Covid staff shortages: Teachers are told to mix classes
The Department of Education advised schools to start preparing for a chaotic Monday night, ahead of students returning on Tuesday.
Headteachers have been told to use support staff to fill in, while merging classes and a return to online learning are also on the cards.
It comes after ministers discussed scrapping face-to-face learning again as a crippling number of Covid-related absences hit the teaching workforce.
Experts urge Boris Johnson to cut down on isolation for positive test-takers to five days to ensure teachers are still behind desks.
Now, the Department of Education instructed schools to pool resources in order to avoid future shortages that could wreak havoc upon children’s education.
The email was published byThe GuardianThis is what it says: “You might wish to use existing temporary, teaching and support staff more flexiblely to ensure that your environment remains open, while still ensuring that the appropriate support is in place to support pupils with learning disabilities.” [special education needs and disabilities].
You may want to combine classes because pupils don’t need to be in the same group.
“Where there is a need for remote education, live streaming is the preferred method for providing this wherever possible.”