Sheffield primary school say teachers backed unions to defy ‘unsafe’ council advice

A number of primary schools in Sheffield have remained closed today, receiving backing from unions to defy the ‘unsafe’ advice given by Government and Sheffield City Council to reopen.
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Citing fears over the continued spread of Covid-19, primary schools in Sheffield have taken advice from the National Education Union and opted to remain closed, teaching their pupils online for the beginning of January.

This comes after Sheffield City Council advised that primary schools and special schools open on January 4 as initially planned, saying it is safe and ‘vital’ to do so.

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Those to remain closed include Seven Hills Primary School in Norfolk Park, Hillsborough Primary, Woodseats Primary, Birley Primary Academy, Woolly Wood and Rowan Special School. Others have been reported closed but have not confirmed yet.

Seven Hills School, Granville Road, Sheffield.Seven Hills School, Granville Road, Sheffield.
Seven Hills School, Granville Road, Sheffield.

A significant proportion of these schools said that union action was the reason behind the closure.

Seven Hills headteachers Elaine Everett and Clive Rockliff said: “We have taken the decision to close Seven Hills School to students until January 11.

“This is due to a large number of staff who have opted to follow union guidance around concerns for staff safety with regard to coronavirus and is in line with Section 44 of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Hillsborough Primary SchoolHillsborough Primary School
Hillsborough Primary School
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“Unfortunately, we do not feel that we have enough staff available to ensure the safety of students at present.

“We also feel that this situation is unlikely to change until significant actions, such as testing, can be implemented to alleviate safety concerns.”

Hillsborough Primary school head Nicola Wileman also cited union guidance as the reason for the closure.

She said: "The major teaching unions and some support staff unions have today advised their members not to attend schools as they feel school settings are no longer safe for their members.

Greg Fell, director of public health for Sheffield City Council.Greg Fell, director of public health for Sheffield City Council.
Greg Fell, director of public health for Sheffield City Council.
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“In order for us to ensure the safe return for as many children and staff as possible we shall return to online learning for Monday 4th January and therefore school is closed for all pupils to attend in person. We will spend the day assessing the situation and will inform you of the arrangements going forward from Tuesday 5th January for your child by no later than 3pm.”

The National Education Union – the largest teaching union in the UK, with more than 450,000 members – said that it was ‘following the science’ in making its decision to advise primary schools to remain closed.

Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said:"The National Education Union knows that the science suggests that to get infection rates down schools should not be open in the first two weeks of January.

“Cases were rising rapidly amongst school age children at the end of last term and they were the highest rates of any demographics. These children live as part of families and in communities and they can spread the infection into their families and into the wider community.

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“There is scientific concern that the new variant might be more prevalent amongst younger people than the previous variants.

“We are calling on Gavin Williamson to actually do what he professes he does – to follow the science and announce, now, that primary schools in England should move learning online - apart from key worker and vulnerable children for at least the first two weeks of January.

“It is not good enough to always be behind the curve, playing catch up with new strains of COVID, seeing hospital admissions rise and cases numbers spiral out of control.

“That is why we are doing our job as a union by informing our members that they have a legal right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions which are a danger to their health and to the health of their school communities and more generally."

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Jennifer Mohammed Jones is a Sheffield parent and activist who works with Boycott Return to Unsafe Schools (BRTUS), has spoken out in support of the unions and schools backing the delay in reopening.

She said: “As parents it is important to be mindful that what staff are doing here is utilising the law.

"It is difficult for some people, I understand that. Some parents are struggling for childcare, but others are able to cope.

“I really sympathise with teachers who are being asked to stand in front of a classroom full of children from up to 30 households with no PPE for seven hours a day.

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“No matter what way you look at it, there is no other circumstance in our city where people are expected to mix with 30 households for long periods of time with no PPE. And the reason for that is because it is not safe.

“I do not like the way the Government have handled this, but Sheffield City Council and headteachers have the autonomy to decide what they do with schools, so this is not something they can shrug off onto the Government.

“Personally, as a parent with a child at a special school, I think the council are making an unforgivable decision to open them. These children are in the most vulnerable group.

“[The schools remaining closed] is frustrating for some people, but these problems are not as severe as somebody catching Covid.”

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The advice from the Unions directly contradicts what Sheffield City Council has been telling primary schools and special schools to do.

SCC has echoed the Government’s advice that these schools should remain open.

In a letter to schools, Sheffield’s Public Health Director Greg Fell said: “We are writing to all schools to outline our advice which is that primary and special schools should open as usual from Monday.”