Senior Plymouth councillors have expressed concerns about further Government changes to plans for when pupils will return to school, saying there are still big gaps in information for schools and plans to protect staff.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced changes which mean secondary school pupils in Plymouth will be returning to school a week later than first planned.
Secondary schools and colleges will now only be open to vulnerable children and children of critical workers during the first week of term on or after 4 January.
Children in exam years (Year 11 and 13) will return to face-to-face learning in school the following week (January 11), while other pupils will be back in school on Monday 18 January.
Parents of primary school pupils should return their children to classroom as usual. In Plymouth, most primary schools will start with 4 January but parents are advised to double check their children’s term dates on school websites. Early Years and pupils of special schools and alternative provision will also return to school as usual.
The Government also announced that during the first week of term, secondary schools and colleges will prepare to test as many staff and students for COVID-19 as possible.
The fuller scale of testing will then begin the following week, with those who are in exam years prioritised. In Plymouth, secondary students of all year groups will return to school on 18 January. Parents will be contacted by schools to give their consent for their secondary aged children’s Covid test.
Councillor Jon Taylor, the City Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Transformation, said the Government had not prioritised the safety of school staff throughout the pandemic and this needs to change as the vaccine is rolled out.
He said: “Teachers have been on the frontline throughout the Covid-19 pandemic whilst being at the back of the queue for PPE, testing and vaccination. If the Government is serious about keeping schools going through the dark days we still have to come, school staff should be prioritised for vaccination.
“School leaders have been hugely frustrated by the last minute, cobbled together approach the Government has been taking to address the risks that Covid-19 poses to school communities, including teaching staff. We were not surprised at the further change to the time table for secondary schools’ returning but the announcement has come very late in the day and still there is a lot of information that head teachers still need.
“We wrote to the Education Secretary before Christmas urging the Government to provide clear guidance and support to schools. Schools leaders are frustrated that once again the Government has made an eleventh hour decision. I would now urge the Government to review why it is considered safe to Primary schools to return as usual while it is not safe for their older sibling to do so.”
Council Leader Tudor Evans said: “Schools have been badly messed around by the Government, which has added yet more stress and confusion to an already very difficult situation. School leaders have been left with most complex tasks without sufficient and timely guidance.
“Despite this, they are doing an outstanding job and I would like to thank school leaders for their strong leadership and their staff who have been working tirelessly to ensure that the education sector has continued to hold a strong grip of COVID-19 measures.
“School staff are on the front line in minimising the impact of Covid-19 on our children’s education and they need to be better supported and protected by the Government.”