'My team are heroes': Headteacher praises staff as Skegness school remains open for key workers' children

The headteacher of a Skegness school, which has remained open for the children of key workers, says her staff are 'heroes' for adapting so quickly to new challenges.
Miss Abi Johnsons Year 6 class.at the Richmond School in Skegness.  Key worker pupilsare pictured with  with Teaching Assistant Mrs Anna Bradbrook.Miss Abi Johnsons Year 6 class.at the Richmond School in Skegness.  Key worker pupilsare pictured with  with Teaching Assistant Mrs Anna Bradbrook.
Miss Abi Johnsons Year 6 class.at the Richmond School in Skegness. Key worker pupilsare pictured with with Teaching Assistant Mrs Anna Bradbrook.

Pupils are again facing online learning after just one day in the classroom this week - much to the disappointment of the Richmond School, where staff had worked tirelessly to create a safe environment.

However, the school remains open and 'busy', providing lessons for the children of key workers and the vulnerable - a situation that countywide is causing concern for the Lincolnshire branch of the National Education Union,

At the Richmond School teachers are working remotely from their homes via Microsoft teams and the majority of pupils are accessing this in their own homes.

Pupils in school are accessing lessons in the same way via Teams, but in the classroom they are supported by teaching assistants.

Although busier than the last lockdown, all classes are separated in their original class bubbles and the teaching assistants are following all the same rules as before.

Headteacher Mrs Caroline Wellsted in praising her staff said: "Our team are the ones who are heroes - they are having to adjust very quickly on a day-to-day basis and I'd like to thank them for all they do."

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

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.

"It was a surprise that in its guidance the Department for Education had altered its definition for both who is the student of who 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 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.

"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.

"If you have two or three children, how are they all going to get online? Many students will be physically unable to engage in online learning, and to ask Ofsted to make assessments is a very disappointing.

"The government promised laptops for schools in March, but many schools were disappointed by the numbers were eventually delivered.

"We welcome the recommitment of government to support further on-line learning especially with regard to abolishing data usage charges. We also applaud the involvement of other organisations that are helping students to learn online.

"One particular issue for Lincolnshire, however, is the very slow and unreliable internet connections for many of the rural villages."

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