Reopening of schools ‘is social experiment’
Teaching union member claims confusion is creating huge anxiety for city staff and parents
CITY teachers and parents are hugely anxious about a return to school, claims a union member.
Kate Taylor, an executive member of the National Education Union (NEU) in Birmingham, said the move was a ‘social experiment’ and claimed government guidance had been less than clear.
Ms Taylor, a teacher at Wheelers Lane primary in Kings Heath, said: “I think that my overriding feeling is one of great confusion.
“I just think it’s confusing for parents and teachers because we keep reading stories such as children are fine and they don’t suffer greatly from Covid and then we read stories saying that children carry as much Covid as adults do.”
ABIRMINGHAM teacher says the compulsory return to schools next week is a ‘social experiment’ which is creating huge anxiety for staff and parents.
Kate Taylor, an executive member of the National Education Union (NEU) in Birmingham, said that both teachers and parents were worried about a return.
And she questioned why certain rules, such as gathering in enclosed spaces and a limit on mixing with other households, were not being applied to schools in the same way. Most schools in England are due to reopen next week to all children, with the autumn term running until December 18.
Some schools reopened for children in reception, Years 1 and 6 and nursery back in June, though at the time parents were told that it was up to them whether or not to send their own child back.
However, a return next month is compulsory for all children, with fines set to be issued to parents who refuse to send their children back.
But Ms Taylor, a teacher at Wheelers Lane Primary School in Kings Heath, said there was much confusion around what exactly the risk was to both children and teachers. But she added that, despite some reports, teachers were keen to get back to school – they just wanted to make sure it was safe first.
“I think that my overriding feeling is one of great confusion,” said Ms Taylor.
“I just think it’s confusing for parents and teachers because we keep reading stories such as children are fine and they don’t suffer greatly from Covid and then we read stories saying that children carry as much Covid as adults do.
“So there just seems to be lots of contradictions, and it’s really hard for people to feel confident and safe when everything around them seems to be contradictory.
“There seems to be a lot of emotive language being used and I think that creates divides in communities.
“For example, ‘it’s our moral duty to get children back to school’.
“Well, nobody’s questioning that, are they? But it’s put out there as if teachers and unions and parents who are anxious about sending their children back don’t believe there is a moral duty for children to be at school.
“I think that the political game playing is really unhelpful and unfortunate. We don’t need the emotive language, we don’t need to hear about this ‘moral duty’.
“We know that, we all want children back in school but we want it done safely. I think it’s difficult because what we are about to enter into is unknown.
“Schools on average ran at about five to 10 per cent capacity when they returned in May – it was vastly reduced and we were fine.
“But come Tuesday or Wednesday next week hundreds and hundreds of children are all suddenly going to be in school. We can’t use the period of time before the summer holidays as a comparison. What’s happening is people are saying schools were fine before the holiday and they’re going to be fine now.
“But we don’t know that because we haven’t experienced that yet, we haven’t run schools at 100 per cent capacity.”
She added: “It does feel a bit like a social experiment. People will do what they can, they will follow the guidelines and we’ll just have to wait and see. But there is a huge amount of anxiety among teachers and among parents and when those anxieties aren’t answered properly it doesn’t really help people to feel less anxious.
“It just makes them feel guilty for feeling anxious.”
Risk assessments have had to be filled out by all schools ahead of next week’s return, with the council working with individual establishments to make sure they are Covid compliant.
But another concern of Ms Taylor’s was the fact schools had yet to be issued guidelines around a plan B in the event of a local lockdown which is now a threat in Birmingham.
And she called on the government to be clearer in its guidance, to allay the fears of some parents and teachers.
“On the whole staff are keen to get back and they’re keen to get the children in, they understand the importance of that but it is definitely with trepidation that they will be returning,” she said.
“Guidelines for schools seem to be different to any other area in society. “The advice from the World Health Organisation is the three Cs – avoid crowded spaces, avoid close contact with people that aren’t from your household and avoid confined or enclosed places.
“But apparently in classrooms you don’t need PPE, you don’t need to socially distance and you can mix with people from other households. It’s one of those where the contradictions don’t instil confidence.”
It’s really hard for people to feel confident and feel safe when everything around them seems to be contradictory
Kate Taylor, executive member of the National Education Union (NEU)