Nearly a third of teachers say they do not have consistent access to soap and water at school, despite the importance of hand-washing during the coronavirus pandemic, according to survey findings.
The snapshot survey by the NASUWT teaching union was carried out in the first two weeks of term.
It found that a third of teachers report their school has not put in place effective social distancing measures, while almost a third say pupils and teachers do not have consistent access to soap and water.
And while more than four in five reported having hand sanitiser in their classroom, only one in four said the school had put in place enhanced ventilation.
Related: Protect teachers or face legal action, DfE told
Tests: Fury as Covid tests chaos keeps thousands out of school
Breaking news: Coronavirus and schools live blog
News: Schools can order more Covid-19 test kits from tomorrow
The NASUWT has written to the education secretary to urge the Department for Education to monitor the effectiveness of safety measures in schools, warning that the government could face legal action if it fails to protect union members.
Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT, said in the letter: “According to our most recent survey data, we note with concern that measures recommended by your department to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 were not in place consistently across school/college workplaces two weeks following full reopening.”
Responding to the survey, over half of teachers (55 per cent) said they didn’t believe the measures their school had introduced were sufficient and effective.
And more than half (57 per cent), said that they did not believe measures were being consistently applied.
Asked to indicate from a list of safety measures which ones had been put in place at their school to mitigate the spread of Covid, 67 and 69 per cent said there was social distancing and access to soap and water for teachers and pupils.
Effective or enhanced cleaning processes and systems to control the flow of pupils inside the building, such as staggered start and finishing times, gathered a tick from 70 and 76 per cent of respondents respectively.
Hand sanitisers were slightly more commonplace: 82 per cent of respondents said they had one in all classrooms.
However, only 25 per cent said their school had enhanced ventilation, and 11 per cent reported that their school was making more use of outside space for teaching and learning.
Responses were taken from 929 teachers between 3 and 13 of September.
A DfE spokesperson said: “Schools have implemented a range of protective measures, based on the Public Health England endorsed ‘system of controls’, which create an inherently safer system to minimise the risks of transmission. This includes reducing mixing and distancing where possible, including by staggering break and lunch times, as well as increasing the frequency of cleaning and handwashing.
“Figures show that on 10 September 99.9% of state-funded schools were open to pupils, and we will continue to work closely with schools to ensure all appropriate steps are taken to keep pupils and staff safe.”
