Dear Editor,
Sadly, we are in lock down again.
This is a worry to all of us, but it is extremely stressful to those parents with school age children and all those who work so hard to educate and support them in our schools.
Teachers are concerned about not only contracting Covid but also infecting others in their families.
Parents have the stress of not knowing when their children may be sent home, which then impacts on their own ability to work which may make them believe and worry that their employment is at risk.
Some children have had to be sent home on numerous occasions and not all parents have family members who can step in and help.
The above does not even take into account the affect Covid and absences from school is having on our children and young people.
Not only is their mental health being affected, but also their own personal life chances.
This is why I believe that the vaccination of all staff in our schools should be seen as a priority and why I believe this council should be lobbying for this on their behalf.
Yours,
Cllr Jos Saunders
Chair of Children and Families Scrutiny
Councillor Saunders makes a number of very good points. If teachers are not vaccinated early, they may well come to feel that the classroom is unsafe for them and worry about taking the virus back into their own homes. Many schools, under current guidance, are seeing 60% of their children attending whereas experts argue that 10% is a more appropriate figure. Children, like adults, are vectors for the virus. If teachers feel their own classrooms are unsafe they may well have grounds for not going into school and some have already exercised that “right” and stayed away. If there are too few teachers in school, then Head Teachers will have grounds for closing schools and then key workers will have extra difficulty getting into work to deliver essential services. That is why teachers need to be towards the front of the queue.
It will be for everybody’s benefit if they are.
The following are comments made by the Branch Secretary of the NW Region of the National Association Head Teachers.
“I am incredibly worried about the figure we are seeing in the NHS and some schools open with 50-70% of their school population.”
This link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re0Gxjom1ok&feature=youtu.be
will take you to a recording of a zoom meeting of very many Head Teachers. I “attended” it.
Please take a look at either the whole meeting, or 3-14 mins and 20-27mins, recorded live from a Covid Ward at Addenbrookes hospital with Consultant, Dr Matt Butler.
The numbers in school should be around 10%!! I won’t argue this point, but readers might want to listen to the recording and sense the alarm amongst Head teachers.
I totally disagree. One thing I think the government has got right is the vaccination priority list. Why should teachers feel they should move ahead of other groups. The only exceptions could be if in a vulnerable category, in which case the priority list should pick them up.
I couldn’t agree more