Commenting on the latest Coronavirus (Covid-19) infection data published by the Office for National Statistics, which shows 1,530 infections per 100,000 among secondary-age children and 1,190 cases per 100,000 among primary and nursery-age children at 30 October, Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union said:
“Cases amongst secondary-age pupils fell back during the weeks of the half-term closure – from 50x the rate on 1 September to 38x that rate. This confirms the role of schools in virus transmission. It shows that Government reluctance to make use of half term as a circuit breaker was a squandered opportunity to combat the spread of Covid.”
He went on to say,
“In the last week alone, five schools – Binstead Primary, Cowes Enterprise College, the Island Innovation Sixth Form, Barton Primary and Medina College have confirmed cases.
“Rates are already climbing in Island education and we should expect the rates in schools to rise further again after the half-term effect, particularly amongst secondary schools.
“It follows, that this will mean an increased pupil population absent from school.”
Rapid turnaround tests for schools
Calling for a prioritisation of schools for rapid testing, Mr Shreeve adds,
“The Prime Minister must prioritise schools for access to rapid turnaround tests like those being trialled in Liverpool, and should be making plans for secondary schools and sixth form colleges to move to a rota operation where children are taught every lesson – sometimes in school and sometimes at home.”
He continued,
“In addition, Public Health England (PHE) advice communicated to leaders and then to staff, students and their families must appear logical, rigorous and its rationale explainable. The ability to compare schools, where one recommends self-isolation for one small group and yet another school sends the whole year group home causes confusion.
“With cases increasing and apparently widely differing responses, decisions need coherent consistency and better shared detailed clarification, if we are to avoid undermining these decisions. It is not helpful just to say, we have taken PHE advice. Reason and rationale are required to ensure, all involved have a full understanding of the situation and can therefore unreservedly support it.”
Shreeve: £8 million budget half a term too late
The union officer finished by saying,
“The Government continues to fail in its responsibilities to provide a strategy to fully lead, support and break transmissions within education.
“This includes delays with laptop delivery and catch-up tutoring, chaos over free school meal vouchers and delay to the Wellbeing for Education Return programme. With an £8 million budget it is reportedly only just being rolled out – half a term too late to instill resilience and recovery and to prevent longer-term mental health issues in our young people.
“Excluding education from lockdown and allowing the spread to continue is dangerous. Staff, young people, their families and wider communities at risk will need more than just resilience.”
Image: tabor-roeder under CC BY 2.0
