Furious teaching unions today accused Whitehall of trying to ‘micromanage’ schools after Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi emailed MPs saying he will personally vet any plans to bring back masks in classrooms.
Last night, the Education Secretary stated that local officials will try to convince schools to get rid of masks.
He insisted that ‘face-to-face education for all students has consistently been my priority’, adding: ‘National guidance to wear face coverings in communal areas will also be removed in line with the national move out of Plan B. This applies to all schools’.
But in a letter to MPs, he admitted that masks could be reintroduced in the event of an ‘extraordinary’ local Covid outbreak.
The NEU’s Dr Mary Bousted today raged that ministers seeking to ‘micromanage such decisions seems utterly unnecessary, if not bizarre’.
It came as schools across England were in open rebellion against the Government over masks after more than 100 head teachers wrote to parents warning that children must continue wearing face coverings in classrooms.
Union bosses stoked the fires of revolt this week after accusing Boris Johnson of flouting his ‘duty of care’ to teachers over the new guidance on masks.
This week, the Prime Minister announced an easement of Covid restrictions, starting with WFH guidance, face coverings, and Covid isolation as the Omicron wave recedes.
But critics have claimed that Mr Johnson is axing virus restrictions to appease his Tory backbench and save his own skin as he fights for his political career amid the dramatic fallout from ‘Partygate’.
Schools are defying the Government’s anti-mask guidance and telling parents that pupils must continue to wear face coverings.
Hailsham Community College, East Sussex Year 10/11 students wearing masks in class
Nadhim Zhawi Education Secretary told MPs that any plan to bring back masks into schools will be personally vetted by him
She explained that colleges and schools who make it a policy to require face coverings in their classrooms must have performed a risk analysis and used the heads’ professional judgment to decide what was best for face-to-face education.
“This precaution is sensible, especially considering we are currently in the lead-up to national exams and the education issues caused by teacher absences.
Geoff Barton is the chief of Association of School and College Leaders. He said that schools had been placed in “potentially difficult positions” following Wednesday’s announcement by Prime Minister Boris Johnson that no face masks will be required in classrooms starting Thursday.
According to Mr Barton, “The government’s guidance states that director of public health might advise that classrooms be equipped with face masks depending on local circumstances.”
“But schools do not have time for parents or staff to discuss the issues with them.
“It shouldn’t be surprising, therefore that schools continued to use masks in the interim while these issues were resolved.”
Pepe Di’Iasio is a former ASCL president, and headteacher of Wales High School, Rotherham in South Yorkshire. He believes that new safety precautions for schools should be communicated to pupils.
According to him, his school will inform pupils that masks are not allowed in classrooms and will make it optional for students to wear them in the corridors.
The Prime Minister made the following statement after the announcement: “I was disappointed we were suddenly using dates and data. We’ve been talking all this time about data, and now we’re trying to work to a date.”
While he stated his school doesn’t have high Covid rates, he explained that communicating with students about changes was more challenging due to the timing of the announcement.
We were anticipating an announcement for the 26th. What we now have is a challenge with our students. They will hear the announcement simultaneously as us. Some of them may be thinking, “I do not need to wear my mask any more.” It is about the clearness of these boundaries.
“Students are very straightforward, so they will assume that because they no longer have to wear them at school, that means that I can wear them everywhere. However, that’s not necessarily the guideline.
According to him, the school needs to inform pupils that sometimes they may need to use masks when riding on private buses to get to school.
Head teachers across the country say that they are struggling either with staff shortages or high rates of Covid in the local community – and argue that masks in classrooms will stem the spread of the virus.
According to new data released by the UK Health Security Agency, the number of Covid cases in primary schools in England increased 41 percent from January 16th to 1,936 per 100,000 five- and nine-year olds.
Schools North East is a North East England network that said 80 percent of the schools planned to keep some Covid-related measures. Many secondary schools also plan on keeping face masks in their classrooms and in communal areas.
Andy Byers (head teacher at Framwellgate School in Durham) said that masks are still necessary because the Covid rate in this region is high.
MailOnline was told by a DfE insider that there is no legal way for schools to comply with the guidance regarding dropping masks.
They claimed that the guidance they have received on dropping facial masks according to Plan B was exactly what they needed: guidance.
“We expect schools follow the law, but there is no legal way to make schools do so. However, we expect schools to have good reasons for wearing face masks if they do.
“We will work with, support and partner schools. We won’t take any punitive measures against them.”
Kwasi Kwarteng the Cabinet Minister, stated that schools should adhere to official guidelines regarding mask-wearing in an interview this morning.
Sky News received this statement from the Business Secretary: “The Prime Minister’s guidance is clear that masks are unnecessary.
Chris Zarraga from Schools North East told The Guardian, “Schools still face real challenges in getting personnel cover, increasing staff workload, stress and impacting negatively upon wellbeing.
“Serious concerns are raised for schools due to local photos often being radically different than the national.
Shuttleworth College in Burnley informed parents that they would not be changing any of their measures in school, citing Covid highs.
Teaching unions hit back at Mr Zahawi, accusing Whitehall of ‘micro-management’ in an ‘utterly unnecessary, if not bizarre’ way
More than 100 heads of schools across England have written to their parents complaining about the government’s use masks.
The campaign was started by parents to stop schools from being too zealous in imposing masks.
Parent group UsForThem has urged its supporters to bombard Mr Zahawi with letters to ‘stop overzealous local public health authorities from unilaterally implementing face masks in schools’ (pictured, campaigner Molly Kingsley)
As the Omicron wave recedes, this week’s Prime Minister declared a drastic easing of Covid curbs. This includes WFH guidance, face covers, and Covid isolation.
Uckfield College, East Sussex stated that it would keep masks in place ‘for now’ on the grounds that the “last thing students want right now is more staff absent.”
Swindon Commonweal School told parents to ensure that their children bring to school a suitable mask.
Others, including Oxted School in Surrey and Droylesden Academy in Manchester, said they wanted to wait until they had been sent official guidance from the DfE – despite this being published on Wednesday.
The parents were told by St Peter’s Church of England Aided school in Exeter that masks should still be worn during lessons because ‘Covid is not going away’. Face coverings are an ‘ingenious and considerate’ way of supporting the community, they said.
However, the National Deaf Children’s Society warned schools that imposing masks could be violating the Equality Act.
Mike Hobday is the director of campaign for the society. He told MailOnline that ‘Government guidance does not recommend teachers using masks in classes.
“Schools who choose to ignore this recommendation will need to know that they are in compliance with the Equality Act and can ensure that children with disabilities have access to education.
“Unless you make these adjustments, it may not be worth deaf children going to school.”
Arabella Skinner is a director at UsForThem and said to The Telegraph, “As we’ve seen during the pandemic, schools often do far more than what society expects.”
‘In the case of masks being removed from class, we had over 100 schools raised with us who are choosing – against government guidance – to keep masks in class.’
Mr Byers told parents the PM’s Plan B U-turn ‘creates some difficulty for us’.
“Case rates are still high in northeast. We have currently 60+ students, ten employees absent and 10 staff who tested positive. He said that a small percentage of these people had been very sick.
“Other local secondary school are in the same situation: High levels of absenteeism with some students missing essential face-to-face instruction and a dependence on supply teachers to cover lessons.
“I encourage my students to wear facecovers until case numbers drop.
NAHT spokeswoman said that Plan B’s easement is cause for concern.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary of the group, stated that the Prime Minister’s announcement about lifting Plan B will be felt by many school leaders as being inconsistent with current conditions.
“Mass disruption continues, with many staff absent and students not being able to attend school,” said a spokesperson. We are still hearing from school leaders that they feel the Covid storm is making them very uncomfortable.
Willingdon Community school in Eastbourne, East Sussex wants all its students to keep wearing masks.
Emily May, Head Teacher: Emily May stated that students are amazing at wearing masks from October 2021. She believes this act of kindness helps to protect our community.
“There are still significant Covid infections among the school population and an increase of 10 percent in Covid cases around this region.
“It’s not wise to ease this measure at the moment. We do understand that schools need to have the ability to decide for themselves based on school circumstances. This needs to continue to be monitored.
At Hanley Castle, Worcestershire’s High School for Girls, they were also told to wear face masks.
Lindsey Cooke was the head teacher and stated that she believed this announcement to be very abrupt.
“Our year 11/13 exam groups have been absent so much already. What we don’t want is for them to hurry to get masks on and then suffer another illness.
Other teachers were happy to see the elimination of school masks. Joseph Sparks (assistant principal, Stationers Crown Woods Academy, Greenwich) today described face-coverings as a “barrier to learning”.
Sky News interviewed him and he said: “We are happy about the new structure at the academy. We will, however, follow the DfE’s advice and guidelines. As you can see, the students have chosen not to wear one today.
“But that’ll be up to them. For us at the academy, it is about making sure they are safe and ensuring their learning experiences continue smoothly.
When asked why masks could be such a barrier to learning, he replied: “I was teaching yesterday and didn’t know the answer.
“Sometimes, it can be a little bit of a hurdle like that to the social interaction that occurs and knowing which students may need assistance. We have left this decision up to students.
Sparks stated that it was his job to ensure students are as safe and secure as possible. We took many precautions during each lockdown to keep our students safe.
‘We’ve been really fortunate… our students have continued to come to the academy every day, we’ve had really had attendance.’
Britain’s leading doctors have said that keeping Covid curbs in place at this pace “risks creating an illusion of security” with the NHS under constant pressure.
British Medical Association chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said that the British Medical Association’s decision is clearly not informed by data. In December 2007, there were 7,373 people in hospitals in the UK. This week’s latest figures show that there are now 18,9791.
He said that ending the mandate on wearing masks would “inevitably increase transmission” and expose those who are most vulnerable to greater risk.
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive officer of the NHS Confederation, which represents health agencies, stated that now is not the right time to be complacent about the virus.
Saffron Corery, deputy chief executive at NHS Providers, stated that trusts reported being expecting their peak this week, despite the fact that there had been a decline in hospital admissions due to regional differences.
“That is why it is important to recognize that this surge has not ended, and that health services are still functioning under very challenging circumstances,” she said.
This is after Covid case numbers dropped across the UK for the first-time since December 1, according to Office for National Statistics.
Your child has been sent home from school for refusing to wear masks. Email: jack.wright@mailonline.co.uk.