Covid: Teachers 'need support to deal with fallout'

Parties aiming to take power in next month's Senedd elections are promising thousands of extra school staff

Teachers will need support to deal with the fallout of the pandemic from whoever wins next month's Senedd elections, staff and unions have said.

A trainee teacher said there had to be a focus on teachers' wellbeing, while a head teacher urged politicians to not just "throw money at things".

Unions have called for politicians to help staff as they help pupils deal with months of missed education.

Parties vying for power are promising thousands of extra school staff.

Loti Flowers, 26, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, previously worked as an estate agent but is now studying for a postgraduate qualification at Cardiff Metropolitan University to become a primary school teacher.

She said she wanted to hear more discussions as part of the election campaign about increasing support for Welsh medium education and smaller class sizes, as well as a focus on the mental health of pupils and teachers.

"Everybody has struggled this year, teachers have been under a lot more pressure and have had to adapt very quickly," she said.

WALES ALERTS: Get extra updates on BBC election coverage

She said the profession had been under intense scrutiny throughout the pandemic.

"I've seen people praise teachers, but I've also seen people slate teachers," she said.

"But from my experience, from what I've seen, teachers have worked extremely hard. They deserve the praise, in my opinion".

Several party manifestos include pledges to employ extra staff in schools, but Ms Flowers said she was sceptical.

Loti Flowers, who is training to be a teacher, said "everyone has struggled this year"

"It's not just about the numbers - don't just throw staff into a school," she said.

"It's the training and having carefully-selected staff. Have you got key people, maybe for mental health who are trained in mental health and wellbeing that can be placed in a school?

"Have you got some specialists with Welsh language? It's not the numbers, it's the quality not quantity."

The Welsh Conservatives are promising 5,000 extra teachers, smaller class sizes and an increase in school funding, along with a pledge to delay the introduction of the new curriculum in Wales until 2023.

Plaid Cymru's manifesto said it would appoint 4,500 extra teachers and support staff, "valuing" the teaching profession and boosting starting salaries, while providing three-year budgets to help schools plan.

A report estimated £600m to £900m would be needed over three years to help children in Wales catch up on lost learning

A commitment to fund up to 1,800 additional tutoring staff in schools is one of Welsh Labour's election promises, along with more counselling provision to support pupils' mental health.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats said they would build on the work of Education Minister Kirsty Williams, who is standing down as a Member of the Senedd at the election.

The party said it would review school funding and provide the support needed to make the implementation of the curriculum a success.

'Not enough detail'

According to Luke Sibieta, a research fellow at the Education Policy Institute (EPI), the parties have not provided enough detail about how they would pay for their pledges.

"In general, the proposals don't really go far enough to meet the enormous scale of the challenge facing schools and, to be honest, there's simply not enough detail from any of the main parties about how they'll pay for what they proposed," he said.

An EPI report published this week estimated £600m to £900m would be needed over three years to help children in Wales catch up on lost learning and address the impact of the pandemic.

"Set that in context - the Welsh government has so far provided around £100m for catch-up activities so what's needed is a step change in the level of ambition," he said.

"We need to focus on the interventions and the sorts of staff and sorts of activities that we know work already in order to help pupils catch up.

"It's going to be issues around trying to recruit more high-quality teachers, more high-quality teaching assistants, providing extra money for professional learning, which is likely to be incredibly important in Wales, given the new curriculum coming in in the next few years."

WALES ELECTION: THE BASICS

What's happening? On 6 May, people will vote to elect 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs). The party that can command the support of a majority of MSs will form the Welsh government. Find out more here.

What powers does the Senedd have? MSs pass laws on aspects of life in Wales such as health, education and transport - and have some tax powers.

Who can vote? Anyone who lives in Wales, is registered to vote and aged 16 or over on 6 May is eligible. You can register to vote online.

Earlier this month, the NASUWT union warned the rollout of that new school curriculum for Wales should be delayed to let teachers focus on helping pupils.

All children currently in Year Five and below will be under the new curriculum when it is introduced in September 2022.

Unions urged whoever was successful in next month's Senedd elections to help teachers get pupils back on track post-Covid

However, the NASUWT said the curriculum - which the Welsh government says remains a priority - must be pushed back to enable teachers to help pupils get back on track, otherwise its success will be at risk.

National Education Union Cymru said a fair education for all had to be the "cornerstone of the next Welsh government" and doing everything to ensure young people can thrive.

Senior policy officer Mary van den Heuvel said: "Teachers, leaders, lecturers and support staff have worked tirelessly to support young people whilst dealing with the constant chances to the rules, as schools and colleges opened and shut to some learners, throughout the last year."

She a recent survey of its members found 95% of respondents believed the Welsh government should provide support for education staff's wellbeing, with 94% wanting to see excessive and unnecessary workload removed.

Head teacher Alun Williams said any funding needed to be carefully planned

Alun Williams, head teacher at Welsh medium primary Ysgol Rhyd-y-Grug in Aberfan, has been teaching for 37 years.

He said there was "perhaps" a need for more staff as a result of the pandemic, but any extra investment should be focused on supporting existing staff to deliver the new curriculum.

"We, as a school, were making great strides towards the new curriculum," he said.

"Obviously that momentum has slowed - not completely stopped - but certainly slowed.

"I would look certainly at using the money for the present staff that we have, post-Covid, to make sure that the time lost to Covid is made up in staff training and to make sure that we are able to pick up the momentum where we left off."

He said funding should be carefully planned at it was "not always the best option to throw money at things".

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