THE NATIONAL Association of Headteachers Cymru (NAHT Cymru) has issued legal proceedings against the Welsh Government which seeks to delay the start of the new school term.
The Association’s Director, Laura Doel, says the Welsh Government must act cautiously in light of the hazard presented by a new mutation of coronavirus which causes worse symptoms in young people than the main strain.
Laura Doel said: “We want to see children in school. It is the best place for their education and their wider wellbeing.
“We understand that the Welsh Government is seeking to strike a balance between minimising the risk of transfer of COVID-19 and providing face to face education for all children. However, the latest data shows that in large parts of Wales, control of infection has been lost and the lack of understanding regarding the new strain has now created an intolerable risk to many school communities.
“It is simply unacceptable for schools to remain open when there is such a question mark over the impact the new variant will have and we will not sit back and let this happen without calling the Welsh Government to account, for the sake of the whole school community.”
Ms Doel continued: “We believe that it is wrong to keep people in harm’s way whilst the implications of the new variant of the virus are still being discovered. The currently available information contains no solid scientific evidence regarding the impact of the new variant on schools. In particular, there is nothing that outlines the risks to pupils and teachers of maintaining in-person tuition.
“With this in mind, we had begun legal proceedings against the government to force them to disclose the scientific information they are withholding.
“We have asked the Welsh Government to share the evidence justifying the distinctions drawn between primary and secondary schools, the geographical distinctions between Wales and England and the evidence that is being used to underpin the decision that schools’ plans do not need to change despite the emergence of the new variant of Covid in the UK.”

The NAHT says the Welsh Government should:

• Move all schools to home learning for a brief and determined period for most children.
• During this time, proper support to make the home learning experience as good as it can be. That includes technology and learning resources but also the flexibility for school leaders to respond to their circumstances.
• The government should then establish a properly organised, resourced and funded lateral flow testing regime for schools in place of the proposal which would see school staff leading the testing effort, instead of the botched DIY system currently being imposed.
• Work should be undertaken with school leaders and Public Health Wales to establish and agree on new Covid-related safety measures in schools during the temporary restriction.
• Urgently review its approach to special schools to protect all staff and pupils in those communities.
• Immediately prioritise vaccinations in education
• Then agree on an orderly return
The NASUWT has also called on the Minister of Education, Kirsty Williams MS, to move all education provision to remote education in light of the approaching new Covid strain.
Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said: “The NASUWT is completely committed to ensuring that children can return to school as quickly as possible.
“However, it is now abundantly clear that the pandemic is seriously impacting on the ability of all schools to continue to operate normally.
“There is genuine concern that schools are not able to reopen fully and safely at this time.
“The NASUWT remains of the view that schools and other settings should only remain open to all pupils where it is safe for them to do so.
“The NASUWT will not hesitate to take appropriate action in order to protect members whose safety is put at risk as a result of the failure of employers or the Welsh Government to ensure safe working conditions in schools.”
Neil Butler, NASUWT National Official for Wales, said: “The whole of Wales is in Tier 4 and yet there are schools in Wales planning to open this week to full face-to-face teaching.
“There are chaos and confusion in the education service in Wales as the buck has effectively been passed to Local Authorities and some Authorities have passed it down to individual schools.
“The Education Minister has made teachers in Wales the promise that the safety of education workers would be a priority.
“We are now faced with a strain of Covid-19 that is 70% more virulent and 30%+ of new cases in Wales are of the new strain.
“We need to hear from the Education Minister that face-to-face teaching is suspended until schools can review their risk assessments to be able to cope with the new strain.
“During that time teachers can finally get the time to develop distance learning resources that are so desperately needed.”

Mark Drakeford said experts would be “looking at all the evidence again early next week”.

He added: “We reached an agreement with our local education colleagues that in Wales we will have a phased and flexible return to school.”