued, throughout the pandemic, to deliver everything that has been asked of them.

Although the rollout of the vaccination programme is going well, it is hugely regrettable and frustrating that the Government has continued to refuse to prioritise education staff in the vaccination programme. Vaccinating education staff would send a clear message that the Government is taking seriously the concerns of the profession and demonstrating a genuine commitment to limiting the risk of further disruption to children’s education.

Vaccinating education staff can be done now if there is the political will to do so. There is simply no excuse and no reason to not do so.

We have long argued for a competent system of test, trace and isolate. However, the decision to provide mass testing for secondary age pupils whilst not doing so for pupils of primary age will not help to win confidence. The Government has the means to move immediately to extending testing to primary school pupils and their families and they should commit to doing so as a priority.

We will be examining carefully the Government’s latest guidance for schools and colleges. With new and more transmissible Covid variants identified, the Government has to recognise the need for stronger workplace mitigations and control measures which are mandatory and backed up by effective enforcement and inspection. This would play a key role in winning the trust and confidence of many parents and the workforce in schools and colleges.

Effective ventilation monitoring and ensuring that classrooms are not overcrowded is vital if schools and colleges are to ensure that they are safe for pupils and staff.

Whilst it is vital that the Government monitors the impact of fully opening schools and the effect on community transmissions, they must also review the number of education staff and pupils who contract the virus and publish the evidence.

The Government has made a further U-turn over the mandatory use of face masks in secondary schools. However, we remain concerned that no such additional safety mitigations are currently proposed for those staff working in primary and special school settings.

The NASUWT will be reminding all school and college employers that, irrespective of the Government’s guidance, the responsibility for safety in law rests with them and the Union will not hesitate to take action where any school or college employer deploys members when it is in breach of its statutory duties and obligations.

Where schools are in breach of the Government’s guidance or their legal health and safety and equalities duties, it also essential that robust action is taken, including prosecutions where necessary.

The NASUWT will be continuing to press the Government to demonstrate that plans for reopening of schools and colleges will not compromise the safety of teachers, staff or pupils.”

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said:

“The Prime Minister seems to pushing ahead with an irresponsible reopening of schools, colleges and universities at the same time. Pushing students and staff back onsite increases the risk of more Covid outbreaks and threatens to undo the country’s hard work to get infection rates down.

Lateral flow tests are completely unsuitable for testing on campuses. They are unreliable and incorrect negative results may give people a false sense of security, increasing the risk outbreaks. The government must not use them to reopen colleges and universities.

We expect employers to keep teaching online wherever possible to prevent campuses from seeding the virus. For many courses this will mean no return to campus this academic year. UCU accepts that some university and college courses will need some in-person teaching but this needs to be very carefully managed to keep staff and students safe. Employers will need to agree new risk assessments with our health and safety representatives that take account of increased transmission rates of new variants, ventilation, PPE and how vulnerable employees will be supported to stay off campus.

Employers must work with us to protect staff and student safety. If our members feel their health and safety is being put at risk, then we will support them to protect themselves, including through balloting for industrial action where necessary.”

Professor Julia Buckingham, President, Universities UK said:

“This announcement is a long-awaited boost for students in England on practical and practice-based subjects, whose access to specialist facilities — laboratories, studios, workshops and performance spaces — is essential. Universities look forward to welcoming these students back to Covid-secure campuses from 8 March, where safety measures including serial asymptomatic testing and social distancing will be in place to ensure the risk of transmission remains low.

While today’s news is positive for some students, it will be disappointing for others that had hoped the government would have allowed them to return. University staff will continue working hard to keep all students motivated, supported, and progressing towards their qualifications. There will also need to be a further focus on supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing in the weeks ahead.”

Dr Greg Walker, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, the Association for Modern Universities, said:

“Universities are focused on safely returning students to campus as soon as government health advice confirms that this is allowed. Our priority is to ensure continued high quality education for those the government asks to continue to learn remotely for now, alongside a Covid-secure experience for those students who have already returned and the practical students who will be permitted to return from 8 March.

Modern universities are working flat out to ensure that all students can successfully complete their academic year’s study this summer, particularly enabling those finishing this summer to qualify with their degree or diploma. Universities have invested millions of pounds in their teaching spaces and online capabilities to ensure that this can happen.

We pay ongoing tribute to our students and staff for all that they have done and continue to do during difficult circumstances.”