Unions urge Welsh Government to re-think its plans for school return following Christmas break

The Welsh Government has been urged to re-think its plans for education to resume following the Christmas break.

Pupils at some schools in Wales are expected to return to the classroom this week, however after a “staggered approach” was announced before Christmas, some schools will be doing online learning and a phased return.

The the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) said in December that it is their expectation that schools will be providing face to face learning for the majority of their pupils by 11th January, leading to a full return in the days before 18th January at the latest.

However, with a new variant of the coronavirus spreading across Wales, teachers’ unions want face-to-face teaching to be suspended until schools are able to review their risk assessments.

Wrexham currently has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, with the county borough’s rolling seven day average currently at 669.3 cases per 100,000.

Laura Doel, director of school leaders’ union NAHT Cymru, said: “We understand that the Welsh Government is seeking to strike a balance between minimising the risk of transfer of COVID-19 and providing face to face education for all children.

“However, the latest data shows that in large parts of Wales, control of infection has been lost and the lack of understanding regarding the new strain has now created intolerable risk to many school communities.

“It is simply unacceptable for schools to remain open when there is such a question mark over the impact the new variant will have and we will not sit back and let this happen without calling the Welsh Government to account, for the sake of the whole school community.”

The union has asked the government to take the following steps:

• Move all schools to home learning for a brief and determined period for most children.
• During this time, proper support to make the home learning experience as good as it can be should be provided. That includes technology and learning resources but also the flexibility for school leaders to respond to their circumstances.
• The government should then establish a lateral flow testing regime for schools in place of the proposal which would see school staff leading the testing effort.
• Work should be undertaken with school leaders and Public Health Wales to establish and agree new Covid-related safety measures in schools during the temporary restriction.
• Urgently review its approach to special schools to protect all staff and pupils in those communities.
• Immediately prioritise vaccinations in education
• Then agree an orderly return

Ms Doel continued: “We believe that it is wrong to keep people in harm’s way whilst the implications of the new variant of the virus are still being discovered.

“The currently available information contains no solid scientific evidence regarding the impact of the new variant on schools.

“In particular, there is nothing that outlines the risks to pupils and teachers of maintaining in-person tuition.

“With this in mind we had begun legal proceedings against the government to force them to disclose the scientific information they are withholding.

“We have asked the Welsh Government to share the evidence justifying the distinctions drawn between primary and secondary schools, the geographical distinctions between Wales and England and the evidence that is being used to underpin the decision that schools’ plans do not need to change despite the emergence of the new variant of Covid in the UK.”

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement, first minister Mark Drakeford said: “We reached an agreement with our local education colleagues in Wales that we will have a phase and flexible return to school.

“That means that over the first two weeks there will be flexibility for local authorities and head teachers to assess the situation in their own individual context, see how many teachers have themselves been affected by the virus, for example.

“Then to phase a return in a way that is safe, but also continues to place a priority on the needs of our young people whose lives have been so badly disrupted, whose education has suffered through 2020, and whose needs we have to continue to put at the front of our priority list.”

“While we are all learning more about this variant, there is no evidence that young people get the illness more severely as a result of the new variant.”

“Our technical advisory group (TAG) will be looking at all the evidence again early next week and of course we will continue to make decisions in the light of the best knowledge, research and information that’s available to us at the time.”

In an update on social media, Education minister Kirsty Williams tweeted: “We agreed before Christmas a flexible return to school in January, so that local decisions can be made based on local circumstances.”

“Some schools return next week, with the majority open fully by 18 January, with remote learning until then.”

“We continue to monitor and publish the latest evidence, and our science advisory group TAG meets again this week.”

Coronavirus testing is to be rolled out in schools and colleges this month.

Unions say they are “supportive of the concept” of the use of lateral flow tests in schools.

A joint statement from teaching unions in Wales said: “It is our view that due to the chaotic and rushed nature of this announcement, the lack of proper guidance, and an absence of appropriate support, the Welsh Government’s proposals will be inoperable for most schools and colleges.”

“Schools and colleges in Wales simply do not have the staffing or building capacity to carry this out themselves.”

“It is not the responsibility of either teaching or support staff to administer the tests and the Welsh Government must confirm as a matter of urgency who will be undertaking that task as schools.”

Mark Drakeford said that serial testing using the new forms of lateral flow devices were used “successfully” in secondary schools in South Wales as part of a mass testing programme, “so we know it can be done.”

The tests will allow more children and more teachers to “stay safely in the classroom without having to be sent home because another child or another staff member has tested positive,” he said.