Unions - a short thread... Hugely support #unions BUT, right now a few of them are making things harder and it’s not helpful! The narrative that they are supporting leaders, whilst writing to us at 9.30pm with thinly veiled threats, is, frankly, ridiculous!

Their release of, yet another, checklist or set of guidance that they claim is helpful simply isn’t. It’s another stick to beat us with at an undefined point in the future.

HTs are living in absolute fear of that phone call about a member of their school community. They neither created nor asked for this mess. They’re not qualified to judge the ‘safety’ of a date for return to school.

Equally we are dictated to by the guidance and directives set out by government... we cannot hold back the tide! Schools will be delaying and taking their time, but wider school ‘opening’ is now as inevitable as night following day... it’s when and how, not if!

So... here we are, working flat out distilling guidance, writing plans and risk assessments, supporting staff and taking a level of responsibility for ‘safe’ that none of us are remotely prepared for. All of that with increasing rhetoric about our individual ‘responsibility’

Existing in the relative void of LA support, who have been decimated by a decade of cuts, operating in a world of school budgets that have been cut to the bone I would respectfully suggest the following....

#unions focus your efforts on government and those tiny number of schools who aren’t acting with best interests of their communities. Every time you tweet or brag how many new members you have gained since the start of the pandemic, your position weakens that little bit more...

Stop telling us the questions you’ve asked of government and start actually saying what progress you’ve made with them!

I’ve appreciated @NAHTnews support, guidance and input. Calm and collected, which is what we need right now.... schools need strong unions, they’re an integral part of our setup! But the current position developing towards school leaders is, I respectfully suggest, toxic!