1/10 570 Educational staff have died since December. With mixed messages & the experts telling us schools are “safe”, this offers no peace to these grieving families. With no intervention or safety protocols, you fear for the lives of our colleagues & our pupils & their families

2/10 here are very real dangers of undoing the excellent work of the NHS with vaccinations and reducing the strain put on our hospitals. Mass school returns are ideological and not scientific. Schools, by nature and design are hotbeds for COVID. You know, close proximity, long

3/10 duration of contact, poor ventilation and shouting/signing. The balance between education ‘gaps’ and public health is so fine but in September, the mass return lead to an explosion in the number of cases and thus deaths. Mass reopening were almost forbidden by SAGE but

4/10 again, scientific advice falls on deaf ears. Issues being used and romanticised to reopen schools such as mental health, attainment poverty & social mobility, they have all existed for generations now. Where was the energy when this government spent a decade tearing through

5/10 the public sector with spending cuts and austerity? We never heard of attainment poverty or even disadvantaged children falling behind, let alone begin conversations about their mental health before reopening schools become a ideological & economic narrative. The country is

6/10 in disarray, the press have more knowledge of policies than the public and teachers are being scapegoated. The “hard-left” unions have always called for safety measures rather than closures but in the end, Williamson et al’s hand was forced to close schools & again, some 10

7/10 months on, we still don’t have any clarity. It’s simple, schools need the investment and Headteachers need the time and space to implement policies and protocols. To announce changes to restrictions the night before, it is just unbelievably inconsiderate and just impossible.

8/10 We need a new approach to school returns. Sep-Dec was a complete shambles. The disruption and chaos was like no other. It was unscientific, a complete scattergun approach & to think that almost a year on from promising our most disadvantaged learners adequate remote learning

9/10 provision, yet many still don’t have access, it really is a complete disgrace. This new variant may destroy the efficacy of the vaccine, which would absolutely destroy the country. Why are we going off if, buts and maybes? Risking it for what? Children need to be safe, first

10/10 and foremost. As do staff. We need,
•blended learning
•face masks in classrooms
•year group rotas
•better ventilation
•funding
Unless we tackle the root of the problem, schools will remain vectors of transmission. 570 educational staff added to the 120,000+ deaths