Calls for more support for North Yorkshire schools to cope with covid infections
Teaching is being severely disrupted due to staff and student absences
There are calls for more support to schools across North Yorkshire to help them cope with rising Covid cases.
The National Education Union in North Yorkshire have told us staff are struggling with stress and anxiety due to absences and increased workloads and a lack of information on how to deal with the situation.
More children and staff are testing positive for the virus and being sent home meaning their teaching and learning is being severely disrupted.
The National Education Union are upset as there was no mention on how schools should cope with rising cases in the Prime Minister's speech at the weekend and they believe there has been little guidance from Department for Education.
Anne Swift, spokesperson for NEU in North Yorkshire, said:
"There have been high staff absences and high pupil absences and that obviously makes it hard to provide an education service for the children when they've got gaps because they've not been in school and trying to find cover so there is an adult in front of classes.
"Staff are acting beyond their role, there is a shortage of supply teachers and there is a great deal of anxiety and yet staff are still trying to make this time of year a magical time for the students. They're torn about whether they should hold events and invite parents in the schools but the local authorities have said it is up to schools to make the decisions so it's a lot of pressure.
"We were hoping that the government would say more about schools and what they could do to mitigate effects and buy time for more people to get the booster but it was very conspicuous. They didn't say anything about them and the guidance from the Department for Education has been very thin of late in terms of what the schools should do to try and minimise the risk of the virus in whatever form or mutation."
But the NEU believe the winter break before they start back in January may act as a circuit breaker to bring down the number of transmissions happening in school age children.
It's hoped it will also prevent schools from closing in January as they did this year.