4th January 2021
To assist our members in these difficult times INTO have issued two further bulletins today:
INTO Bulletin 6: Prioritise Safe Schools (pdf)
INTO Bulletin 7: Return to School (pdf)
Despite the continuing confusion arising from the dithering on the part of the Education Minister and the consequent issuing of guidance at the last minute some things are certain:
- INTO remains the best place to access accurate and update interpretations of the available Departmental and EA guidance – available from our website and social media platforms.
- INTO reminds members that those who are concerned about the safety procedures in their place of work to raise their concerns in the first instance, with their principal or line management – should the situation fail to improve please contact INTO who will provide you with support and assistance.
- DE Education Restart Guidance for School and Educational Settings in NI (December 2020) along with the letter from the Management Bodies, Chairperson, Mrs Sara Long [December 2020] has brought a further tightening, not relaxing, of safety procedures. Schools must fully comply with the guidance as issued.
- School Compliance is achieved by thorough risk assessing and strict adherence at all levels in the schools to the Guidance. It is the duty of school managements to develop a compliance culture and this is key to ensuring a safe working environment. Changes to current school day procedures/practices must be fully risk assessed and mitigations in place. Risk Assessments must be shared with all staff members.
- Given the emergence of a new variant Covid-19 strain, schools should revisit these risk assessments as soon as it becomes clear it has entered the school system.
- INTO will continue to monitor the available infections data and pressure the Department of Education to accelerate contingency planning so we can be ready to contain it.