"We Don't Feel Safe" - Calls For More Support For Isle Of Wight Special Schools

“We don’t feel safe going to work, but the children need us" - that's the view of one staff member as calls grow for more support to be given to special schools on the Isle of Wight.

Despite attendance rates at the Island's mainstream schools falling since the start of this lockdown, pupil numbers at both Medina House and St George's have remained high.

The Isle of Wight Council estimates that each school had between 30 to 40 students attending at the beginning of last week. In comparison, mainstream Island schools reported attendance rates of between 15 and 35 per cent.

With coronavirus case numbers on the Isle of Wight rising, it has led to staff at the Island’s special schools raising a number of concerns with education unions.

They say that their students, through no fault of their own, have no concept of social distancing - and staff often have to provide intimate personal care. 

When asked what extra support was being given in light of the increased risk, the local authority did not go into specifics, but said it had been offering "guidance".

An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said:

"Special schools can join meetings with colleagues in Hampshire to share strategies and plans across the special school sector more widely.  They have close contact with the school improvement team, providing advice, guidance and support wherever possible around the clock.

"Special schools are required to continue to have all children in school, which brings its challenges, particularly at times of staff shortage due to isolation, positive cases or general illness. The schools, as ever, are rising to these challenges."

Islander Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, said "it’s not for the want of trying, but we are probably not fulfilling our responsibilities with regard to our SEND pupils".

He told Isle of Wight Radio that "anything extra, however small" would go a long way:

"The reality is, COVID will continue to impact on the open special school. SEND pupils do not live in a vacuum.  The NEU has repeatedly asked national Government for a plan for more teachers, to ask teachers who have left the profession to return, and extra spaces in which we can teach even smaller groups in increased safety. We need to use the ingenuity that produced the Nightingale hospitals to produce the extra spaces we need. It’s not too late and frustrating that Government has not acted on this over the last year.

"The challenges of the past, impact on the present too. We are familiar with cries of underfunding leading to the challenges of acquiring an ECHP and then funding it within school, as well as an inability to promptly access mental health support.

"Too much was put on the backburner before the pandemic, even more so now as the NHS, the DfE and schools struggle to cope with the scale of the pandemic.

"Everyone is struggling to find enough support. As a special school member said in the last few days: 'We don’t feel safe going to work, but the children need us'."

An ECHP (education, health and care plan) is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. Assessments are carried out by the local authority.

Director of Public Health for the Isle of Wight, Simon Bryant, said Government guidance states those with ECHPs should remain in school.

He told Isle of Wight Radio that this is the reason why there are more pupils in Island special schools, compared to mainstream ones.

The council said some children with special needs, notably those with severe complex needs and medical conditions, are preferring to access remote learning from home, however.

Mr Shreeve says it is "probably because they feel less safe". He said:

"Teachers, parents, school support and LA staff have responded with the utmost seriousness and professionalism to this Covid-19 crisis. The tragedy is, that we do not appear to be winning at present and it is taking its toll.

"Although everyone is making the utmost effort in the present situation, the negative impact of Covid is likely to stay with the most vulnerable for a long time, so anything extra, however small, that we can do to help, stands a chance of making a significant impact on these young lives in the present as well as in their future."

The Isle of Wight Council says schools are supporting families who choose to work from home.

Isle of Wight Radio has asked the Cabinet member in charge of education on the Island, Cllr Paul Brading, for a comment.