Nearly three-quarters of teachers whose schools reopened to more pupils last week were expected to clean their own classrooms, new research shows.

And more than a fifth of teachers whose schools had welcomed back more children said they were not consulted on plans for wider reopening, according to a snapshot survey by the NASUWT union.

The poll, which was carried out between 4 June and 7 June, received more than 20,000 responses from NASUWT members.

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More than a quarter (27 per cent) of teachers who responded said their school had started teaching whole groups/classes or years in the week beginning 1 June.

Of these, 74 per cent said they were expected to clean down their rooms and equipment, while 36 per cent reported that they did not see cleaning staff at school throughout the day, and 54 per cent did not see cleaning of staff toilets between use.

Teachers said they were being asked to go “above and beyond”.

One respondent said: “School staff (not cleaning staff) are expected to clean staff and children’s toilets at regular intervals throughout the day!”

Another added: “Staff have been asked to volunteer to clean the children’s toilets. Teachers and teaching assistants [are] expected to clean tables chairs and equipment.”

Patrick Roach, NASUWT general secretary, said it was “concerning” that some schools appeared to be “shortcutting the process” of managing the risk of virus transmission on site.

“One of the dominant messages that comes across from our members is the extent to which employers are effectively abdicating their responsibilities for not only the identification and assessment of risk, but for the management and implementation of the control measures that are needed to ensure that the risk of the virus being transmitted in the workplace,” he said.

“They are absolving themselves of that responsibility and passing the burden onto individual teachers and other staff, and that frankly is not acceptable.”

He added: “Cleaning is a specialist task, in fact, when you’ve got a group of pupils with you - no matter how large your educational ‘bubble’ happens to be - there is a limit to what you can do by way of cleaning; there is a limit by way of the products that you can use in a classroom environment with small children.

“So it’s vitally important that those tasks are undertaken by specialists who are trained in the use of the relevant solutions and chemicals, and indeed at the end of the school day.

“One of the things that we’re hearing from members in the survey was - it wasn’t just the kind of intermediate, during the day, wiping down of surfaces - it was the end of the day, cleaning down, ready for the next day.”

The survey also found that nearly a quarter (22 per cent) of teachers whose schools had opened to more pupils said they were not consulted on plans for reopening more widely.

Mr Roach said schools failing to consult their staff about reopening plans were acting in a “dangerous” and “unlawful” way.

“Schools must consult with workers and unions over their risk assessment plans,” he said.

“How on earth you can reopen a school, or seek to reopen a school, without consulting with your workforce about your reopening plans and about your risk assessment, frankly beggars belief.”

And, despite being among the more vulnerable groups, the survey found that black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers and those that had underlying health conditions were more likely to say that they had not been consulted about reopening plans.

“If we are seriously going to tackle these issue and seriously ensure that we’ve got an inclusive schooling environment, then it’s vitally important that when schools and employers are thinking about their risk management strategies, that they are engaging with all sections of the workforce and engaging with them appropriately,” Dr Roach said.

“But too often there is a bit of command and control mentality in some schools, where the necessity to consult goes out the window. [And they think] just simply direct teachers and cross your fingers in the hope that actually nothing untoward happens.

“It’s vitally important that schools and employers step up, raise their game in respect of risk assessment practice, and engage with the workforce fully throughout.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Last week marked the first, cautious step in a phased approach to bringing more children back into the classroom, with secondary schools and colleges beginning to provide some face-to-face support to more students from Monday. 

“We will be supporting primary schools that have capacity to bring back more children - with reduced class sizes of 15 - to do so if they can before the summer holidays, and we will be working with the sector to bring all children back to school in September.”