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Schools are planning to bring back online lessons and Covid-style classes for vulnerable children as they prepare for expected teacher strikes, The Independent said.
Ministers also hope schools will be able to join together to share resources, increasing the likelihood that pupils will be transported to different premises for their lessons.
The government is drawing up action plans for possible walkouts across England, with two of the UK’s major teaching unions – the National Education Union (NEU) and the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – due to reveal the results of strike votes on Monday.
The National Education Union said it was confident teachers would support the proposed walkouts and believed strike action could begin as soon as January 30.
At a meeting last week, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan warned unions that “the stakes have never been higher” over strike action, as it would affect children whose education has already been hit by the pandemic.
Paul Smith, chief executive of The White Horse Federation, an academic trust with 31 schools, said that while he respected the right of teachers to strike, his trust had a “moral responsibility” to balance that right with the needs of all, “especially those who who are most vulnerable”.
He said if the NEU ballot reached the threshold for strike action, his organization “will put in place Covid-like measures so that the most vulnerable students and those in the families of key workers have a safe and warm place to come during any strike action’.
The group also plans to provide lunch for everyone who qualifies for free school meals.
But he said he hoped ministers and unions could find a solution to prevent strike action. “The last thing our students need to endure is more days without school,” he said.
Seamus Murphy, chief executive of Turner Schools, a five-school academy trust in Folkestone, said his organization planned to provide online learning as well as face-to-face classes for vulnerable children and those preparing for their GCSEs and A-Levels.
He said: “Turner schools will remain open to vulnerable pupils and, where possible, will be open to children in our exam year groups in Years 6, 11 and 13. For those students who have to stay at home, we will provide online learning through our well-built digital systems.”
It is understood that ministers want schools that belong to multi-academy trusts to share resources on strike days, especially if they already have a shared headteacher.
A government source said: “We have some fantastic heads who are extremely innovative and creative and I expect to see some great examples of that in any strikes.”
Teachers’ unions say the strikes are necessary as teachers’ wages have eroded over the past 12 years
(PA)
Dame Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner, warned that strikes would put vulnerable pupils at risk and criticized teachers for planning strike action.
“As we face the prospect of teacher strikes in England, I feel more strongly than ever that this is the wrong course of action,” she wrote in The Sunday Telegraph. “This is detrimental to outcomes in children. This will hinder their learning just as they are getting back on track [after the pandemic].”
Sam Freedman, who was an adviser at the Department for Education when Michael Gove was education secretary, said the two main options schools would have were online learning and consolidation in a bid to keep at least one site open.
“Most multi-academy trusts are geographically focused, with three or four schools in the same town or part of a town,” he said. “So [joining together] will certainly be an option. Telling parents “You’ll have to travel a little further today if you want [your] children in school as we have one open site.’
He said schools “probably won’t” use many live online lessons of the kind that have exhausted many working parents during the pandemic. But he suggested there could be more use of pre-recorded online lessons, such as those set up by the government’s Oak Academy when Covid was at its height.
However, union leaders have expressed doubts about the plans.
Children can return to online lessons if teachers agree to strike
(PA)
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Heads’ Unions, said that if strike action continued, any decision to keep the school open would have to be based on a “risk assessment, taking into account the safety of staff and pupils “.
Any school work set for students to do at home will also need to take into account “staffing availability and workload to determine and assess that work”, he added.
He said the “last thing” anyone wants is more disruption, but that there is a crisis in the profession caused by the erosion of teacher pay and conditions over the past 12 years, which is already hurting education every day.
“Instead of trying to limit the impact of possible strikes, the government should tackle the root cause and provide teachers with a significant, fully funded pay award,” he said.
The Department of Education pointed to the fact that another union’s vote last week fell short of the turnout needed to approve a strike.
A spokesman said: “After two years of disrupted education for children and young people, families will be relieved that NASUWT teachers have not chosen to strike. The Education Minister has arranged further meetings with union leaders to avoid damaging strike action.
“We have already met the unions’ demand for a further £2bn for schools, both next year and the year after, in the Autumn Statement, and awarded teachers their highest pay for 30 years.”
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