Do you think any other years will be back at primary before the holidays?

[Florabella]

I know the Government originally said that they wanted to get all primary children back to school in England for a month before holidays, but with yrs R, 1 and 6 using most of the available space, is that really likely to happen now? And if any other years do go back, who do you think might be next?

Yes because of course your child's education is more important than someone else's life

Nobody has said that.

@Xmasbaby11 Is your Y3 not entitled to a place because she’s in the ‘vulnerable’ group? Children with SN have priority over the year groups selected, and many schools have chosen to prioritize them above everyone else.

They won't at our school unless guidelines change again. There's no space as there are absolutely loads of key workers children, so they're using all the classrooms.

@x2boys

Stay at home then...with your dh and dc. No ones stopping you.

@SporadicNamechange the school has only opened to keyworker children as far as I know, but you've got me thinking and I will ask about this.

It was supposed to be keyworker and ‘vulnerable’ children (including those with SN) right from the start. But, as with all the government messaging, it was not necessarily made as clear as it should be.

It's an absolute shit show:
I am so FUCKING angry.
The plan of bubbles is not possible for schools to roll out for other years.
So when the dfe introduced it what was the plan for other years.
Are we honestly saying that it is ok for year 2 and 4 to be educated at home for six months with patchy home provision and increasingly stressed parents.
And in sept - as a special treat - they get to go back possibly part time

Anyone over 65 can stay at home if they wish.

And the 12%?

I'll take my chances. Life isn't risk free.

One in two people in UK get Cancer. Id say that is far worse odds. I imagine the survival rate is not as good as covids either.

THAT worries me far more that covid.

No, the schools don’t have the space or staff to keep them all distanced. It will be September at the earliest. I wouldn’t send mine back now anyway.

According to the government, children with SN are only classed as vulnerable if they have an EHCP www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-vulnerable-children-and-young-people

I suppose individual schools can use their discretion for children with EHCPs, but there are lots of children SN who fall between the cracks (I have one myself).

I'll take my chances. Life isn't risk free.

But if you send your children into a crowded school, it's not YOUR chances that are at issue (especially if you are an under 40 white non-diabetic woman)

What you are doing is forcing others to be at higher risk than a more controlled opening would put them at - the grandparents living with the families of schoolchildren, the highly medically vulnerable who are also parents, the siblings or pupils with cystic fibrosis or taking treatments that lower immunity, the TA who cares for an elderly relative, the elderly people who live in the care home where three parents work etc.

What you are doing is forcing others to be at higher risk than a more controlled opening would put them at - the grandparents living with the families of schoolchildren

Children are missing over a third of the school year. I'm no longer happy about them missing more to save elderly people I don't know.

The flu can kill elderly and vulnerable people and could catch it via children.

Should we lock children up forever?

But there is often no provision at all for children with an EHCP in a special school @Mrsfrumble, my sons special school is closed with no plans to reopen yet to anygroups,whilst I g completely understand why and my son is safer at home I think the government forget about children in complex needs schools .

The thing is that, as successful countries have shown, really cracking down so that R drops and the number of cases in the community drops sharply to a genuinely small number - and not loosening lockdown just because of popular demand - is actually by far the most likely strategy to get everyone where they want to be ie back in school, at work etc.

It's because our lockdown was too late, too loose, poorly enforced and then released in a poorly thought out rush while cases were still too high (to deflect attention from some appalling individual behaviour) that we WON'T be in a position to open all schools safely to all pupils.

We have the middle school system here.

The two middle schools are pretty large schools (year 5-8) and they have been open this week for year 6 and keyworkers children whichis entirely pointless. Meanwhile the poor Year 8 who are due to go up the high school in September have been entirely abandined. The heads have asked if they can have year 8 instead of Year 6 in and been told no.

Even worse the Year 4 kids in the first schools are being kept at home in favour of Year 1. The transition to Middle School is huge for them.

@Comefromaway Our middle schools have chosen to have Y8 back rather than Y6. It makes sense if the justification is transition (and that’s what the government claim).

They can't even fit in the years that are meant to be going back here, they are at capacity just with key worker children and one school hasn't opened at all due to lack of staff and no supply teachers willing to work

Our local middle schools say they have been told they have to have Year 6, the same as the rest of the country so that’s interesting.

We had a parent consultation throughout the foundation trust and there was lots of support for having Y8 instead of Y6. I assume the first schools have Y4 in instead of one of the years because they’re also transitioning. There’s just no reason that Y6 need special treatment in this system.

Because clearly no one in the government bothered to give any thought to what the system is like in different places and, instead, insisted that all Y6s were transitioning and, therefore, a priority. 🙄 You’d think someone in the DfE would know that not everywhere operates a two tier system. But that’s the level of general competence in government we’re dealing with.

I am surprised that several people have stated that their schools can't take any of the year groups back because they are at capacity with key worker children. That suggests that if every classroom is home to a bubble of 15 key worker children, half of the children in the school (assuming 30 to a class) have parents who are key workers that are sending their children to school.

Artie,

Many schools have far less than 15 to a bubble, becasue they are doing bubble + 2m distancing. Very few classrooms can do 15 with 2m distancing - 7 or 8 is more common.

This isn't what is in the guidelines, but the guidelines are very unclear so I'm not blaming any heads who have gone for the approach of 'both'.

I don’t think keyworker children are in bubbles of 15 in local schools because of the size of classrooms. Open plan also causes issues.

We had a parent consultation throughout the foundation trust and there was lots of support for having Y8 instead of Y6.

Other schools have been advised that, as they are essentially bringing in year groups that are still locked down by the government, everything such as insurance is invalidated.