Union members’ call for Harris Federation primaries to put off wider re-opening sparks angry response from chain’s leadership

The leadership of England’s second largest academy chain appears to have reacted with fury after teacher members of a union suggested that it was not safe to open its primary schools to larger numbers of pupils last week.

The entire leadership team of the Harris Federation, headed by its chief executive Sir Dan Moynihan, put their names to a letter which was fired off to staff during half-term accusing the National Education Union of putting out “deliberately misleading letters in order to scare teachers”.

However, the response is itself likely to be contentious, with Harris’s letter appearing to out of context from an advice paper to government on schools re-opening, and with some evidence, from  one local authority where Harris operates, that a large proportion of parents share the union’s misgivings. Harris primaries did re-open to pupils throughout three year groups last Monday.

The detail

Concerns about the safety and wisdom of re-opening primary schools to all pupils in reception, year one and year six last Monday, as advised by the government, prompted several letters sent on behalf of National Education members during half-term week.