What’s the likely hood of Primary Schools returning to full time in September?

[Ladywinesalot]

Just that really.

I’m full of fear that they schools will only open part time and split classes in half.

I’m in aghast at what the Government has done to the schools and our children.

The impact of this over exaggerated lockdown on the children’s education and mental health is just horrific.

Apologies if this has already been posted. It might be interesting for some to see this world map of school closures. Perhaps it should be viewed in relation to each country's total and and current number of Covid cases and deaths.

en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse

Vietnamese schools opened on May 4th. Their handling of the pandemic seems exemplary. Less than 400 cases and no deaths. Schools were still closed for @ 3 months. And there is significant evidence that their data is not flawed....

There have been umpteen threads explaining what teachers and SLT are doing including over the Easter holidays during this time.

But if you want to believe that they're all sitting at home with their feet up, fair enough.

I don't think anyones said that? Just that their children aren't currently getting much contact from school.

tonsattingfordjudes yes I saw that a few days ago.

It really brings home the scale of the pandemic, doesn't it?

If the UK govt had handled the lock down, test and trace, PPE, quarantining arrivals to the country issues as well as countries like Vietnam, or other European countries like Germany, Poland and Portugal, we would be looking at something very different as regards September.

But they didn't and we're sadly not.

TrustTheGeneGenie you said that schools might as well have shut down for most children.

Which isn't the same as saying that amongst the myriad of other tasks they're doing, some schools haven't had as much contact with the pupils not on site as parents would like/believe to be helpful to their child etc.

There were no central government recommendations about this, which I presume is why each school is doing things so differently.

@Bflatmajorsharp
Exactly! (Love the username!)

It's so depressing. This ineptitude of this government really frightens me.

It appears some schools aren't doing a myriad of other tasks though. It won't take all teachers to look after key worker kids and if other kids are hearing nothing then what are the rest of the staff doing?

I'm sure some teachers are doing longer hours than before etc but I'm not convinced all are.

There should have been definite expectations of what home learning entailed.

I don’t think that teachers are doing nothing. I know that they’re looking after keyworkers children and doing multiple other jobs. I’m not teacher bashing.
I am however saying that education has stopped for my children, as all we’re getting is links to white rose maths and some Twinkl worksheets. We haven’t had any phone calls, any feedback on work done... that’s just a fact. So yes, it does feel like school has stopped for my children.

It is such a difficult situation. Part time school will set back the education system years, and undo all the work that has been done in recent years to narrow the gap between those children whose parents are in a position to support their education and those whose parents are not. If you suddenly rely on parents to deliver education long-term without allowing changes to their work situations, this gap will open up again, and as usual, the disadvantaged kids will end up at the bottom of the pile.

Driving loads has stopped for all children.

Specialist learning intervention, dance, music, football, swimming and loads of other classes. Dentist, optician, counsellor and therapist appointments.

Some are possible over Zoom/Skype, but plenty not.

Why is it only teachers who are being criticised for 'not wanting to go back to work' despite the fact that they are working?

Genie what other tasks? Well, my friend who is a primary teacher spent an entire week at school phoning families to try to sort out their FSM vouchers. This involved trying to have conversations through the child as the adults in the house don't speak English and giving info about food banks etc. Also hearing the most awful tales of grinding poverty. Oh, and one little girl's dad had died of CV19 the day before.

Actually, she had to split the calls with a colleague as they had over 200 families to contact.

She didn't train to be a social worker. Teachers have been instructed not to teach when they are in school with keyworker children.

She's also on the SLT and is spending this week as she did last week trying to make sense of the numerous government directives that are being issued on a daily basis.

So that's one of the tasks that took two teachers a week to do between them. And of course they weren't able to sort out all of the problems, so the teachers rota-ed on site the next week will have picked it up too.

Why is it only teachers who are being criticised for 'not wanting to go back to work' despite the fact that they are working?

I repeat, I have not once criticised teachers for not wanting to go back to work. I know they are working. I said that in my previous post, which you must have read as you replied to me.
All I am saying is that the simple fact is, my children have not received any state education for the past 9 weeks. I don’t know when they will start receiving any form of state education again.

I think the error that some people fall into is thinking that you can 'shield / lock down all the vulnerable' AND 'send children back into education as normal'.

Once schools are back full time, operating normally, for all children, pretty much every child in the school is connected by a viable path of infection to every other child. That means that every househiold in which any child attending that school lives is connected with every other household, by a viable path of infection.

Which means that diabetic parent of Child 1 is connected to asymptomatic but infected parent of child 200. And Grandma who lives with Child 145 is connected with carer sibling of Child 300, who has been in contact with elderly lady on old people's home who has Covid. And that's before we begin to think about the adults who work in school and their own families and caring responsibilities.

The risk TO CHILDREN of retunring to school is small. It is the risk to adults, and to vulnerable people living in the community, who will be infected as a result of children mixing with one another, who are the greatest concern.

Or should 'all children go back to school except ...oh no, anyone who lives with a vulnerable adult, or anyone who lives with someone who cares for vulnerable adults or anyone who lives with a vulnerable child...'

But those children will still be attending school even if it's part time so what's the difference?

Unfortunately, TrustTheGeneGenie it's not clear what sort of basis part time schooling will take from September.

Hopefully, the picture will become clearer over the summer.

Yes cantkeepawayforever that's why virus control is a public health issue that requires widespread action.

Driving we're agreed then. Teachers are still working, and this is shit situation for children.

No it's not but I assume it will include physically attending at least some of the time? Yes agreed I hope it becomes clearer. I would be surprised if it's still part time given what Boris has just said though.

Maybe Nicola is just making a point (and throwing loads of kids into poverty for that)

I hope they do. I've done my best to try to help DCs with distance learning but ultimately even with teachers doing their best to provide videos, resources and being regulary available for support on google hangouts, its just not the same. I simply can not offer the routine and resource of a school let alone whilst trying to work at the same time.

The worst thing though is that DS (7) has not seen a child of his own age for 9 weeks now. DD is 14 and since lock down has relaxed has at least managed to meet one friend at a time for a socially distanced walk in the park but 7 year olds need a parent with them so how can we stick to the one person per household rule? Very close to breaking it just so DS can at least talk to someone.

Its not the same as holidays. Trying to do school work from home with stroppy over stretched parents. Not able to see friends or wider family, children are not meant to live like this :(

That's the problem. This is an entirely new situation to the western world, as we have no idea how things will look in a few months time.

Hopefully, not as bad as they're looking now.

Everyone wants children to be back attending school. Teachers would much prefer to be teaching in the classroom, rather than the social work/childminding/distance learning co-ordinator roles that they have now.

Currently, we can hope that there will be provision for children who aren't shielded to physically attend school and distance learning of some form for those who are shielding.

I think Nicola is trying to 'manage expectations' as they say. Not what anyone wants to hear - no-one wants this virus around - but at least she seems to be engaging with the reality of the situation, rather than Cloud Sound Bite like the Westminster lot.

I do think most teachers are working hard at the moment. I know my own DC’s teachers are working hard. But they’re also not providing a proper remote learning programme, because obviously they don’t have the time or training to do that on top of all the other work they’re already doing.

I don’t see how this is going to change come August when we’re moving to ‘blended learning’ here in Scotland. The teachers won’t have more time. Who’s going to design and deliver this in-home learning? Is it going to be BBC Bitesize with a few saltires thrown in and tough shit for kids who don’t have an adult there to help/prod them to do it?

Those with conditions and over 70 should have been directed to isolate
This is such an over-simplified notion. How was that ever going to possible? The shielding group were 1-2 million people. Add the vulnerable and that is a few million more. So millions of people directed to isolate. What about their families? They don't live in isolation. Do I carry on going to work when my husband is shielding? Do my children go to work, school etc?
While the world carries on as normal, the vulnerable are exposed.