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Regional convenor Becky Tye takes over the blog this week to take encourage school support staff to stand up for safety

Some cleaners in schools in eastern England are still having to work without protective kit and not given the ‘deep-clean’ training needed to keep people safe, says a survey published today by UNISON. The union is calling on the government to provide schools with money to hire extra cleaners. Figures released by UNISON show that more than a quarter (26%) of […]

Rushed government reopening plans have led to guidelines on ‘safe’ class sizes being ignored by some schools in the East of England, according to a survey published by UNISON today. Nearly a quarter (23%) of support staff say primary schools have operated class sizes bigger than the 15 pupils per group maximum recommended to maintain social distancing. The data was compiled from the responses of […]

With many schools across the UK reopening classrooms this week, UNISON Eastern acting regional secretary talked to activists in Thurrock about going back to school for his latest blog post. The government’s rush to reopen classrooms has been the main front in UNISON’s battle against coronavirus in recent weeks. Many schools have encouraged extra students […]

UNISON Eastern has welcomed the Fire Brigades Union Eastern Region’s backing for education workers opposing the reopening of schools. Nine unions representing teachers, support staff and heads issued a joint statement this month urging the government not to push on with increasing pupil numbers until it is safe to do so. In a letter to local […]

Staff at scandal-struck Aspire Academy in Harlow are voting on industrial action over concerns for their health and safety, UNISON announces today. The school for students outside mainstream education, part of the TBAP multi-academy trust, was the subject of a BBC Panorama investigation in March after the head teacher blew the whistle on serious financial […]

Teaching assistants at a special needs school in Braintree are being bitten, kicked and spat on but managers are doing nothing about the violence, school support staff union UNISON warns today. A survey of support staff at The Edith Borthwick School found that 82% are worried about levels of violence, but only 19% of respondents […]

Issues of concern can range from parents splitting up, family bereavement, self-harm, and sibling rivalry, to family members falling ill, the misuse of alcohol or drugs at home […]

UNISON is the largest union for school support staff and local UNISON branches have been very busy this year, working hard to support members on a wide range of issues in the hundreds of schools, most of which are no longer local authority controlled.  UNISON has been supporting members involved in TUPE transfers, reorganisations as […]