Nursery nurse staff voice concern about safety of reopening to more children

The early years workers were surveyed soon after Boris Johnson’s call for children in early years, Reception, and Years 1 and 6, to return to schools in England today.

The survey found that 77 per cent did not feel that their nursery would have the resources to cope with the extra responsibility of putting health, safety and risk assessments in place in time for 1 June. 

Just 2 per cent of early years staff surveyed felt reassured by the prime minister saying it was safe to open schools more widely from 1 June.  

An overwhelming majority of those surveyed did not feel reassured by Government claims that schools and nurseries in England were safe to open to more pupils from today.

Almost all staff (96 per cent) felt ministers had not put safety first when developing their back to school plans, according to the survey of 2,014 nursery nurses and classroom assistants in nursery classes. 

More than three in five (61 per cent) of staff surveyed were already working in school nurseries, either on a rota basis or full-time throughout the lockdown, so were aware of the challenges of operating in schools during the coronavirus pandemic.   

As well as the threat to their own health, staff were concerned about the impact of a rushed return on their own children.  

Of those with school-age children, 95 per cent said they did not feel it was safe to send them back to school. One worker said she was ‘petrified’ at the thought of her seven-year-old going back.   

Unison said the research provided insights from nursery and school staff that are often shut out of the debate about schools and nurseries opening more widely, despite being among those who would be hardest hit if they contracted Covid-19.

The union said this was because support staff tended to be older, are disproportionately from the BAME community and come from more disadvantaged backgrounds than teachers.

The early years findings come from a wider survey of Unison members working as support staff in schools and early years settings that ran from 12 – 18 May. There were 45,274 responses.

Commenting on the findings, Unison national officer Ben Thomas said, ‘The results send out a strong message that ministers shouldn’t gamble with the safety of children, staff and the wider community by sending them back to nurseries too early.  

‘Ministers have acknowledged that social distancing is impossible to enforce in early years, but requiring staff to work without PPE is making many scared about returning to work. 

‘Department for Education evidence has focused on the risk to teachers. But support staff are generally in the groups at greater risk from Covid-19. They're also the ones who'll provide intimate care for young children, increasing their potential exposure to the virus.

‘We are extremely concerned about the capacity of nurseries to undertake the proper risk assessments and involve staff in that process before reopening.’ 

Unison had called for a phased re-introduction, so any new systems could be fully tested before all children were allowed to return.

Current working patterns for early years/nursery staff (before 1 June)

• Full time 1.8 per cent
• On rota 58 per cent
• Working solely at home 20 per cent
• At home, unable to perform their job role 21 per cent  

Respondents’ job roles

• Teaching assistants / learning support assistants 40 per cent
• Nursery nurses 44 per cent
• Other 19 per cent

• The full survey report is available here.