Why are the unions being so obstructive?

[YardleyX]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-53072305

I just don’t get why the unions are dead set against any proposals to open schools?

People are mixing in shops and on public transport; football matches and TV studios are back in action.

Why on earth are we continuing to deny an education to our children?

At least get a concrete plan in place for September, and stop this never-ending delay because “it might not be safe”.

So much for being guided by the science. How many of the teaching union representatives are professional scientists in any discipline?

Agree @JimmyGrimble

Secondary school was also updated yesterday to give priority to older students rather than the new intake of year 7's. That step will help a lot of the schools get those in. That was a massive issue for local secondary, the new year 10 and 11's would have suffered as a result of having to take in new pupils.

Will be interesting to see how that will be viewed by the new year 7 parents.

However, there will still ones disadvantaged because neither school or parents have the equipment etc still waiting for the magic money tree that has been promised.

Anything can change with the curriculum at any time. Just like it did with Cse's, O levels etc. It could be possible that then having to stay in education or something till they are 18 could be a part of returning to normality.

One of the suggestions the exams boards where considering was to hold the exams around October instead of May, special exam and a few other things I have forgotten.

And as for Boris saying, he's said a lot lately that has gone against credible advice. Remember this was the man who announced schools were to be open and guidelines would be sent out to schools. Iirc they got those original plans a few days before they were expected to be open and had to provide a plan to get clearance to open.

He said a few other things much to the surprise of a lot of people including his own cabinet

With regards to the new year 7 issue maybe that's why year 6 were a priority to return?

Like @pellesco the schools round here are as open as the government has said they can be. Primaries have Y6, reception, Y1 and nursery (where relevant) in addition to the keyworker and vulnerable children. Secondaries are using all sorts of different models of ensuring Y10 and Y12 get some time in school whether that's a day per week, one whole week or something different. I teach in a PRU and we're open to all our pupils. The ones who aren't coming back are being visited at home (in gardens, car parks or on the pavement).

There may be some schools where union action is what's preventing them from opening but I don't know of any. We're just getting on with it. Without PPE, without social distancing and without public support or understanding by and large.

Does anyone have a link to the updated secondary school guidance about year 7s - I couldn’t find anything. Thanks

No schools are being prevented from opening by unions. They are being prevented by the government, the DFE and their risk assessments.

Hospitals, in fact the whole nhs effectively shut down all but essential services, you could argue schools have done the same.

We, like the nhs, are slowly bringing back as much as we can. Its hugely complex. Not just classrooms but cleaning, access to toilets, movement across the building and to and from school. We have in year 10 on rotas, keyworker children and vulnerable children, we're setting home learning and supporting families as we can. Our tech department made ppe and we opened over every holiday and bank holiday.

The reason schools have not reopened is not because of the teaching unions, but because of the crushing failure of education secretary, Gavin Williamson, to do what is needed to make them safe to reopen.

@Stillmuddlingthrough

Does anyone have a link to the updated secondary school guidance about year 7s - I couldn’t find anything. Thanks

This is the most recently updated guidance for secondary schools.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/preparing-for-the-wider-opening-of-schools-from-1-june/planning-guide-for-secondary-schools

Thanks for that the fallenmadonna. did it previously reference the new year 7s then? I thought it was always just about years 10 and 12?

So here's the theory, either

1. the unions workers, bored and stir crazy from lockdown set out a mission to take on the government based purely on their hatred of them and their will to be pronounced victorious in a political battle. Secretly harbouring a hidden agenda of hating children and wanting to deny them of their basic right to education in the hope to spread disadvantage, poverty and a mental health crisis. Meanwhile creating a diversion so that lazy teachers can stay home and drink gin forever more.

Or...
2, they have legitimate concerns about schools opening and want to put a plan in place to mitigate risk.

....

@Twinklelittlestar1

So here's the theory, either 1) the unions workers, bored and stir crazy from lockdown set out a mission to take on the government based purely on their hatred of them and their will to be pronounced victorious in a political battle. Secretly harbouring a hidden agenda of hating children and wanting to deny them of their basic right to education in the hope to spread disadvantage, poverty and a mental health crisis. Meanwhile creating a diversion so that lazy teachers can stay home and drink gin forever more.

Or...
2, they have legitimate concerns about schools opening and want to put a plan in place to mitigate risk.

....

Excellent analysis twinkbut you missed off the unions and us teachers labelling all children dirty and germ ridden!

I’ve been doing that. But most of my lovely class can’t access it. No computers, or shared computers, no Word or PowerPoint.

It’s been sent out as well. And I’m doing Teams lessons, but most can’t access that through unfamiliarity.

I’m ashamed of this government, it needs to sort out IT provision properly for these students

Even sadder is they are trying to do it, and can’t get past the barriers. I cried after I’d phoned them all.

And as Scotland is talking about blended learning for the next year, I’m sure England will have to do the same. This government are beyond useless

My dd has computers, Microsoft office (including Teams), and can engage with it all. She’s lucky.

It’s not the unions it is this appalling government.

The unions are doing their job - trying to keep working conditions safe for teachers.

Schools are not opening because the government is not supplying what schools need to be safe.

Children's education is essential in the same way as our health services are essential. Our health staff have to go to work just as our teachers have to go to work. Children pose minimal risk. Teachers need to wear PPE and do their essential job ... teach.

We are forced. We want things to go back to normal. The government do not have a plan to enable that to happen. What do you want us to do?

Every single member of staff is back working their full hours in my primary, including the clinically vulnerable. Setting online learning for other year groups on top of teaching bubbles full time. To the pp above, guidance expressly prohibits wearing PPE.

@Forcedoutoflurking All staff in my school are working their normal hours or more than normal hours to teach full time in the classroom. Headteacher is not allowing staff to wear PPE even if staff source and pay for it themselves as the government guidance says it is not required.

Government to blame. Not unions.
Have you really fallen for the Tory spin?!

The latest guidance for opening to more children says that you shouldn't hire more staff, use other venues (except using high school space) so the ways affluent schools have found is being advised against...they're just making it up as they go along!!

The unions are doing their job

The government isn't

Its a shame that various posters have a bee in their bonnet and cannot see the truth of the situation.

The way you know that the unions are not the problem is that if you took them away the problems with opening schools would remain.

The problem is the virus, and this government's response to it. They let it in. They let it spread for months and they didn't get anything ready to deal with it even though we had seen what had happened in other countries.

If the government prepared properly and taken the right actions at the right time they could've got coronavirus under control like other countries and it would be safe to return to normal life.

They didn't.

So it isn't.

And that's why children can't go back to school yet.

Government, not unions. Yes, we have run our plans past the union reps before re-opening, but every bit of guidance that has crippled us has come directly from the government.

If you are happy for your kids to go back - great. Please convince the bus companies to carry more than 7 at a time or find a source of an additional 20 buses and drivers and some way of getting them safely on and off site.

Convince me that I can find ways of getting kids to line up for lessons that does not involve them standing shoulder to shoulder.

2 metres? 30cm would be a start just in terms of basic safety.

Show me how I double the capacity of lunchtimes to get all kids fed - we already do a split lunch. To split again, we will need to start at quarter past eleven and finish at quarter past two. So, do away with morning break? Ok. I still need to get my staff in for extra hours before and after lunch for prep and clean up, so I need to pay them. And I need to double the hours for the cleaners as well. That means I need to lose a teacher or two which fucks up my class sizes...

Everything has a knock on effect. So, when we abandon social distancing in schools, as we no doubt will for September, we will be back to being crammed in and the R rate will go up again.

Staff have absolutely bust a gut to get as many kids in as we are allowed. If everything is changing we need a lead in time.

It's not unions stopping children returning in my area, it's the LA because the R level in our area was high, although thankfully that is now changing.

Teachers who can have been in with keyworker children since the beginning. Teachers who are vulnerable have been setting online work and liaising with parents. All class teachers have written their end of year reports. These have been printed and delivered by other staff who are working but not having direct contact with children. All class teachers have been phoning their pupils. We have been preparing for the September intake, including socially distanced meetings with new parents and making phone calls to each of them and their nurseries to help with transition.

I'm not sure where this idea comes from that all teachers are off on a lovely jolly. Yes, they might be choosing to work at different times of the day if they are looking after their own children etc but they are still working.

To address the issue of schools opening, the govt has outlined how schools should safely reopen. The unions and some LAs have pointed out that these requirements simply cannot be carried out by many schools, due to physical limitations of space and also staffing, hence saying schools cannot safely reopen.

Teachers are not provided with, nor want to wear, PPE to teach and are working with children who cannot be relied upon to socially distance (and its not always possible to do so, helping little ones get changed or sitting near them to explain something) so comparisons to other places of work where PPE and social distancing rules can be adhered to are useless. That's why schools are being treated differently, because everything about them is different.

I want PPE!