7th September 2020
Dear INTO Member
Pupils returned to school at the end of August and you, as INTO members, have been back at work for a few weeks now. It has been a different return to school this year and no doubt there have been many changes to your environment and your routines and procedures.
INTO is very much aware that this year’s return has been a very different experience for members and therefore we have designed two surveys on return to school, one for teachers and one for school leaders. The links to both surveys are below. Please complete the survey most relevant to you to enable INTO to collect and collate important information in relation to members’ actual experiences of their return to work in the last couple of weeks.
The responses from these surveys will inform INTO advice and guidance to members as well as INTO discussions with the DE and Employing Authorities.
Below are the links to the anonymous surveys on Survey Monkey which should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete but will provide INTO with much needed evidence in relation to the reality members are dealing with at this time.
Please complete the survey most relevant to you, by 5.00pm on Wednesday 16 September 2020.
Click here for the Teachers’ survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/INTOTeacherssurveyV2Z6Q8HFC
Click here for the School Leaders’ survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/INTOSchoolLeaderssurveyV2ZP5DPBY
Thank you for your time and support in completing the surveys.
PRESS RELEASE: 4 September 2020
INTO Launches Major Survey of Teachers
In light of many changes to employment practices for teachers because of the Coronavirus pandemic, INTO has embarked upon a survey of its members to gauge both the impact of the school closure on teachers’ mental well-being and the readiness of schools upon their return. Senior Official Nuala O’Donnell, will be sending the specific teacher and school leader surveys, via the normal INTO channels, to all members over the coming days with a view to, not only publish the results, but to use the responses to inform conversations with employers.
Mr Gerry Murphy, Northern Secretary, said that, ‘the responses from teachers are vital in properly representing our members’ views. INTO needs, not only a properly informed understanding of the difficulties faced throughout the school closure but now that schools have reopened everyone in education urgently needs to know what works and what doesn’t. The survey will cover a swath of areas and judging by the number of Covid-19 related queries to the Northern Office, we need to know exactly how the reopening of schools is impacting our members’ health and well-being.
Of course, many teachers are naturally nervous and anxious about their return and INTO needs to know how this is being monitored and managed. On a practical level, we need information about the difficulties faced by teachers regarding the availability of covid-19 specific hygiene facilities and equipment coupled with the obstacles and hurdles faced by principals as they attempted to acquire these essentials.
As everyone knows, teachers being not only teachers but parents, instinctively do not limit their anxiety to themselves and so INTO is also looking closely at the support and the readiness of schools for the pupil return. The different guidance from EA and DE, as the roadmap for teachers and school leaders is key to a successful and safe reopening and hopefully the survey will help to provide DE with the requisite information needed to fill the gaps in the guidance.
Mr Murphy concluded by saying that, ‘This will provide all shades of education with a picture how, not only INTO members, but all teachers and pupils have been affected by Covid.’