‘It needs more time and thought’: Teacher’s union reacts to phased school return as Northampton head teachers begin preparations

A teaching union believes local schools will need more time to implement changes before a phased return can begin.

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), which represents teachers in Northamptonshire, has not welcomed the Government’s plan to get children back to school.

The plan was announced by Boris Johnson as he addressed the nation on Sunday (May 10) and included an ‘ambition’ to get reception, year one, year six, year ten and year twelve students back to school in smaller classes by June 1 ‘at the earliest’, if infection rates remain low enough.

However as the date is only three weeks away, the union has several issues with the plan.

Alan Hackett, NASUWT’s national executive member for Northamptonshire, said: “The union is in agreement with Scotland and Wales that we should continue to stay at home and protect the NHS from being overwhelmed.

“Some of the things that the Prime Minister said have taken most of us by surprise.

“We have to be robust if we are talking about teachers and children. The message has to be crystal clear that schools should not relax closing until it is safe to do so.”

The union representative went on to say PPE would need to be sourced for teachers before schools reopen, as well as concerns around social distancing.

Alan added: “Primary schools will need to manage risk assessments for completely new health and safety regulations and we have lots of vulnerable children who will need individual risk assessments, before allowing them back into the school environment.

“Class sizes of 15 is a problem in itself as some schools won’t have enough teachers.

“Some teachers may even still be self isolating for themselves or their family members. There will be a lot of people who are not ready to go back on June 1.

“We do not even know if keeping social distancing will be possible and they (the Government) haven’t even started testing yet. We would welcome testing of teachers but I’m sure that is a long way off.

“If they want this to happen it will need more time and thought.

“Teachers, as with everyone else, are keen to get back to our day jobs but it has to be controlled.”

Although the union has concerns about the return to school for teachers and pupils, school leaders across Northampton have begun planning how to do so safely.

One head teacher has welcomed elements of the Government’s phased return plan.

Charley Oldham, head teacher of Cogenhoe Primary School, said: “Reception is such an important year and they would have missed over a third of the curriculum that we just can’t teach in year one. It’s really important, but year six will just come back to what they know for a few weeks before they go to a new school. I'm not sure how much they will get from that.

“But the decision has been made and we’ve just got to go with it.

“After the announcement I felt confused, but then the guidance came out and answered most of my questions.

“I’ve been through each bullet point and put that into my risk assessments.

“We’ve got three weeks to put things in place so we’ve got time.”

Charley goes on to say she has started to work out staffing, breaks and staggered lunch times and is also working with parents.

She added: “When we are teaching all day we need to figure out how we will support parents from other year groups who are still at home.

“Parents will also still be feeling anxious about sending their children to schools and will keep them at home, so we are talking to them too.

“So it’s important to me that there is complete transparency with what is being put in place.

“We cannot promise social distancing at all times and we need to make parents aware of that. It just will not be possible with four and five year olds, and even three years olds that we have in pre-school.

“It’s not going to be what the children know. It’s going to be completely different to what they know and are used to.

“In the mornings we will focus on the core learning and then afternoons will be time spent on emotional wellbeing, PSHE, creative time and PE. They are going to need creative stuff and time to talk about their feelings.

“I can manage these three year groups in classes of 15 across the school and I can make sure they have two or three members of staff with them, but if they want all years back three weeks before summer social distancing would not be a thing.

“But I can’t see that happening in that amount of time.”

Another primary school preparing for the possibility of returning to school on June 1, is also looking into ways to manage social distancing where possible.

JD Hives, head teacher at Malcolm Arnold Preparatory School, said: “We are currently working with our trust on going through the details of the guidance from the Department for Education, which includes measures such as class sizes being smaller than usual.

“Our preparations are focusing on how to manage social distancing where possible, including looking at travel, drop-off arrangements and school lunchtimes, as well as putting in place a more intensive cleaning regime.

“Everything we do will be guided by the safety of our pupils and our staff and in line with government guidance.

“On return to school the key focus for us will be re-establishing learning routines for reception and year one children, with an emphasis on core literacy and numeracy skills. “For other year groups who are not due to return on June 1, we will continue to provide distance learning until they also come back to school.

“The Government has indicated that they hope this will be possible before the summer holidays and we will continue to follow all official guidance from them.

“Throughout the lockdown, our staff have been incredible - working extremely hard, going above and beyond to ensure our children can continue to learn.

“I am so very proud of how they have stepped up in these extremely difficult times.”

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