Contact bubbles and staggered start and end times to return to Welsh schools
CONTACT bubbles and staggered start and end times will return to schools next term and some pupils will start lessons online amid fears about the impact of the new Omicron variant.
Pembrokeshire council confirmed last week that pupils in its schools will be back in contact groups in January and Powys council has already confirmed its pupils will be online for the first day back in January.
Swansea council’s director of education, Helen Morgan-Rees, said plans would be put in place to return to online teaching if needed.
“Schools will also be ensuring that they have robust plans in place to move to remote learning if needed. This could be for individual classes/ year groups or possibly for the whole school, depending on staffing pressures,” said Ms Morgan-Rees.
Parents and pupils are being told to expect uncertainty about what schools will look like in January, with decisions still being made depending on different local situations with Covid and how the Omicron variant impacts on Wales.
Some schools went back to mitigations such as contact bubbles this term as councils move up and down different Covid alert levels, and that will continue next term.
Local education authorities are warning plans for the start of term may change at short notice, depending on the situation with coronavirus, and they will follow Welsh Government guidance as it comes.
Mary van den Heuvel, senior policy officer at teaching union the National Education Union Cymru, said masks, bubbles and staggered school times could be needed and “education settings will only be able to open if they have enough staff to do so”.
There have been high staff and pupil absences this term, with some schools more impacted than others.
Asked about the possibility of schools closing or pupils being told to isolate again en masse, a Welsh Government spokesman pointed to the current advice. That advice says under-18s don’t have to self-isolate if a close contact tests positive provided they have no symptoms and have not been told to isolate by TTP.
But it is less clear on whether or not all schools will open to all pupils at the start of term. Local decisions rest with schools and councils. One council, Powys, has already said that although it intends pupils to go back to face-toface lessons on January 10, they will only do so if it’s safe.
New Welsh Government advice about the start of term issued on December 16 says pupils will return to face-to-face learning from January 10, but adds that planning days should be used to organise remote learning.
Secondary pupils have also been asked to take Covid tests three rather than two times a week.
The Welsh Government’s new guidance states: “All learners will return to on-site provision by Monday, January 10 at the latest (and many during the final days of the previous week).”
But it adds that two planning days tacked on to the start of term should be used to plan for remote learning: “The planning days are also an opportunity to ensure that you have robust plans in place to move to remote learning; this could be for individual classes/ year groups or possibly for the whole school.”
Ms van den Heuvel stressed that extra mitigations were needed to keep children in school.
She added: “NEU Cymru welcomes the approach from the education minister to have at least a day in school at the start of next term to make any necessary changes.
“We have communicated how critical it will be that schools are supported to put in place every mitigation possible at the start of the new year – including masks, bubbles, and staggered start and finish times.
“We cannot have another term like this one.
“Whilst everyone would like schools to return to normal, with minimal disruption, it would appear the Omicron variant is spreading fast, and settings will need time to make the environment as safe as possible for learners and staff alike.”
Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of Nasuwt Cymru, said additional Covid safety measures are needed in schools and colleges in light of the risk from Omicron.
His union is also calling for additional on-site testing facilities until February half-term.
Eithne Hughes, director of the Association of School and College Leaders Cymru, said her members want schools open and tougher mitigations against infection are needed to help that happen.
ASCL admitted that its members are divided on what safety controls are needed and whether exams should run in the summer.
Staff and pupil Covid absence and remote learning could affect the equity of exams, Ms Hughes warned.
The Welsh Government has said the intention is still for exams to go ahead in summer 2022 and that January’s GCSEs will also take place.
Contingency plans are in place for a return to teacher-assessed grades, but that will be different from previous years and the exact format is yet to be
Education settings will only be able to open if they have enough staff to do so
Mary van den Heuvel, at the National Education Union Cymru
published.
Parents urged the Welsh Government and councils to keep schools open, pointing to the various research and reports showing the negative effect of classroom closures and the pandemic on youngsters.
One mother of a sixth-form pupil in Cardiff said: “My son, who is now in Year 13, has suffered terribly.
“He religiously followed the rules. Then they were off school last January onwards and there was uncertainty about exams (AS). He started to get very anxious about his future.
“He started exercising excessively and strictly monitoring what he ate. It appeared to be a form of control.
“During the assessment period he had around 30 exams over a six-week period, which was hugely stressful.
“He lost a significant amount of weight and can now fit in age 12-13
clothes. We saw GP several times and got prescribed antidepressants along with a referral to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).
“He’s still very anxious, rigid in food and exercise patterns and has only gained a little weight.”
Another mother, of a 12-year-old boy in the Vale of Glamorgan, said the constant uncertainty was affecting young people.
“I am really worried about next term,” she said. “It’s this constant stopstart.
My fear is that this is never-ending. We will be back to online learning and bubbles.
“Children are going to be at risk. Some families can’t manage online learning.
“We can’t keep doing this to our children. It’s causing trauma.
“A lot of parents have separated during the stress of lockdowns. One place where children felt safe and certain was school and now that is being taken away.”