Colchester Labour Group stands with concerned parents, teachers, the National Education Union, NASUWT, the National Association of Head Teachers and the British Medical Association, who believe that the Government has not yet provided an adequate plan for sending our children back to school safely. Like all these groups we believe more work needs to be done to show that sending children back to school won’t create an unacceptable level of risk of another peak or children spreading the infection to their families.
We acknowledge the incredible work that our local schools are already doing in remaining open to receive the most vulnerable pupils and children of keyworkers since the start of lockdown, plus the very swift efforts they have made in moving to online learning and home packs, keeping in touch with children and families in the community.
We also take into consideration the welfare of school staff and those they live with, many of whom may be in the ‘at risk’ category.
Like the National Education Union we believe that the following tests need to be passed:
-The number of Covid-19 cases needs to reduce significantly
-A much clearer national plan for social distancing
-Testing and tracing
-A whole school strategy
-Protection for the vulnerable
NASUWT view: https://www.nasuwt.org.uk/article-listing/government-must-step-back-from-1-june-reopening.html