Is your school making concrete plans to use other spaces?

[Blankiefan]

There's been lots of chat about how schools should be innovative and use other spaces to increase capacity when schools to back in August (e.g. have 25 kids with one teacher in a local sports hall rather for 5 days per week rather than 12 kids and one teacher in the classroom for only 2 days per week). Our school (in Scotland) has made no plans to do this despite some obvious spaces close to the school.

I'm interested to know if this is really happening anywhere or just a nice idea that will never work.

Those of you sniping about teachers maybe want to read the thread on summer schools.

Because the one thing that has emerged from this pandemic as far as many teachers are concerned is a determination to tell anyone calling for anything else from us now to go fuck themselves. Fuck themselves, fuck their jobs, fuck their shitty, goady, sneering attitudes and fuck us lifting another finger.

The power of Mumsnet. You've been so vile every day throughout this whole pandemic at a time when most teachers were genuinely working very hard, under incredibly difficult circumstances. Many of you on here, made life just that bit shittier.

So frankly some of your kids will be reaping what you've sowed as teachers across the country decide they probably won't volunteer for any more of this shit that hasn't been appreciated. We didn't expect thanks - but neither do we feel like taking any more abuse.

It would be far better to focus on rolling out proper remote teaching. According to MN teachers I thought this had been done already (apart from my dc’s school of course) all other schools are doing a great job!

@BlessYourCottonSocks

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

9 more days of lessons here. 9 more days of work until August and if anyone thinks I’m doing so much as checking my emails over the holidays they’ve got another thing coming. (Ok, I might check them on results day and post some congratulatory messages for pupils, cause none of this is their fault.)

We could send all the children to the Nightingale hospitals, could make a kind of boarding school situation and send them home when they're all caught up.

@NeverTwerkNaked

It would be far better to focus on rolling out proper remote teaching.

You would have to define what this actually means first, taking into consideration all variables.

@GazeboParty yes I think my children's school was the only other one in the country...

I have switched my children to private education now, so we are discovering how well online education can work. Its a shame because they were the kind of easy to teach and enthusiastic children that set a good example to their peers and supported their struggling peers once they had finished their own work. But it was quite a blow to them to discover that their teachers didn't even try to contact them once throughout lockdown.

To set up classrooms in church halls or community spaces first you need teachers to teach in them. Otherwise there’s no point. I would like to see the government give more money to schools so they can at least try to hire more, and to run a national recruitment drive like they did for retired nurses etc.

@FrippEnos there are some excellent examples of good practice out there now, hopefully the examples from those schools will show the "twinkle worksheets" schools what can be done

@NeverTwerkNaked

But that doesn't actually solve the problem does it.

You have side stepped the issue.

As I have already posted you would have to define what this actually means first, taking into consideration all the different variables.

You can't just say go and look at what others have done because it isn't suitable for all schools, pupils, SEND, PPG, FSM, MAT, teachers and not all parents want the same thing.

@FrippEnos well it's lovely to navel gaze -but not if it means some children aren't being taught at all. At some point the schools that aren't teaching just need to stop looking for perfect and start doing something.

And current modelling indicates another wave is inevitable so I would have thought remote teaching over the autumn is substantially better than nothing.

@Kazzyhoward where is your school going to apply for funding from? Are you in England?

My youngest goes to a usual excellent school, but they’ve become a twinkle worksheet school during this time, dread to think what provision rough schools in rough areas provide, so yet again the poorest kids that miss out yet again
I worry some may never ever catch up.

Why would "rough schools" in "rough areas" give worse provision? I hope you're not making the assumption that teachers in "leafy middle-class" areas are automatically better? If their "results" are better (on paper), it will be for obvious reasons. Those working in more challenging schools are, in my experience, fabulous.

@Lardlizard

My youngest goes to a usual excellent school, but they’ve become a twinkle worksheet school during this time, dread to think what provision rough schools in rough areas provide, so yet again the poorest kids that miss out yet again I worry some may never ever catch up.

Woman down the road teaches in a rough secondary says she is working her butt off - she has to and they are providing 4hrs a day of quality work, they've worked hard to ensure they haven't doubled up on deadlines, they call the kids to keep them motivated and learning - she is exhausted. Meanwhile around here in the leafy suburbs, where we thought the kids went to an excellent school - tutoring is a good business to be in because the schools are not teaching.

@CallmeAngelina

Why would "rough schools" in "rough areas" give worse provision? I hope you're not making the assumption that teachers in "leafy middle-class" areas are automatically better? If their "results" are better (on paper), it will be for obvious reasons. Those working in more challenging schools are, in my experience, fabulous.

I think there's a lot to be said for this!

Not sure it would work in my bigger towns ad cities. The sheer number of spaces required compared to the number of schools just isn't feasible.

Within a mile radius of my school there are 2 infant schools, 1 junior school, 1 primary school and 1 secondary school. There are also 3 through independent schools.

In the same space there just isn't enough community halls and church halls available. No where near enough. At least half I can think of have nurseries, wrap around care and crèches in them.

Church buildings are now open for private prayer.
As soon as we start to relax lockdown measures all these spaces will be needed again. Same as with leisure facilities, libraries, museums and currently empty offices.

We don't have any community or other halls and buildings which are sat empty in normal times.

Blame the govt!
Not Headteachers, Unions, teachers and TAs. The govt.
As with everyrhing they are unprepared
And disorganised.
Our school apploed for the laptops for disadvantaged atudnets as soom as was announced... nothing. If they can't find or fund a few thousand laptops, they're not going to build field schools.
There is inconsistency in schools, no doubt. There is also a lot of work going on 'behind the scenes' that parents don't see. I'm pretty sure we're the only country that kept schools open for priority students and SEN.

My friend couldn't believe we are needing to do at least 3 hours a day to keep on top of planning, uploafing work, finding and making resources and marking.
The govt could look to other counteies for ideas too.

NeverTwerkNaked

well it's lovely to navel gaze

Again you avoid the point.

Is it really any wonder that these threads turn the way that they do, When posters like you have no real desire to engage in a discussion.

You cannot accept that there are valid points to be made outside of your own rock solid positions.

In order to have anything like a proper discourse on this you need to drop the "can do", "passive", "navel gaze" bullshit and accept that there are many areas that need to be fully thought through for any type of proper remote teaching to work.

Our village hall has a preschool in it. Library could be an option but it's small so that's one extra room which I doubt would be worth the extra safeguarding hassle, theres no way to make it secure and it's right next to the main road.

@Lardlizard

My youngest goes to a usual excellent school, but they’ve become a twinkle worksheet school during this time, dread to think what provision rough schools in rough areas provide, so yet again the poorest kids that miss out yet again I worry some may never ever catch up.

In my experience it will be the exact opposite. Teachers in “rough” schools are used to being creative to get results. They’re also used sometimes to chasing down pupils work and having to try and engage them in the face of negative parents.

I think it’s no co-incidence that much of the commenting that involves the sentence “normally they are excellent” happens over this issue. Coasting* teachers in schools who are used to high levels of parental engagement will be having to adapt far more than those used to firefighting daily.

*Im not suggesting all teachers in “good” schools coast. Just that good schools are an easier place to get away with it in my experience of working in schools.

I’m also in Scotland. Local Primary School were offered hall space in local community, at very low let rates, but no additional funding to pay for it.

I agree with the comments above about teachers at 'rough' schools. I'm a governor at an excellent school in an area of rural deprivation. The staff have worked their arses off to continue to provide a stellar education to their pupils. Not all parents want their DC to engage, but everyone who wants it has daily access to online teaching and work schedules. They're used to being creative in their work practices, and willing to consider any viable method of bringing more children in for face to face teaching. But the fact is, in this area the schools are the community resources. I suppose there's the odd empty shop in the town centre, but other than that there's going to be huge competition from other schools for the handful of suitable rooms that aren't going back to business as usual. Not to mention the safety and security elements alluded to upthread: keeping the children in and undesirables out.

Yeah maybe that’s what it is, the teachers in rough schools are used to constantly trying to find ways round getting kids to work and work hard