Calls for more covid guidance for Lincolnshire schools

There are fears not enough is being done to keep teachers and pupils safe

Author: Aaron RenfreePublished 7th Jan 2022

There are fears across Lincolnshire that if more guidance isn't given to schools to keep teachers and pupils safe, they may have to leave the classrooms again.

Children only just returned this week after the Christmas break.

It comes as a nationwide survey from phs found almost 60% predict a return to former measures.

A fifth of those polled also said guidelines, to keep windows open to improve ventilation, were "impractical".

A quarter said they caused more problems than they solved.

Professor Paul Linden said that that poor ventilation increases the risk of infection.

“Covid is spread through airborne particles that can be filtered from the air and removed by introducing more fresh air.

“Opening windows is just the first step, and we have to ask ourselves how practical this is, and how much responsibility we can put on teachers.

“We can’t expect teachers to be ventilation experts, so the best answer has to be a combination of solutions that suits each individual classroom”.

Chris Thompson from the National Education Union's Lincolnshire branch said guidelines just don't go far enough.

"When you open the windows that makes classrooms very cold.

"I was speaking with a parent of a young lad who goes to primary school and he's dressed up for the Antarctic every morning because his classroom is freezing cold.

"When I think back to the school I used to teach at it was built in the 1930s and most of the windows had been sealed up for decades. I've actually taught in some classrooms which had no windows.

"I think parents need to expect students to be home, maybe schools closing temporarily.

"I think the amount of disruption is going to be quite significant in the next 2,3,4 weeks."

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