Sunderland teachers left 'making things up as we go along’ amid schools closure fiasco, says head

Schools have reported being inundated by requests for class places while teachers also juggle online learning for children staying at home.

Many schools were left scrambling to react, following the Government’s decision to close schools under the third national lockdown.

But exemptions for children classed as ‘vulnerable’ or with a parent deemed a ‘critical worker’ has added to the burdens already on staff.

“We’ve had to make things up as we go along, not knowing exactly what we should do,” said Ann Blakey, headteacher at St Benet’s RC Primary School.

“We’ve been inundated with over 150 requests from critical workers and vulnerable children.

“We want to meet the needs of parents, but a teacher now has to do face-to-face learning as well as online learning, which is very difficult to do.

“If we had had the guidance before Christmas we would have been able to do it, I know things change all the time and it’s not a blame game, but sometimes you can see things coming a mile off.”

RELATED: Sunderland headteacher on school life under lockdown

Blakey was speaking at a meeting of the Sunderland City Council’s Children, Education and Skills Scrutiny Committee on January 7, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

As well as Government u-turns on whether or not to keep schools open to all pupils, headteachers have also had to contend with broad guidelines on who they can continue to allow through the doors.

As well as youngsters classed as ‘vulnerable’, the child whose parent is considered a ‘critical worker’ in more than a dozen sectors, including health and social care, is currently entitled to a spot in a classroom.

However, updated guidance from the Department for Education has urged parents and carers to ‘keep their children at home if they can’.

Blakey also expressed sympathy for parents ‘under the cosh’ from their employers and called for the government to provide more detailed advice faster.

Jill Colbert, the city council’s director of children’s services, said: “All our schools in Sunderland are open, technically – how long they can stay that way is a different matter.”

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