Read on Twitter
I wasn’t going to post again on the reopening of schools for some children with additional needs given that previous tweets on it seemed to generate more heat than light. But I do want to make some things clear amidst the commentary.
Teachers & SNAs are absolutely committed to the pupils in their charge and care. While all this is going on, hundreds of thousands of pupils, including many with additional educational needs, are receiving the best possible emergency remote learning experience given circumstances
Many teachers & SNAs, myself included, recognise that a return to the school setting for specific children needs to be prioritised, and we’ll continue to try to plan and prepare for that. The problem, yet again, was that directions given to us were incomplete and hugely lacking.
We are not talking about a couple of outstanding issues. The various missives sent out from the Department were totally unworkable. There were so many issues around pupils and staff that were uncatered for or quite simply made worse by the half-baked proposals.
To make it clear for anyone willing to listen.
1. We are working (and it’s not easy work).
2. Many of us accept that specific children should get priority in returning to school.
3. There are a host of major issues which haven’t been resolved but can be dealt with promptly.
1. We are working (and it’s not easy work).
2. Many of us accept that specific children should get priority in returning to school.
3. There are a host of major issues which haven’t been resolved but can be dealt with promptly.
4. If there is a serious commitment to negotiate these issues on all sides, I’ve no doubt we could be seeing some pupils returning to school next week. The Dept’s record in this doesn’t inspire me with confidence but at least there was, apparently, some movement in today’s talks
5. Let’s not lose sight of the overriding issue: a complete lack of contingency planning on a national basis for this eventuality. No one knew that the third wave would spike so high. But many knew it was likely that schools might have to close again. Practically nothing was done
6. This is a political crisis. I don’t believe for a moment we would be at this crisis point with a better Minister in charge. Her approach to this has been a disgrace and her predictable attempts to drive a wedge between staff and parents should be countered strongly.
Here on Twitter, lots of people have engaged respectfully with me on this from all sorts of angles. I’m happy to keep doing so. I won’t be engaging with anonymous accounts which attack my integrity as a teacher, nor with those who are just using this as a union-bashing exercise.
