Education recovery

A Zoom call immediately after the executive meeting on 2 January was joined by 4,500 reps and branch secretaries.

‘Be proud of what you have achieved so far’

UNION reps have been organising to make working arrangements in the special needs sector safe during the coronavirus lockdowns.

Constructive discussions have also taken place with management in many pupil referral units and providers of alternative provision,which have resulted in keeping student numbers down and staff and pupils protected.

Members have raised issues such as the numbers of vulnerable children attending classes, use of rotas and protection of clinically vulnerable and clinically extremely vulnerable (CV and CEV) staff.

Mehreen Begg is a rep at a special school in Croydon, south London, which closed for the first week of January so that plans could be established. She said that by involving the local public health board, a cap on the number of students per class has been introduced. Individual risk assessments for all pupils and for CV and CEV staff have also been put in place.

A Zoom meeting held for the sector in January by NEU joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney (see page 6) had given many members the confidence to invoke Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, which protects employees from having to work in an unsafe environment.

Holly Tea, NEU rep at Denewood and Unity Academies for permanently excluded children in Nottingham, said: “Success comes from having open conversations within your institutions, continual review of risk assessments and by the whole school’s voice being heard.

“Don’t lose hope nor sight. Be proud of what you have achieved so far and don’t be afraid to speak up.”

n Visit neu.org.uk/coronavirus-and-send

Vaccine success

EIGHT special school heads in Bradford successfully campaigned for their staff to be prioritised for the Covid-19 vaccination. The group wrote to the council’s director of children’s services, citing the NEU’s analysis of Office for National Statistics data on infection rates showing special school staff are four times more exposed to the virus. Head teacher at Southfield School Dominic Wall told the NEU Leadership conference: “As special school leaders, we are dealing with the most vulnerable children, where we are seeing deaths and hospitalisations of children with Covid.”

ILLUSTRATION by Tim Sanders

NEU launches education recovery plan

THE NEU launched an education recovery plan to reopen schools and colleges – and to keep them open – in a safe and sustainable way.

Rooted in members’ professional experience and expertise, and focusing closely on the science around Covid-19, the comprehensive plan outlines the challenges the education system must overcome to achieve a safe reopening of schools.

Tired of last-minute guidance

Mary Bousted, NEU joint general secretary, said: “Unions, school leaders, teachers and staff are tired of last-minute guidance and U-turns. Families, also, have been stung once too often by false hope.

“Government must now initiate structured talks with education unions, based upon all available evidence, about how a phased return is best managed, irrespective of whether that is on 8 March or not.

“School leaders can then begin making arrangements, confident that their time is not being wasted and that there is real potential for long-term solutions.

“The NEU would enter such talks with a determination to make our recovery plan a reality, benefiting staff and pupils alike.”

n Read the plan in full at neu.org.uk/

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