Government 'making it up as they go along' on reopening schools

The Government has revised its plans to reopen schools 41 times since May 12 because of errors in judgment, an education union leader has claimed.

Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), has added to calls for ministers to rethink the reopening of schools on Monday.

Today she said many teachers think Boris Johnson and his team are "making it up as it goes along" referring to what she describes as change in government plans. 

But the Department for Education say that - although they have updated the guidance as the situation has changed - the plans have not changed.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We update our materials to ensure they are up to date and meet schools’ needs. Our ‘Actions to prepare for wider opening’ guidance has only been updated once since its publication.”

Ministers have said their five key tests required for the easing of lockdown have been met - and schools will admit more pupils in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 from Monday.

The prerequisites for lockdown easing were: Ensuring the NHS can cope; a "sustained and consistent" fall in the daily death rate; the rate of infection decreasing to "manageable levels"; ensuring testing and PPE supplies can meet future demand; and ensuring any future adjustments would not risk a peak that could "overwhelm" the NHS.

Ms  Bousted argued the five tests have not been met, and she pointed out that members of Sage, the Government's scientific advisory body, including Professor Peter Horby, have voiced the same opinion.

Prof Horby, chair of the New Emergency Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), along with fellow Sage scientists Sir Jeremy Farrar and Professor John Edmunds, said ministers are taking a risk by easing lockdown restrictions on Monday.

Speaking on the Sophy Ridge show on Sky News on Sunday, Ms  Bousted  said children should instead return to school on June 15 when the infection rate should be lower.

She said: "The Government's plans on reopening schools since they were first produced on May 12 have been changed 41 times. And that's because they've constantly had to be revised as things they have forgotten, things they didn't know, and things they got wrong had to be added in.

"That's hugely added to the stresses of school leaders and teachers, because we have a Government simply who they think is just making it up as it goes along."

She added the Government's latest plans have "given up on social distancing in schools" by favouring "cohort distancing" where children are taught in groups of 15 by one teacher.

She warned: "Those children live in families who from tomorrow will be able to go out and socialise with six other people.

"We're asking them (the teachers) without PPE and without social distancing to go into schools, at a time when the rate of infection is still the fifth highest incidence in the world.

"And at a time when there is not a fully functioning test, trace and isolate system in place."

She added that pupils should not be made to return to school throughout the summer holidays to catch up on missed classroom time, because teachers have been working "even harder" throughout the lockdown period.

The reopening of primary schools in England to more pupils will be hampered by a shortage of teachers and by anxious parents, according to various surveys.

A survey of 5,000 school leaders, released today by Tes, formerly the Times Educational Supplement, said a fifth of school staff, including teachers and classroom assistants, would not be able to return to work this week.

Some teachers have health conditions, such as asthma and diabetes, or live with a vulnerable family member, such as a pregnant wife or girlfriend. Others are at a higher risk because of their age.

Research reveals only about 75% of teachers are available for work.

Of those, a fifth would be working from home.

Asked whether teachers and other school staff would be deemed to be in breach of their terms of employment if they refused to work, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said on Friday: "Head teachers I'm sure will be having conversations with their own staff in the usual way.

"The Education Secretary has been working very closely with schools and unions for the last 10 weeks. He met with the unions again yesterday.

"Our approach throughout this has been to work closely with schools, heads, and teachers' representatives to ensure that we deliver a cautious and phased return in a safe way.

"But I'm sure head teachers will have been having discussions with individual teachers."

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds has said parents must not be put in a difficult position if they feel it is unsafe for them to send their children back to school.

Ms Dodds told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "I think it is really important now that we enable people to take the right decisions around this.

"That if individual schools feel that they are not ready, that they are given the support so that they can get to the stage where they are ready.

"Also that if individual parents don't feel that it is safe for their children that they are not put in a difficult position because of that.

"This is a really, really difficult decision for everybody and I think we need to have as much transparency and clarity around guidance in particular as possible.

"Because it is risky for children being outside school as well as potentially there being health risks as they go back."