NEU responds to PHE England report /Chief Medical Officer comments on return to school

 Commenting on today's report by PHE England and the Chief Medical Officer's comments on the full return of schools and colleges, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary, of the National Education Union, said: 

 

"The NEU agrees with the Chief Medical Officer about the benefits a return to full time education will have for children and young peoples education and well being. 

 

"We believe that it is vital that the Government must take every step it can both to allow this wider re-opening and to keep the R rate below 1.

 

"Today’s report by PHE England shows that there were only a small number of outbreaks in schools after the partial wider opening in June, but as the report itself acknowledges there are limitations on the generalisability of its findings - both because there was little data from secondary schools and because in primary schools much smaller ‘bubble” sizes were possible in the summer. 

 

"It is very important that such monitoring studies are maintained during the period of wider school opening.

 

"Schools and colleges are currently doing all they can to ensure their buildings are as COVID secure as possible, as well as dealing with the fallout from the exams fiasco.

 

"However school staff, parents and pupils are being sorely let down by Government because of a lack of a Plan B and of ensuring robust track trace and test is in place throughout the country. 

 

"We believe the Government is negligent in the extreme. 

 

"Schools and colleges need to know what should happen if an outbreak of the virus occurs in individual schools or more widely with either national, regional or local spikes. Government advice needs to cover the possible self-isolation of bubbles and, in extremis, moving to rotas or to more limited opening. It needs to cover advice to heads about the protections needed for staff in high risk categories if infection rates rise.

 

"Government should be employing more teachers and seeking extra teaching spaces to allow education to continue in a Covid secure manner if infections rise. This should include employment of student teachers who have finished their courses and not yet found jobs, as well as mobilisation of supply staff."

De-colonising the curriculum - Video of NEU Left discussion

In the light of events in the US and the UK this event centred on a discussion on what action can be taken to ensure that pupils are educated about the context of the #blacklivesmatter movement.

NEU's 10 Point Recovery Plan for Education ticks lots of boxes

While the government bungles the National Education Union has put some thought into what needs to be done for a recovery of children's education in the Covid19 crisis.

NEU survey shows realities of wider opening of schools

From the National Education Union

Respondents to a survey conducted by the National Education Union between 31 May and 1 June, reveals the pragmatism of schools when asked to open more widely under easing of lockdown.

44% of schools did not open more widely to the any of the year groups suggested by the Prime minister on 1 June - with the vast majority of them remaining open to key worker/vulnerable children as they have been since 23 March.

35% of schools opened on 1 June on the terms expected by the Prime Minister.

21% of schools opened more widely, but on less than the terms expected by the Prime Minister.

By the end of this week, an additional 6% of schools will have opened more widely, but more than two-thirds of them to less than the eligible set of year groups.

The regional variation in school openings tracks closely with the levels of Coronavirus in each region. Just 12% of schools in the North East and 8% in the North West – where levels of coronavirus are higher – opened fully to all eligible year groups in their school.

23,045 members responded to the survey. One representative from each school was used in the final weighting. In total 10,953 schools are covered by the sample, amounting to 63% of nursery and primary schools in England (17,322). Results have been filtered where relevant to exclude ‘don’t know’ or ‘no answer’, resulting in a smaller sample for some questions while remaining a reflection of schools not members.

Pupil numbers expected:

Less than 25% 16%
Between 25%-50% 41%
Between 51%-75% 32%
Between 76%-99% 9%
100% 1%

Commenting on the results, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

Schools have been open throughout lockdown, caring for children of key workers and vulnerable children. It is clear from our latest survey, marking the start of lockdown easing, that many schools intend to delay wider opening. Some are not extending their opening beyond key workers and vulnerable children this term. Many have delayed wider opening until later in June. Others will be opening for some but not all the age groups recommended by Government. All this will make our communities safer.

It was always reckless of Boris Johnson to set an arbitrary date and expect schools to fall in line. Heads and their staff know far more about their individual challenges than Whitehall ever will. As the regional variation according to Coronavirus levels show, schools are listening to the science rather than politicians.

This disconnect should be a wake-up call for Government. Not only is the safety of the Government’s plan in question but also the feasibility of it and confidence of headteachers in what the Prime Minister requested. The Prime Minister should now act to ensure that education unions are involved in the planning of further steps as they are in Scotland and Wales.

The NEU and many prominent scientists, including Independent SAGE, believe it would have been safer for all schools to begin the move to a wider opening in a couple of weeks from now, when the number of new cases per day should be lower and the system of testing, tracking and isolation of new cases is bedded in.

Our survey shows this continues to be a complex, challenging situation for schools. Heads, teachers and support staff are using their professional judgement, working with the children they teach in circumstances where official guidance has been published long after planning needs to start.

BREAKING: NEU calls on Government to step back from the brink and stop 1 June school reopening

From the National Education Union

Four prominent members of the Government’s own scientific advisory body have broken ranks to express worries about the safety of wider primary school opening on Monday.

SAGE members Professor Peter Horby, who is chair of the Government's New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG); Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Institute; John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Calum Semple, professor in Child Health and Outbreak Medicine have all expressed fears about the easing of lockdown.

On the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Professor Horby agreed with Professors Edmunds' and Farrar’s concerns, saying that SAGE has always been very clear that test, trace, isolate must be fully running BEFORE lockdown is relaxed. The system needs to be tracking most new cases, he said, following them up within 48 hours.

Professor Horby added that SAGE does not have a good handle on the role of children and schools in transmission and stated that returning to another lockdown would be much worse than delaying another two or three weeks until contact tracing is fully up and running.

Professor Edmunds said “There are still 8,000 new infections every day in England without counting those in hospitals and care homes… If you look at it internationally, it’s a very high level of incidence.

“I think many of us would prefer to see the incidence driven down to lower levels because that then means that we have fewer cases occurring before we relax the measures.”

Professor Farrar tweeted: “Covid-19 spreading too fast to lift lockdown in England. TTI [test, trace and isolate] has to be in place, fully working, capable [of dealing with] any surge immediately.”

Professor Semple said: “Essentially, we’re lifting the lid on a boiling pan and it’s just going to bubble over… We need to get it down to simmer before we take the lid off, and it’s too early.”

He also said that levels of transmission and hospital admissions are still too high. "I think a political decision has been made to tie in with when school was due to start, were everything normal, but it’s not normal."

National Education Union joint general secretaries Kevin Courtney and Mary Bousted said: “This public break by four prominent of the Government’s SAGE committee changes everything.

“No-one can now confidently assert that it is safe to open schools more widely from Monday.

“All four of these members of SAGE agree that there must a lower number of cases and an efficient system of contact tracing working before there is a relaxation of lockdown measures. Both these measures are included in the NEU’s Five Tests.

“Opening schools more widely runs the risk of increasing the R rate and therefore the level of risk to staff and to parents.  

“That risk can only be mitigated if contact tracing is running successfully.

“We have made that case strongly to Government – and we have been supported by the BMA and by the Independent SAGE group in our concerns.

“Government replies that it is following the science. But this public break by senior members of SAGE, including by the chair of the NERVTAG committee, undermines that claim.

“School leaders, their staff and pupils’ families deserve better than this.

“Even at this late stage, we call on the Government to draw back from wider opening of primary schools from Monday.

“Instead we urge them to engage in talks with the profession and the unions, including the NEU, about how to open schools more widely once the contact tracing system is shown to be working.”

NEU call on Brent Council to close schools except for keyworker & vulnerable provision pending safety assurance

The following letter has been sent to Brent Council by Brent NEU:

Dear Brent Council,

Yesterday the government has said that it is safe for schools to open on 1st June. But today the NEU has seen the Independent Scientific Experts' SAGE report (the link is below) which outlines how the government have failed to follow scientific advice. They go on to say that they believe IT IS NOT SAFE FOR SCHOOLS TO START WIDER REOPENING FROM 1ST JUNE.

The reopening model is not based on the modelling that the SAGE group carried out. It is also reliant on a lower "R" number than we currently have as well as an established track and trace system which is proven to be working.

Based on the many school risk assessments I have been consulted on this week, the problem with every single one of them is the lack of knowledge of how Brent's track, trace and isolation system will work and the lack of confidence amongst our members that it is even in place fully. This is through no fault of your own or the headteachers.

Sheffield council have joined 35 other councils today in stopping their schools from opening because they want to wait until track and trace has been in place for 14 days to know that it works. Sheffield currently has an infection rate of 434 cases per 100,000 people. Brent's rate is currently 444.4. 

The "R" rate across the country is currently 0.7-0.9. The government's own SAGE advisers have stated that reopening of schools will cause this to rise up to or above 1 based on this rate. This will cause exponential growth again of the virus. That means hundreds of deaths in Brent including amongst our school communities.

Unions exist to protect our members by using our collective voice. We have a track record in lobbying for safety improvements and often notice and warn of dangers far in advance of companies, councils and governments admitting there are problems. This has happened in Brent in the past, for example, over exposed asbestos in Braintcroft, Sladebrook and Hay Lane Schools and there has been at least one case of terminal mesothelioma as a result of the dangers that we were exposing.

On the basis of this new scientific report (below), and the obvious dangers in the Brent community (the infection rate, the continuing rate of 3 deaths a week- the most recent being a teacher in a Brent school, and the high number of vulnerable people and people from black and Asian backgrounds as well as the knowledge that 28 people have died in Church End ward alone), regardless of the work that is being carried out on the schools' risk assessments (which we nevertheless support and will continue supporting in partnership with yourselves), the NEU is now STRONGLY URGING  that the council stops any wider reopening of its schools until track and trace has been in place for two weeks and reviewed. 

We have today, in line with our union's advice nationally, warned our members in Brent that the NEU believes THAT IT IS NOT SAFE TO GO IN TO SCHOOL (other than for the existing key worker/vulnerable children provision) next week.

They have been given this advice:

IF YOU ARE BEING TOLD TO GO IN NEXT WEEK (with or without children) this will probably mean that you may need to cite Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 in an email to your headteacher. Members in Brent from several schools have already been doing this today. You are stating that you will continue to work from home until it is safer.  YOU WILL BE PROTECTED BY LAW AND THE UNION IF YOU TAKE THIS ACTION.

Although Cllr Butt has stated in the Kilburn Times that he will protect any staff in this position, we would, of course, rather not have to take action perceived as putting us in conflict with the hardworking headteachers of Brent and yourselves. We therefore request, once more, that you join the other 36 councils in temporarily closing your schools to all but the essential provision for key workers and the most vulnerable. This, we feel, would go a long way towards preventing more deaths in our communities in Brent.

https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Independent-Sage-Brief-Report-on-Schools-5.pdf

Jenny Cooper

Brent District Joint Secretary

Brent State Education Branch

National Education Union

Joint unions reach agreement on school wider opening with Brent Council

After a meeting between education union officers and Brent CEO Carolyn Downs and Strategic Director of Children and Young People, Gail Tolley the following was agreed earlier today:

A gradual return is beneficial with NO RUSH.

Schools SHOULD match their risk assessments against the joint union checklist.

Brent ARE supportive of schools delaying opening.

They EXPECT mention of risk to people of BME backgrounds to be in risk assessments.

There is PPE in Brent and it should be used where needed.

There MUST be social distancing in schools.

Schools MUST consult with trade union reps and members on the risk assessments. Local authority schools will be told to do this. Academies/free schools will be advised.

Risk assessments have to be done by SLT and HAVE to be signed off by governors/trustees BY LAW.

New cases of COVID-19 in schools have to be reported to public health. Therefore there should be a protocol for this in schools.

Gail  Tolley will be advising Heads that there are many new union reps who need to be given time to be consulted.

The council will support any school that decides to focus on other year groups if they believe reception/nursery aren't safe.

10 Brent councillors support professional associations over school re-opening

Ten Brent councillors have signed a letter support the call by  education professional associations calling for schools not to re-open for Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 pupils (they are open at present for vulnerable and key worker children) until it is safe to do so.

They also call for meal vouchers for children entield to free school meals over the summer and measures to protect children who may be affected by domestic violence.

The councillors are Cllrs Thakker, Georgiou, Hector,  Kennelly, Lloyd, Afzal, Chan, Ketan Sheth, Nerva and Tatler.

The full letter is below:

NEU on the situation of BAME workers in our schools

The National Education Union has now published the item below on the situation of BAME workers in education. Reader's won't need telling that this is a significant issue in Brent with its large number of black and ethnic minority workers in our schools.

1.  The Government’s plans for a wider opening of schools are reckless and not supported by the NEU. We are calling on the Government to re-think their timetable urgently. The NEU is deeply concerned by the emerging data about the disproportionate effects and number of deaths due to COVID-19 for Black1 NHS staff and Black populations. The Office for National Statistics’ findings show a greater impact of the virus in areas of the country with wider health inequalities and higher rates of poverty and on Black communities even after health and deprivation is accounted for.
    
2. Black staff are more likely to work in schools which serve deprived communities. The NEU wants this unequal level of risk to be a major consideration within the Government’s response to Coronavirus and its plans to suppress transmission.  Nearly 70% (1733) of Black staff who responded on May 10th to a snap NEU poll, said they would feel ‘very unsafe’ about returning to the workplace.
    
3. The NEU is engaging with the Department for Education (DfE) about the implications of the evidence on racial disparities, both in terms of the importance for public health of not opening schools until it is safe to do so; and the implications for Black educators, alongside other staff who may be vulnerable. The NEU petition demanding that schools should not open until safe to do so has attracted more than 400,000 signatures.
    
4. We are discussing with the DfE advice about specific risks for Black staff, which will need to be updated as evidence emerges from the Government’s inquiry into these risks.
    
5. The NEU is calling on the Government to share the data and models on which it is evaluating the timeline for commencing a phased return for more students. An essential part of this planning must be to take account of the emerging research findings and ensure risk assessments for Black staff who have underlying health conditions or live with someone who is shielding or who are pregnant. This must remain the case regardless of the Government’s announcement about wider opening.
    
6. Black staff with an underlying health condition who are being pressured to go into work (rather than work at home) should speak immediately to the NEU workplace representative or contact the NEU Advice Line. We expect headteachers to continue to negotiate the rotas in use currently with NEU members. We are asking and advising leaders not to start planning for 1 June as we do not think it is safe to do that at this stage and are in urgent talks with the DFE.
    
7. The NEU thinks the Government Inquiry into the disproportionate effect and rate of deaths for Black  people is necessary and urgent to save lives. The remit of the Inquiry will need to incorporate the role of racism within workplaces and the effect of racism on workers’ ability to secure safe working conditions, learning urgently from concerns from some Black staff in the NHS that it was harder for them to obtain PPE than their peers. PPE also needs to be adaptable to fit over turbans, hijabs or beards.
    
8. Black workers regularly face stereotyping, bias and attitudes at work which make it hard to raise concerns or highlight aspects of workplace culture which are exclusionary. It is important that the racial disparities within the pandemic are not discussed in schools in ways which reinforce stereotypes, such as stereotypes about migration or globalisation causing Covid-19. However, this does not mean silence about race or racism is the right way forward - we need to acknowledge the existence of racism in workplaces.
    
9. The NEU thinks that schools need to be alive to the concrete increase of racism during the pandemic and the risk that negative attitudes about race and immigration could grow because of fear and uncertainty. The NEU has published a  poster for schools to share with parents/ carers which signposts organisations to which parents or students can get a range of help including where to report racist harassment, incidents or attacks.
    
10. The NEU also wants to capture the hundreds of positive community initiatives which members are leading and co- ordinating. See the NEU’s free Create box idea. We are urging members to share these ideas, and other community responses, across their Union networks to inspire others and share great practice. 

Parents' views on the lockdown and school safety - NEU poll findings

From the NEU

Poll of over 1,000 parents, commissioned for NEU, shows support for lockdown measures since March

33% do not immediately plan to send their children back to school once measures are relaxed
Strong support for safety measures which have not yet been met by Government, including
widespread testing and tracing, before schools re-open

Last week the National Education Union commissioned a Deltapoll of 1,024 parents of school-age children in England.

In March the Government announced a range of measures in order to help the United Kingdom through the Covid-19 outbreak. The survey asked parents how supportive they were of measures implemented on or around 23 March, and to a large degree they were supportive of the cornerstones ‘staying at home’ (87%) and ‘social distancing’ (91%). In relation to education, they also supported the general closure of schools (86%), keeping schools open to disadvantaged children (81%), the suspending of Ofsted inspections (80%) and the cancelling of GCSE and A-Level exams (65%).

Overall, 92% of parents agree that the closure of schools has been an important factor in containing coronavirus. 90% of those polled have kept their child at home in light of lockdown requirements, the remainder being key workers or parents of a child with vulnerability needs.

Putting safety first
 
On 1 May the National Education Union announced its 5 Tests, which must be met by Government before the re-opening of schools can take place. We have also signed a joint letter from the six TUC unions representing school workers, which was sent to the Education Secretary on 8 May, setting out the yardsticks by which we can ‘ensure the safety of children, parents, staff and the communities they serve.’

The principles are clear, and many of them were reflected in the questions put to parents. When asked which of a range of ‘tests’ needed to apply before schools can re-open, they said:

The Covid-19 new case count must be much lower than it is now, with a sustained downward trend (82%)

Extensive arrangements for testing and contact tracing must be in place (77%)

Scientific or medical evidence shows that it is safe for children to return to school (84%)

Covid-19 testing for all children and staff at your child’s school is conducted (67%)

When asked if teachers should have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when schools re-open, 59% agreed. This view was significantly higher amongst respondents in London (74%).

Parents also expressed a reluctance to send their children back to school as soon as it re-opens. Just under half (49%) said they would, with a third of the total sample (33%) intending to delay the return.
These views were consistent across primary and secondary sectors.

Commenting on the findings of the poll, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

With an aspiration to open schools more widely in less than three weeks from now, the Prime Minister is squandering a great deal of parental goodwill.

The NEU has supported the lockdown, but the past few days have revealed the Government’s garbled approach to the next phase. In his haste to use schools as a symbol of recovery, the Prime Minister has merely succeeded in revealing the incoherence at the heart of his strategy. His ‘sketch’ must be redrawn.

Now that the Prime Minister has set himself on a course out of lockdown, he needs to act fast to reassure unions, school staff and parents that when schools do open it will only be when our shared and widespread concerns for personal safety are fully met.

Parents and teachers speak truth to power on premature school reopening

NEU survey finds 92% of members would not feel safe under PM's proposals for schools reopening

From the NEU

Within one hour 49,000 members of the National Education Union (NEU) responded to a survey about the Government's announcement tonight. They have given  a resounding NO to the Prime Ministers's roadmap for wider school reopening.

85 per cent of respondents said they disagreed with Boris Johnson's plans to restart lessons for reception, year 1 and year 6 from 1 June.

92 per cent said they would not feel safe with the proposed wider opening of schools.

Of those with school age children, 89 per cent said they felt it would be unsafe or very unsafe to send their children back to school. 

Of those respondents working from home because they have a pre-existing medical condition or are pregnant, 96 per cent said they felt unsafe or very unsafe returning to work. And 96 per cent of those with a family member living with them who has a pre-existing medical condition or are pregnant thought it would be unsafe or very unsafe for them to return. 

92% said the Government must meet the NEU's five tests before schools can re-open.

Dr Mary Bousted, NEU joint general secretary, of the National Education Union said: 

The Government must work with the unions to establish a position which gains the confidence of staff in schools. Tonight's announcement – so out of step with Scotland and Wales and with its confusion about social distancing – has resulted in 92 per cent of NEU members saying they currently feel a wider opening of schools would be unsafe 

The Prime Minister describes this as a ''first sketch'' of a roadmap but our members think this sketch must urgently be re-drawn. 

The incoherence in this plan has generated genuine fear. For school leaders, the lack of clarity about what is expected before, or on 1 June, is simply unacceptable.

Kevin Courtney NEU on Sky News LINK

 

NEU, NASUWT and Rebecca Long-Bailey tell PM 'no re-opening' until tests met

Battle lines are being drawn tonight following Johnson's confusing announcement which totally ignored the views of education unions over the re-opening of schools. The NEU has warned members to expect an email survey tonight. Here in Brent we need to hear from the Lead Member for schools, Cllr Amir Agha, whether he supports an early return to school even if the 5 sensible tests are not met.

This is what the NEU said a short while ago:

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s announcement on changes to lockdown, Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:

“We think that the announcement by the Government that schoolsmay reopen from June 1 with reception and years 1 and 6 is nothing short of reckless.

“Coronavirus continues to ravage communities in the UK and the rate of Covid-19 infection is still far too great for the wider opening of our schools.

“A study published last week by the University of East Anglia suggested that school closures are the single most effective way of suppressing the spread of the virus.

“If schools are to re-open, we need the Government to meet the five tests we have set to keep children, their families and our staff safe.

“There must be much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases, with extensive arrangements for testing and contact tracing to keep it that way. This test has manifestly not been met.

“We must have a national plan for social distancing, hygiene, appropriate PPE and regular testing to ensure our schools and colleges don’t become hot spots for Covid-19. This test has manifestly not been met.

“And there must be plans drawn up to protect vulnerable staff, or those who live with vulnerable people, to stop more educators or members of their families dying of this dreadful disease.

“We are supported in this by nearly 400,000 staff and parents who have signed our petition to reopen schools only when it is safe. And Parentkind, one of the largest parents’ groups in the UK, back our tests

“We have written three letters to the Government for the science around school reopening, to share the modelling it is using and discuss the concerns raised by our five tests. We have received no reply.

“If schools are re-opened to blatant breaches of health and safety, we will strongly support our members who take steps to protect their pupils, their colleagues and their families. The worst outcome of any wider re-opening of schools is a second spike of Covid-19 infection.

“Our members care deeply about the children they teach – and no-one is more aware of the struggles faced by vulnerable pupils, or those from vulnerable families, than their teachers. If schools cannot safely re-open, we need other ways of supporting those children. For instance, the better weather gives us a chance for some education to take place outdoors, where children are least likely to pick up infection.

The NEU will survey its members immediately after the Prime Minister has spoken to gauge their reaction to this announcement.

“We urge the Government to follow the example of the Welsh and Scottish governments who have made the decision not to re-open schools at this time.

“Now is the time for Government to listen and do the right thing.”

The NASUWT issued this statement:

 Responding to tonight’s statement from the Prime Minister, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said:

“The Prime Minister’s statement that it would be “madness” to risk a second spike in transmission of the Coronavirus highlights the need for extreme caution.

“Regrettably, the Prime Minister’s announcement is likely to provoke confusion and does not address the genuine concerns that have been raised by teachers.

“The Prime Minister’s announcement lacks the clarity of statements issued by Ministers in Scotland and Wales who have reaffirmed the key ‘stay at home’ message.

“The Government’s announcement that schools in England might reopen to more children from 1 June risks thousands of schools rushing to make decisions about how best to safeguard the health and safety of children and staff in the absence of any clear national guidance.

“It is baffling that following the Government’s decision to close all schools on public health grounds that the Government now expects individual schools to work out for themselves whether or not it will be safe to reopen on 1 June and potentially put at risk the health of children, staff and the public.

“With no date yet set for when the Government’s guidance will be forthcoming, school leaders in England are being placed in an extremely difficult position of being asked to draw up plans affecting lives of children and their teachers.

“Today’s announcements will do little to assuage teachers’ concerns about the premature reopening of schools.

“The Government must, with the utmost urgency, address teachers’ concerns or expect to lose the goodwill of the profession.

“Unless and until the Government can demonstrate that schools will be safe for staff and children, all schools should continue to limit their opening only to vulnerable children and to children of key workers.

“The NASUWT will continue to press the Government on the need for clear guidance and stringent and enforceable health and safety risk assessment measures to be in place in every school prior to relaxing the current restrictions.

“The UK Government’s message to be responsible and to ‘stay alert’ will ring hollow with teachers who are still being denied access to appropriate PPE and who have been given no clear guidance about how social distancing can be practiced in school settings.

“Notwithstanding the Government’s five tests, the bottom line is that no teacher or child should be expected to go into schools until it can be demonstrated that it is safe for them to do so.”

Brent governors should support the teaching unions' demands before any return to school

National press looking forward to Monday

This article is my personal view but based on my experience as a governor and former headteacher and teacher.

While the national press was trumpeting an end to lockdown last week I received notice of a meeting scheduled for Tuesday afternoon for Chairs of Governors with the Brent Strategic Director of Children and Young People 'to discuss the anticipated government announcement about the phased reopening of schools in the second half of this term.'

Following the unprecedented joint  statement by 10 teacher unions setting out conditions for re-opening I hope that phased re-opening will be delayed or extremely limited. LINK

This is because as governors we have a duty of care to our staff and must ensure that their workplace is safe. The lack of clarity from government ministers and press speculation over re-opening has taken its toll on headteachers faced with seemingly impossible demands that at the extreme may mean life or death decisions. LINK  They have to weigh up the damage to children of not attending school, including those without access to on-line learning, help from parents, space to study or access to a garden and the responsibility to ensure that their school does not become a hot spot of infection.

The NEU has sought evidence based justification for government decision making which as yet has not been answered: (Click bottom right square for full page view)

 I believe that governors should support the 5 tests put forward by the NEU that need to be met before any return to school:

Our five tests

We want to begin to reopen schools and colleges as soon as we can. But this needs to be safe for society, for children and their families and the staff who work in them.
We have these five tests which the Government should show will be met by reliable evidence, peer-reviewed science and transparent decision-making.

Test 1 : Much lower numbers of Covid-19 cases

The new case count must be much lower than it is now, with a sustained downward trend and confidence that new cases are known and counted promptly. And the Government must have extensive arrangements for testing and contact tracing to keep it that way.

Test 2 : A national plan for social distancing

The Government must have a national plan including parameters for both appropriate physical distancing and levels of social mixing in schools, as well as for appropriate PPE, which will be locally negotiated at school-by-school and local authority level.

Test 3 : Testing, testing, testing!

Comprehensive access to regular testing for children and staff to ensure our schools and colleges don’t become hot spots for Covid-19.

Test 4 : Whole school strategy

Protocols to be put in place to test a whole school or college when a case occurs and for isolation to be strictly followed.

Test 5 : Protection for the vulnerable

Vulnerable staff, and staff who live with vulnerable people, must work from home, fulfilling their professional duties to the extent that is possible. Plans must be specifically address the protection of vulnerable parents, grandparents and carers.

Plans in Brent need to take account of the local context where cases and deaths are running at one of the highest levels in London (precise figures change daily) and where the ONS (Office of National Statistics) locality statistics reveal hot spots within the borough. LINK

Latest figures are that nationally Brent is the second highest are in the country with 141.5 per 100,000 population. Second only to Newhan at 144.3.  The total number of cases in Brent (with the caveat that because of lack of testing there are probably many more) is 1405 and 52% of all recorded deaths were Covid related.

The ONS also report on the comparative incidence of death from Coronavirus in different ethnic groups. This anaylsis is quite old now and the latest suggestion is that the risk has worsened if anything:




This means that in any phased return to full school opening governing bodies should be aware that their BAME  (Black and Minority Ethnic) staff and BAME parents are at additional risk and need to take account also of the statistics within their local community.

As with the NHS this governors need to ensure that staff have access to Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).  So far, and rightly, the NHS and Care Homes have been priortised by the local authority but PPE will need to be provided to schools if they re-open.  So far schools have only received gloves and the argument has been made that masks would frighten young children. In fact with the increasing use of masks and the likely introduction of a requirement to use them on public transport, children will soon be used to them.

Although there are BAME staff at every level in our schools the numbers are higher amongst support and premises staff.  They are more likely to live within the borough and thus exposed to infection locally.  If they live a distance away from the school they are more likely as low paid workers to use public transport rather than own a car. Travelling on public transport during rush hour is also likely to expose them to infection. Should we be considering changing hours to avoid peak travel periods.

Another consideration is if children return how will schools handle the transition. Many children without access to a garden will be suffering from the side effects of lockdown and separation from their peers. and perhaps from tensions in the home caused by isolation in the family unit. Despite the best efforts of school staff to provide learning packs and on-line  education, some will lag behind more fortunate peers.  The children's mental health will be paramount and schools may well decide that a return to  formal curriculum will have to be gradual with plenty of time for outdoor learning and creative activities in the first weeks of return.

Practical considerations will be paramount.  How to organise classrooms and pupil numbers so that social distancing can be maintained in the playground as well as the classroom.  Many classrooms are small so may comfortably accommodate only 8-10 children at social distancing of 2 metres. If a Year 6 class is split into 3 or 4 classes each will require a space and staff - how practical is that?  If priority is given to children  without access to on-line resources teaches will be dealing with both the physical and virtual classroom and the interactions involved. Workload is a consideration.

There has been discussion about a phased return perhaps prioritising Years 5 and 6 and othjers returning later as well as suggestions of one week on, one week off shifts or 8.30 to 11.30, 12.30-3.30 sessions.

It will be important for schools to share what has worked for them during the partial closure when they were dealing with key worker and vulnerable children.

Governing boards will have much to discuss and plans and risk assessments to complete before any return to school. 

No return until it’s safe! Joint Education Unions urge caution whilst mourning their own member

Contributed

Pamela Mistry

In response to the government’s “five pillars” that needed to be met before relaxing lockdown, the NEU has published its own “FIVE TESTS” which must be met before any increase in the opening of schools:

1.     Much lower numbers of cases

2.     A national plan for social distancing

3.     Testing, testing, testing (regular for staff and children)

4.     Whole school strategy (ie test whole school and isolate when one case occurs)

5.     Protect the vulnerable

The NEU has also presented the government with a 250,000 strong petition against opening on 1^st June if the five tests are not met which has also been supported by parents’ organisations.

NEU, NASUWT, UNISON, NAHT, GMB and UNITE unions have now all issued a joint statement to urge caution on reopening. The NEU has produced a stringent model risk assessment for schools, which we understand is being sent to Brent Council on Monday, and members are being advised on the areas of health and safety law that will protect them.

Meanwhile Brent NEU members have paid tribute to Pamela Mistry, a 50-year old teaching assistant who had, until recently, been employed at The Village School and was an active union member there. She sadly died of coronavirus in April after several weeks in hospital, leaving a much-loved partner, children and grandchildren. NEU members and colleagues, denied the chance to attend a funeral due to lockdown, have posted in an online condolence book, paying tribute to Pamela and her lovely family, and describing her as a beautiful, kind and caring lady. One member describes her as a lovely, kind lady who spoke about her family and partner every day sharing funny anecdotes. Staff have been devastated by the news and have said she will never be forgotten.

Staff and children across our Brent schools have suffered family losses too, with the high number of cases in Brent. Brent Council have been consulting unions on their school strategy during the lockdown. Unions are extremely likely to strongly resist anything other than a cautious, phased approach in line with the five tests advocated by the NEU.

NEU calls for clarity on Government's school re-opening plans - Letter to Boris Johnson

From the National Education Union

Letter to Prime Minister calling for end to unhelpful speculation on school and colleges reopening.

In the light of unhelpful speculation on the further opening of schools and colleges the joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union are calling on the Prime minister for clarity on how Government will make such a decision.

Given that a full return to the school population will increase risks to our members and the children in their care the NEU is asking for the modelling, evidence and plans that will form the basis of any decisions made by the Prime Minister and his Government to be shared.

Dear Prime Minister,

We are writing to you on behalf of the members of the National Education Union. First, let us say that we wish you all the best in your personal recovery from the virus.

Our members are hard at work, supporting the children of key workers and vulnerable children who are still attending schools. They are helping efforts to support vulnerable children at home. They are doing their best to support children’s learning in these unusual circumstances.

We are pleased that you, other ministers and Chief Nursing Officer have acknowledged their efforts in helping NHS staff to be at work.

Our members are disturbed, however, by increasing media speculation that schools will soon be re-opened. We consider this speculation to be most unhelpful: it may undermine people’s resolve to stick to social isolation. We are disturbed that it is seemingly being stimulated by unnamed Government ministers.

Given that an early return to full school populations will mean an increased risk to our members and the children in their care, we are writing to ask you to share your modelling, evidence and plans.
As a matter of urgency, and certainly well before any proposal to re-open schools is published, please can you share with our members:

· your modelling of the increased number of cases and mortalities among children, their parents, carers and extended families, and their teachers and support staff, as a result of the re-opening of schools.
· whether such modelling is based on some notion that social distancing could be implemented in schools. (We ask this because our members think it would be a foolhardy assumption.)
· whether your modelling would be based on concrete plans to establish regular testing of children and staff, availability of appropriate PPE and enhanced levels of cleaning - with all of which we are currently experiencing severe difficulties.
· whether your modelling would include plans for children and staff who are in vulnerable health categories, or who are living with people in vulnerable health categories, not to be in attendance at school or college?
· your latest evidence concerning the groups of people who are most vulnerable to death or life-changing consequences as a result of the virus, for example the evidence of the impact on those who live in crowded accommodation, those with different comorbidities, those from different ethnic groups and of different ages and sexes.
· whether the Scottish Parliament, the devolved assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland and our neighbours in the government of the Republic of Ireland agree with your plans.

Further, given that in re-opening schools and colleges, you would be asking our members to take an increased risk, we believe they have a right to understand fully how any such proposal belongs within an overall Government strategy to defeat the virus.

In this context, please could you give the firmest of indications:

· whether you are developing plans for extensive testing, contact tracing and quarantine in society as a whole? Our members see that countries successfully implementing such strategies have many fewer cases and many, many fewer mortalities than we do in the UK.
· if you are developing such plans, how long it will take to put them in place and how low the number of virus cases needs to be before such a strategy can be successful?
· whether you intend these plans be in place well before schools are re-opened. (This seems essential to us.)
· if you are not developing such plans, what is your overall approach and is it dependent on an assumption that those who have had the virus are subsequently immune?
· of your assessment of the strategies in place in South Korea, where there is a clear policy of testing, contact tracing and continued school closures?

We have written to you as representatives of staff who in the event of schools re-opening would be asked to accept an increased risk for themselves and the children they teach.

You will appreciate that our attitude to the issue of reopening is dependent on the answers to the questions above.

Again, we wish you well in your recovery and in your efforts to bring our country through this crisis.

We restate our willingness to work with you on finding solutions to the problems posed by the current situation.

We look forward to your urgent reply.


Yours sincerely

Mary Bousted Kevin Courtney
Joint General Secretaries

Joint General Secretary

NEU: Combination of current Covid-19 measures, including school closures, should remain in place

IMMEDIATE NEU COMMENT ON MEDIA REPORTING OF UCL RESEARCH ON SCHOOL CLOSURES

7 April 2020

School Closure Policies

Throughout the current crisis, the NEU has called for policy decisions to be based on the findings of research and scientific enquiry. It welcomes the systematic review by Professor Viner and his colleagues of the effectiveness of school closure policies in dealing with coronavirus outbreaks, including Covid-19.

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said:

This is an important study, to which those who work in education will give the most careful consideration. We note that it provides no evidence on which to move back from the current strategy adopted by the UK. The review indicates that school closures are effective as part of a combination of tactics of social distancing and testing. This is the evidence from China, from Hong Kong, and from a modelling study carried out in the UK.

In relation to the findings of two Chinese studies, the review notes that both pieces of research conclude that the overall package of quarantine and social distancing, including school closure, was effective in reducing the epidemic in mainland China.

Summarising two further studies of Covid-19 in Hong Kong, the review notes that school closures were implemented at the same time as a number of other stringent social distancing measures. Collectively, these measures to held to have controlled the spread of the outbreak.

Finally, the review reports the findings of a UK research study, that a combination of measures, again including school closures, would be the most effective.

Everyone wants schools to be re-opened as soon as is safely possible. This can only happen on the basis of sound scientific reasoning that school closure is no longer necessary for the suppression of Covid-19. We are a long way from this point. The combination of measures that the government has introduced must remain in place.