Thursday 9th December is the ‘Protect Pupils – Protect Education’ day of action.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 is disrupting the education of many children, and there are now concerns about the Omicron variant. We’re calling on the Government to keep pupils safe to help keep them in school.
On Thursday 9th December we are asking parents, staff and the wider community to urge their MP’s to tell the government to bring in additional safety measures for schools in England to protect face-to-face education.
1. Post a picture on social media
We want to create a groundswell of pressure on Thursday 9 December. If you have views about what should be happening – it’s time to speak up…
A small handwritten message, posted on social media – that’s what we need. We want to flood social media with the message that we need to keep pupils safe to help keep them in school.
Take a picture of you holding the sign, post on social media (Twitter, Facebook or Instagram would be best) and don’t forget to use the hashtags #ProtectPupils #ProtectEducation.
2. Tweet your MP
We need the government to take further action. Tweet your MP using this simple tool – it’s time to pile on the pressure and ask your MP to get involved in the campaign.
We’ve drafted some tweets – but feel free to write your own. Be honest – ask your MP to take action and put pressure on the government to act.
Remember to use the hashtags #ProtectPupils #ProtectEducation.
- School-aged children have the highest rate of any age group
- The hospital admission rate among 5 to 14 year olds remains higher than the mid-January peak
- 77,000 children aged 2 to 16 are reported to be suffering long COVID
- Education staff are more likely to test positive for Covid than the general population and workload pressures as a result of the high levels of infection in schools are impacting on the mental health and wellbeing of staff
As a result over 200,000 pupils were absent for COVID-19 related reasons on November 25 alone, with warnings that rates could get worse in January.
This is a joint action with NASUWT, GMB, UNITE and UNISON.