NAHT Cymru comments on Welsh Government return to school plan for January

Laura Doel, NAHT Cymru Director said: “Yet again schools are expected to pick up the pieces of a last-minute announcement on school reopening.  With less than 48 hours until the end of term, school leaders across Wales must develop a phased return plan for January and share this with parents.

“Today headteachers are hauled up in meetings with the Local Authorities trying to work out what a phased return will look like. The result, despite the best efforts of LAs to support schools, will be an inconsistent picture across Wales that lacks clarity and leaves headteachers to have to deal with the fallout from parents who are justifiably angry about the uncertainty.”

In relation to the lack of planning days allocated to schools by the Welsh Government, as was the case at the beginning of the Autumn term, Ms Doel continued:

“We recognise that schools have a responsibility to support vulnerable learners and the children of critical workers, and every schools want to be able to do that.  But schools need time at the beginning of term to put a plan in place to support those children; to look at staffing levels, to work out which classes can come back in and which can be supported remotely for the short term.  Without a plan in place, we are failing all children. Local Authorities have recognised this and many have agreed to allow schools planning days at the beginning of term to prepare, something the government did not deem necessary.”