To refuse to teach this lesson

It's never unreasonable to refuse to do work which you feel is unsafe.

And It speaks volumes of your safety culture if leadership are ignoring the risk & telling you to crack on.

The school's duty of care to it's staff & pupils should be first priority. This change does not reflect this.

As an absolute minimum the risk assessment needs to be revised as it's a substantial change.

YANBU to seek further advice.

OK, I see your concern - and I agree it's not workable.

You have two very strong arguments, 1 the room is not big enough for the number of students, sharing a cooker is like sharing a machine in a workshop, not really on.

2 The added complexity of the SEN students and the likelihood you have to keep an eye on them more than the others, hence increasing the likelihood of others having an accident.

I would advise you call the CLEAPPS helpline and discuss it with them, they are very helpful on such matters, if they confirm by email that they feel the situation is unsafe (and they do) that puts you in a strong position to go back to your HOD or to the Health & safety officer if you don't get anywhere.

I'm not a food tech expert, but it does sound like a nightmare scenario and a high likelihood of someone getting burned.

Your HOD is remiss for thinking its OK, it isn't.

I would ask for the risk assessment that's been completed by your HOD stating the ways of mitigating risk.

It's poor but 25 isn't that's big. But I guess subject such as woodwork metal
Work etc big machinery and big accidents it's definitely not good.

I used to teach PE which I realise isn't as bad but regularly would be told 'there's no cover' and to 'collapse classes' meaning 60+ kids to one teacher. Absolute shite. No teaching happening just crowd control. One of many reasons I don't teach anymore.

Could your job share do it then? If they dgaf?

I am a union rep. If my member came to me with this, I would put them in touch with our health and safety rep.

Going to the union is about advice. If people want to see it as dispute, I would question why that's their first response.

It's tricky to advise without specific details.
I teach science so usually have classes of 30.

Colleagues in other subjects openly say they would sooner stick pins in their own eyes than do a practical involving chemicals and Bunsen burners with 30 pupils. I am fine with it as I risk assess.

Ultimately, if you have spoken to the HoD and still don't feel comfortable, I would email the SLT link, cc HoD and explain your reasons. Put forward your suggestion of splitting the class and possibly making use of a technician if available. See what comes back. Emphasise that you are concerned for the safety of the pupils.

As a HoD myself, within reason, I wouldn't force a team member into a practical they were not comfortable with. Obviously, they couldn't refuse to do any practical work but if it was something specific, I would try to arrange a swap/another solution.

It would but CLEAPPS of DATA are more useful in this situation unless the union rep is a teacher in the subject area. Or indeed the Health & Safety Officer, our Health & Safety Officer is fully NEBOSH trained and could bring any activity to an end if he was concerned.

Going to the union infers dispute, it is better to address the issue on professional grounds of Heath & Safety management rather than it seeming like a dispute.

I would not do something I felt was unsafe.

Doesn't matter if a load of other people on the internet thought they could do it safely.

Contact cleappss

Are you science or a dt subject

But the average class size for year 10 at my school is 32. And they work in 2s so 16 groups.

Not really, if the OP is worried about it and the HoD is brushing it off.
Unions have specifically trained people to give advice. Why would getting that support be anything other than a good thing?

British Standard 4136:2021 is the document covering that, and a DT teachers good companion in terms of concerns on risk.

It should be on the bookshelf in every department office

Make sure you have a paper trail about your concerns on this. Discuss in emails.

If your have discussed it with your HOD and they have instructed you to go ahead then that’s what you need to do. If at any point in the lesson you feel that it has become too unsafe to continue, then you stop the lesson.

You talk about splitting the class. Was your intention for half the class to remain under
your supervision, but doing theory work or were you hoping for them to be elsewhere supervised by somebody else? If the former, then personally I would just have gone ahead and done that, I wouldn’t even have consulted my HOD!

Bit OTT to run straight to the union, better to have a reasoned discussion with the HOD, I'm an HOD in DT, I have one teacher who won't do the brazing practical, it makes her nervous, this is fine with me, I do that lesson for her, its good for the pupils to get a different face for an hour and a half, and she does my woodwork lesson. (least that's how it sits this year)

Do your own written risk assessment based on the group as a whole and the group split in two. Present this in written form and keep copies so that you have a record of your professional opinion about the situation. At the very least you have a defence should the worst happen and you have to face the music.

You could send the risk assessment to the governing board.

Don’t just go against the HOD. You need to speak to your regional union rep. For now can you do a non practical work linked to it.

In England and Wales there are very clear guidelines on the class sizes for DT workshops. I think it is around 20. All the schools I have worked in have taken this seriously and timetabled accordingly.

OP, If you don’t feel safe, then don’t do it. You could suggest splitting the class and doing it over 2 lessons. I know that means you need the other half in another room with someone to supervise them but schools manage to organise cover so it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Put your concerns in an email, not just verbally, and give some possible solutions rather than just refusing.

I understand that, and different people have their own tolerance for risk - but without knowing what the practical is it is difficult to help you to put a reasonable argument back to your HOD outlining your concerns.

If of a Saturday morning you have concerns, you are certainly not being unreasonable to put them to your HOD.

No you are not being unreasonable, and you should discuss it with your union.

Does your hod have experience of teaching this practical?

It’s hard to comment helpfully without knowing more detail. Most tech/science teachers will be well used to teaching classes of 25. But I agree it can be hard when classes increase in size and your usual room is more crowded and there is insufficient equipment. An increase of 9 students is significant. Classes have increased from 25 to 30 in my school this year and it has involved a rethink in how some practical lessons are organised, including planning how to use technicians and TAs optimally. But not doing the practicals would not be an option.

Without knowing what the practical is, we can't know the risks involved, if they can be mitigated etc. - maybe you can't make it safe for 25 to do at once, but you can 15, so you could in two groups of 12 and 13, and then can you build a lesson plan to give a safe task to the other half, can you scare up someone to supervise the other half, in the room, or in another room at the same time.

If the OP gives a bit more info, likely a bit of help can be given putting together a plan, or if it really is not possible a reasoned argument to not do the activity - ie the risk of an accident from x happening is too great to mitigate because of y etc..

A lot of risk assessment in science and tech in schools is done by people who are not there, but work for the likes of CLEAPPS and DATA - because a lot of the facilities and risk factors are generic.