Portsmouth school leaders’ safety concerns at government's proposed opening of schools

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CITY headteachers and school senior leaders have expressed their ‘serious concerns’ at the government’s proposal for primary schools to reopen next month for certain year groups.

School leaders feel the announcement is premature and say they have serious concerns about how it will work.

During Boris Johnson’s public Sunday address he announced potential plans for Year R, 1 and 6 pupils to return to primary school from June 1, and yesterday the government said it wanted all primary school children to return to school for a month before the end of the academic year.

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Howard Payne, headteacher at Medina Primary School in Cosham, said: ‘Until the number of deaths and infection rates are much lower then the prospect of whole year groups returning to school is a serious concern. I’m desperate for pupils to return but not at the expense of the safety of children and staff.

Highbury Primary School headteacher, Ashley Howard, said managing social distancing in primary schools would be 'very challenging'.Highbury Primary School headteacher, Ashley Howard, said managing social distancing in primary schools would be 'very challenging'.
Highbury Primary School headteacher, Ashley Howard, said managing social distancing in primary schools would be 'very challenging'. | Other 3rd Party

‘I don’t think the announcement has been carefully thought through.’

It’s a sentiment shared by Meredith Infant and Isambard Brunel Junior schools deputy headteacher, Sharon Peckham.

Mrs Peckham said: ‘Trying to get children back to school is the right thing to do but I don’t know how we do it safely. We have only 17 key worker children in at present and maintaining social distancing, particularly with the youngest children, is impossible.

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‘I think the government are taking a chance and hoping for the best.’

Head teacher, Howard Payne, with pupils, from left, Ariane Kamakoue, Liam Goble, Mickey Stanley, Max Butcher, Delia Dumitru, Maisie Clarke and Chanulya De Silva.Head teacher, Howard Payne, with pupils, from left, Ariane Kamakoue, Liam Goble, Mickey Stanley, Max Butcher, Delia Dumitru, Maisie Clarke and Chanulya De Silva.
Head teacher, Howard Payne, with pupils, from left, Ariane Kamakoue, Liam Goble, Mickey Stanley, Max Butcher, Delia Dumitru, Maisie Clarke and Chanulya De Silva. | Other 3rd Party

Mrs Peckham is also concerned about staff numbers and welfare.

‘We have a number of staff who are vulnerable and so will not be able to come to work while other staff will be understandably be anxious about returning,’ she said.

A Change.org petition set up on Sunday calling for parents to have the right to keep their children off school if they reopen had reached almost half a million signatures last night.

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Deputy headteacher headteacher, Sharon Peckham (right), feels the government are taking a chance and hoping for the best with proposed primary school return.

Picture: Sarah StandingDeputy headteacher headteacher, Sharon Peckham (right), feels the government are taking a chance and hoping for the best with proposed primary school return.

Picture: Sarah Standing
Deputy headteacher headteacher, Sharon Peckham (right), feels the government are taking a chance and hoping for the best with proposed primary school return. Picture: Sarah Standing | JPIMedia Resell

Mr Payne questioned the thought process behind the precedence of the youngest children returning first and the implications for social distancing.

The long-standing headteacher said: ‘I’m not sure of the rationale behind this decision – I’m sure it would be easier for 14 and 15-year-olds to adapt than Year R. This is a totally different type of teaching. You cannot have children of this age sitting in chairs behind desks all day.

‘Lessons involve practical learning including the handling of objects and moving around the room. We’ll have to reduce class sizes to 10. We can’t simply spread the children to other rooms as they’re not set up for this style of learning.’

Mr Payne also highlighted students who ‘have physical needs which need to be met which involves close contact’ as well as the issue of policing children moving around school at break-times and the end of the day.

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‘We only have eight children at the moment and we already have to stagger them going out one at a time,’ said Mr Payne.

While headteacher at Highbury Primary School, Ashley Howard, has started to plan measures to mitigate concerns, he said: ‘Social distancing will be a real challenge. The announcement from the government was very broad and we need further guidance as to what this will look like.’

Concerns have been voiced by the National Education Union president and Portsmouth teacher, Amanda Martin.

Ms Martin, who said that nationally 13 of her members have died from Covid-19, said: ‘It’s impossible to social distance in schools. As a union we think this decision is completely reckless. We had a five point test which needs to be met before we consider returning and this has not happened.

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‘We wrote three letters to the prime minister expressing our concerns and he’s made this announcement without replying to them. Within hours of the announcement we had 49,000 members who signed a petition saying ‘no’ to the proposed road back. This follows on from more than 350,000 previous petition signatures supporting the union’s stance to only open schools once it’s safe.’

While headteachers have reservations about the potential psychological impact on children of teachers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) they feel the profession would need to be considered for PPE once schools return.

Mr Payne said: ‘Schools do have challenging children who can spit and bite and so if it’s needed in those situations then we should have it.’

Mr Howard added: ‘The wearing of full face shields could scare some children but staff working with younger pupils who need help getting changed may need to wear gloves.’

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Mr Johnson also revealed the government hope exam students ‘can have some time with their teachers before the summer holidays’.

Headteacher at Crofton Secondary School, Simon Harrison, has a number of concerns on which he hopes the government will provide guidance.

‘The movement of children around school is a concern and we need to know whether PPE will be required and supplied,’ he said. ‘Depending on what the government suggests we will need at least two weeks to prepare.’

Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for education, Suzy Horton, said she had a number of reservations.

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Cllr Horton said: ‘It does raise questions as to why other parts of the UK are doing things differently. I listened to the announcement and it didn’t fill me with confidence but we need to wait for further detail.’

Education leaders concerns have been reflected nationally with the National Association of Headteachers adamant that the government’s proposals are simply not feasible.

General secretary, Paul Whiteman, said: ‘The government’s determination is for all primary school children to return to school before the summer for a month. This is not currently a feasible scenario.

‘The availability of school staff, the sheer number of pupils and the sizes of school classrooms and corridors combined with the need of social distancing measures, mean that the government’s calculations simply don’t add up.

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‘Based on the current trajectory it seems wildly optimistic, to the point of being irresponsible, to suggest that we will be in a position to return all primary children to school within the next seven weeks.

‘This will give false hope to families and parents that we are further along the road to recovery than we actually are.’

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