UNISON continues to work hard to support school support workers as we move into the COVID-19 endemic.
Wales specific updates will be placed on this page and we will also continue to provide up-to-date information on our Facebook page.
The public health advice for schools has been updated. Read here for more details about how schools can ensure their sites are safe for staff and learners.
Public health advice for schools: coronavirus [HTML] | GOV.WALES
Click this link for a copy of the Public health control measures checklist for schools.
Long term plans for living safely with COVID-19
The Welsh Government has published Wales’ long-term plan to live safely with coronavirus. The document is available in both English and Welsh.
Safety guidance for those working in schools
Please find below joint unions’ advice for staff working in schools and colleges who are medically vulnerable – whether clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) or clinically vulnerable (CV) – or otherwise at higher risk from Covid-19, including those who are pregnant. It is available in English and Welsh.
Joint union COVID advice for safe opening January 2022 (English)
Joint union COVID advice for safe opening January 2022 (Welsh)
Joint union advice on medically vulnerable and high risk groups (English)
Joint union advice on medically vulnerable and high risk groups (Welsh)
Cover issues in schools
Throughout the pandemic, school staff have gone above and beyond to keep schools running to support children and young people. Read our advice to UNISON members on cover issues in schools.
CO2 monitors in classrooms
UNISON and other trade unions are asking the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) to encourage all local authorities to implement every mitigation possible to keep safe learners and staff in all schools across Wales. You can read our joint letter here.
UNISON letter to First Minister and Education Minister, October 2021
UNISON has received a response from Education Minister Jeremy Miles to the joint UNISON/NEU letter which asked mitigations to be brought back within all schools in Wales to ensure the safety for everyone – staff and learners. UNISON’s original letter and the Welsh government response can be viewed below:
Positive impact of teaching assistants
Independent research carried out by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) shows that, on average, teaching assistants add an additional four months of pupil progress over the course of a year. Read more about the positive impact of teaching assistants here.
Latest Welsh Government guidance for schools
Below are links to the latest guidance, as well as additional joint trade union guidance to support you in the workplace.
Read the UNISON school support staff summer 2021 newsletter. Get up-to-date with the latest news –
- Welsh Government Minister for Education and UNISON leaders say ‘Thank you’ to school support staff
- UNISON Cymru Wales meets Minister for Education
- Fair pay for school workers
- Learning Opportunities from UNISON
- Get help with school uniform costs
- Teaching Assistant working group reports findings
UNISON survey shows most school staff members feel face coverings are an important safety measure
Results of a UNISON Cymru Wales survey on the use of face coverings in school give a clear picture that this measure helps you to feel safer in work. Over half of respondents (56% excluding ‘don’t knows’) would be worried if the recommendation for face coverings to be worn in secondary school classrooms was removed.
1250 school support staff members responded to the survey –
60.9% said that they felt safer wearing face coverings in work
56.8% felt that wearing them in secondary school settings is an important safety measure
20.4% would be very worried if face coverings were removed with a further
27.1% indicating they would be quite worried if they were removed.
Whilst appreciating that in some circumstances, wearing these all day can interfere with the ability for you to carry out your role as effectively as you would want, and that they are uncomfortable to wear for long periods as indicated in some of the comments, the overwhelming message was that members would prefer to keep this as a mitigating measure at least until the end of the summer term.
UNISON members’ contributions to this and previous surveys have helped to support our discussions with Welsh Government during the pandemic, thank you to all those who have taken the time to assist with this.
Wellbeing
Read the Workload Charter for schools staff, endorsed by the education unions.
Welsh Government has commissioned Education Support to undertake a project to support the well-being of the education workforce in Wales as part of the whole school approach towards well-being.
A wellbeing advisor will be appointed to support up to 100 schools across Wales providing services including resilience training and sharing best practice. The charity will also create wellbeing and resource content for HwB and a specific Welsh section on the Education Support website.
Keep up-to-date
We know this is an uncertain time, but UNISON is there for you. You can get updates and network with other school support staff via our Facebook page.
Contact your branch
And we cannot emphasise enough, if you have any concerns about your health, safety or wellbeing at work, please contact your for further advice and support.
Have you experienced violence and/or sexual harassment in your workplace or do you know someone who has?
UNISON is being contacted more and more by staff working in schools to let us know they have experienced or witnessed violence and/or sexual harassment at work. We have developed a survey to gather information on these issues to learn more about the experiences of people working in schools in Wales.
The information you provide won’t be used to identify you in any way, but it would give us valuable information to support our campaigns for school support staff. We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete our survey.
The survey can be accessed using this link https://forms.office.com/r/FreD14juqL
Courses
Whilst you are visiting our page, we thought you might be interested to learn about some courses from UNISON for members working in schools.
These courses are FREE for anyone living/working in Wales in the schools sector!
School Support Staff e-learning pathway –