Covid safety concerns as schools faced with accommodating increasing numbers of critical worker children and mounting remote learning pressures

There are growing concerns among schools and teaching unions about the increasing number of children still coming in for face to face teaching despite the country being under lockdown.
Willliam Alvey pupil working remotely from a laptop. EMN-210901-144801001Willliam Alvey pupil working remotely from a laptop. EMN-210901-144801001
Willliam Alvey pupil working remotely from a laptop. EMN-210901-144801001

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on January 4, only children of critical workers and vulnerable children and young people should attend school or college. All other pupils and students will receive remote education, however the criteria for key worker has been widened, so that only one parents needs to be a critical worker and more children are being classed as vulnerable if they are struggling with access to a digital device such as a laptop or have poor broadband.

This is leading to concerns about the safety of staff in seemingly overcrowded schools to enable social distancing, as well as the extra numbers in classes impacting on the additional time needed to be spent on teaching those based at home working remotely.

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Government guidance for this third lockdown states that primary schools are required to deliver a minimum of three hours of quality learning for Key Stage 1 children (less for younger children), four hours for Key Stage Two. Secondary schools are five hours minimum.

Re-adapting to home learning for William Alvey School pupils in the latest lockdown. EMN-210901-144751001Re-adapting to home learning for William Alvey School pupils in the latest lockdown. EMN-210901-144751001
Re-adapting to home learning for William Alvey School pupils in the latest lockdown. EMN-210901-144751001

They expect schools to set meaningful and ambitious work each day and provide teaching that is equivalent in length to the core teaching pupils would receive in school. This will include both recorded or live direct teaching time and

time for pupils to complete tasks and assignments independently.

The Lincolnshire branch of the National Education Union fears different guidelines this time around are putting many schools under too much pressure.

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Chris Thompson, LNEU president said: “The prime minister said on Monday that schools are a vector for the transmission for the virus into the community and primary and secondary schools should move to online learning for most children from Tuesday.

A digital classroom at home set up of another William Alvey pupil. EMN-210901-144811001A digital classroom at home set up of another William Alvey pupil. EMN-210901-144811001
A digital classroom at home set up of another William Alvey pupil. EMN-210901-144811001

“It was a surprise that in its guidance the Department for Education had altered its definition for both who is the student of Key Workers (previously both parents, now only one parent gives qualification) and who a vulnerable child is (for example those students do not have access to online learning).

“This has resulted in some primary schools, for example, going from having 40 primary school children in school in April, up to 150 children now.

“While we have huge sympathy with parents and pupils, we cannot support teachers having to work in unsafe schools, or schools being so populated that they transmit the virus to the community, defeating the purpose of schools moving to online learning.”

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Mr Thompson added: “We are particularly worried because we suspect the schools with the highest numbers in children school will be the deprived areas often most affected by the virus. The Union has asked the Education Secretary for the scientific justification for the redefinitions and we are collecting information about how many schools are badly affected by this change.”

The union also fears the pressure of the numbers in schools is having an impact on the quality of online learning. He said: “The Department for Education has given guidance on the amount of online learning for both primary and secondary which we feel is unrealistic for both staff and students, up to five hours per day.”

Martin Smith, assistant director for education, said: “Schools are working hard to provide places to vulnerable children and the children of critical workers where required. The DfE have yet to release figures on the number of children currently in school, but there is a feeling that there is a greater demand for places compared to the previous lockdown.

“Schools have had to react quickly, and it can be difficult to balance the needs of those in school and those learning remotely. However, we know all schools have their pupils’ best interests at heart and are best placed to decide upon the right course of action given their particular circumstances.

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“Infection levels in school-aged children remain much lower than the rate for adults, and schools continue to take measures to reduce the potential spread of the virus, helping keep staff and pupils safe.”

Headteacher of Sleaford’s William Alvey Primary School, Stephen Tapley, said pupil numbers had increased for this lockdown. He said: “It is an incredibly difficult situation for everyone and I can sympathise with the competing demands of employers, parents and school staff.

“As you can imagine, we have been inundated with requests for Key Worker places in school. Many more shops, offices, nurseries and work places are open during this lockdown compared to the last and the Key Worker status has also been widened.

“Unfortunately, we can’t safely cater for everyone that wants a place even with a letter from employers. We do have a waiting list though, and we are trying to balance the needs of our parents with the safety of the children in school. It is lockdown for a reason and we need to minimise the risk of spreading the virus.

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“Schools are being left in an impossible situation and are having to find the fairest way possible to offer Key Worker places, unfortunately this won’t always be exactly the same as the guidance the general public receive from the county council or the DfE. Following this guidance in terms of offering places and following health and safety guidance in terms of providing a COVID-safe learning environment doesn’t always join in the middle.”

Mr Tapley went on: “We do have, what we think, is a really comprehensive remote learning offer, which we have developed over the last year. It is lovely to see the children at home engaging with the work we have set and responding to the feedback that our teachers are giving them. We really hope this means that the children at home do not fall behind in their learning and can maintain contact with their teachers and classmates.”

On the concern about pupils not having access to laptop or tablet devices, he said they have been given a limited number of devices by the Department of Education that they have been able to loan to pupils in most need. He said: “It is clearly difficult for those families who don’t have a laptop or tablet at home or who have more than one child home learning. We are managing though and I would like to thank all our parents for their support and understanding in these challenging times.”

Mr Tapley admitted that combining face to face teaching and home learning is a real challenge for his teachers and it has not been easy, however he said there have been some “real positives” too.

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“Some children have responded brilliantly to on-line learning,” he said. “In some cases it can be more personalised, work spaces at home have helped and work can be marked more efficiently with an increased accessibility of time. It’s an exciting new development in teaching, but parents also need to understand it also has an impact on teacher workload.”

As an example he pointed to their main assembly held on Fridays. He said: “We are expecting to reach somewhere near the normal Teams limit tomorrow. We are often joined by Father Philip, the Vicar of Sleaford, and several of our Governors.

“Things don’t always go as smoothly as you would hope though, during our Christmas service, while the Bishop was reading his special message, Mrs Creedon kept unmuting and all we could hear was her talking on the phone!”

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