{"id":27883,"date":"2021-02-23T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-02-23T15:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=27883"},"modified":"2021-02-23T15:00:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-23T15:00:11","slug":"schools-reopening-gamble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=27883","title":{"rendered":"Schools reopening ‘gamble’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite, which represents school support staff throughout the UK, has warned that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to fully re-open schools in England on March 8 risks increasing Covid-19 rates and threatens the health of children, all school workers and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite officer with national responsibility for schools, Caren Evans said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government and the prime minister are once again guilty of gambling with the health of the nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe scientific advice clearly advised a phased return to schools but the prime minister apparently knows better,” she added. “Once again the UK is guilty of failing to learn from the good practice of other nations including Scotland and Wales which are undertaking a phased return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members want to see all children back in school but this needs to be in a safe and ordered manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSchools have been open throughout the pandemic and support staff have continued to play a key role in ensuring that children are safe, cared for and receiving the appropriate education and support,” Evans continued. “They are now faced with the additional stress of the uncertainty of not knowing how schools will safely operate when all pupils return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere is currently huge uncertainty about how mass testing will work and how this and mask wearing will actually be enforced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe bottom line is that no worker should be placed in danger. Covid infection rates are still far higher than they were in September when schools first fully re-opened,” she went on to say. “If safety is compromised school support staff should utilise their legal right and remove themselves from that danger.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite will be providing updated information to its members to ensure that all risks assessments and safe working practices have been updated before school\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reopen and that they have been fully consulted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite will be reminding its members that like all workers, they have the right under sections 44 and 100 of the Employment Rights Act, in cases of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bserious and imminent danger\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, to remove themselves from the workplace until the matter is resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unite recognises how difficult it is for school staff to utilise this right and is advising them that they should immediately inform the school\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s management about any safety concerns and, if the matter is not immediately resolved, to contact their regional officer for further advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barckley Sumner<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite, which represents school support staff throughout the UK, has warned that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to fully re-open schools in England on March 8 risks increasing Covid-19 rates and threatens the health of children, all school workers and their families. Unite officer with national responsibility for schools, Caren Evans said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government and the prime […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1308,1],"tags":[1295,1468,733],"wps_subtitle":"Government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098risky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 decision to fully re-open schools in England on March 8 risks Covid spike, warns Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27883"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27883"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27885,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27883\/revisions\/27885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}