Provide funds to protect schools before next Covid wave, say unions

Coronavirus restrictions in schools ended earlier this year, but in a letter to the education secretary, unions have requested action to limit the impact of a future wave of the virus

22nd July 2022, 4:46pm

Callum Mason

New ONS data provides a breakdown for Covid rates among primary and secondary school pupils in 2021/22.

Seven unions representing school staff and leaders have told the education secretary to take urgent action during the summer holidays to protect schools in England ahead of the next Covid wave.

In a joint letter, Unison, the Association of School and College Leaders, the NAHT school leaders union, the National Education Union, GMB, NASUWT and Unite, say that figures showing pupil attendance has hit a five month low “are a real cause for concern, given that they coincide with yet another Covid wave”.

The letter urges education secretary James Cleverly to provide additional funding to schools to improve ventilation, re-establish funding for schools to cover supply costs for teaching and support staff absences in the autumn term, and make lateral flow tests available for free to all staff and pupils, among other things.

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It continues: “Given what has been learnt about the level of educational disruption and illness this virus can still cause, and with education staff having among the highest rates of long Covid according to the ONS (Office for National Statistics), in our view the government must act now.

“We therefore urge you to immediately set out your plans for using the school holidays to protect learning and health in the winter”.

Dear Secretary of State,

We are writing as school leader and school staff unions to urge the government to use the summer holidays to reduce the risk of another winter of Covid disruption and illness in schools.

We are sure you will agree that the latest figures from the Department for Education - showing that pupil attendance has hit a five-month low - are a real cause for concern, given that they coincide with yet another Covid wave.

Almost one in five eligible secondary students was absent on 7 July.

With scientists predicting an even larger wave of infections in the autumn term, we are urging the government to use the summer holidays to take the following preventative measures:

• Provide additional funding to schools to improve ventilation and support spiralling energy costs. Schools could use this to implement a programme of maintenance to improve natural ventilation by ensuring all windows can be opened and air vents are cleared, as well as consider other forms of ventilation where necessary. A study in Italy overseen by the Hume foundation, in March this year, found that efficient mechanical ventilation systems can reduce the transmission of Covid-19 in schools by more than 80 per cent. The severe heatwave this week further highlights the importance of sufficient ventilation systems in schools.

• Provide HEPA air filtration devices to all schools for September as an immediate measure while schools improve their ventilation. The Department for Education’s data on the use of CO2 monitors and air cleaning units shows that only 1,287 schools, out of a total of 24,413 in England, have been provided with air filters, and given schools have multiple classrooms, this is nowhere near sufficient.

• Re-establish funding for schools to cover supply costs for teaching and support staff absences in the autumn term. This has been a major additional expense for schools over the last two years, which they will be even less able to afford in the next academic year as school budgets are tightened further.

• Make lateral flow tests available for free to all staff and pupils in education settings as a key measure to reduce transmission and disruption to learning.

• Issue clear public health guidance on what the public should be doing to minimise the chance of infection. The absence of such clear messaging is extremely concerning.

• Run a public health messaging campaign on vaccination given the very low rates of childhood vaccination, as recorded in the national flu and Covid-19 surveillance report.

• Publish updated guidance for schools on face coverings when dealing with increased Covid cases.

• Reinstate the need for Covid risk assessments, including for vulnerable workers and pregnant staff, to mitigate against further disruption and illness from the predicted winter wave of infections.

Given what has been learnt about the level of educational disruption and illness this virus can still cause, and with education staff having among the highest rates of long Covid according to the ONS, in our view the government must act now.

We therefore urge you to immediately set out your plans for using the school holidays to protect learning and health in the winter.

Free lateral flow tests stopped being available to schools from April, while the legal requirement for people in England to self-isolate when they catch Covid ended in February.

But earlier this month, it was revealed that schools hit by rising Covid cases have reintroduced masks in corridors and one-way systems in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus.

The DfE no longer records figures for Covid-related absence but still produces fortnightly attendance data.

Figures from last month showed that attendance in all state-funded schools was 89.4 per cent on 23 June, down from 91.5 per cent on 9 June.

The DfE has been contacted for comment.