Scottish Parents, how's it going?

[LumiPear]

I'm just wondering how school is for your kids and you? Any tips to pass on to the rest of us?
I've heard absolutely nothing from my DS school. Literally not a single email or message. I also work as lab technician in a secondary school and have also not heard from my employer either?!

I have 2 primary aged children. They are loving being back in school. Some things have changed such as p4-p7 parents are not allowed in the playground, no school bags brought to school, children need to come dressed in PE kit on PE days. Lots of extra outdoor time, lunches eaten in classrooms, staggered break times, lots of handwashing. But overall it doesn't feel that different. Everyone is just so please to be back. Parents are mostly following social distancing at pick ups.

Communication from school to begin with wasnt great and left lots of unanswered and issues but we're in the swing of it now.

I have a 15 year old DS in high school and he says it's not much different, they have got staggered break and lunchtimes, no outdoor PE and they have to use hand gel when they go in a classroom. We never got much communication until 2 days before they started.

DS seems quite relaxed about it all, he's just got on with it!

@rosedog at our primary PE is going to be outside in all weather for the foreseeable . We've been told to buy additional outdoor PE kit.
Surely outdoors for PE is far less risky than a bunch of teenagers in a sweaty gym hall.

Oh interesting and positive feedback so far then. Agree about being outdoors and buying more out doorsy stuff is a good idea... Are year groups or classes staying in one room with the teachers moving around? Many wearing masks?

Is returning to school compulsory, in Scotland? Mine are all in their 20s, but I've got family members with primary age kids and they're not attending. I'm asking here because asking family member will cause ructions. TIA.

@Justmuddlingalong Yes it's compulsory, the rules are the same pre-lockdown you can be fined for not allowing your child to go to school.
My DD just start HS, and she is SO much happier being ewith her friends having a routine however is getting frustrated with the lack of work she is getting at school. Social distancing is supposed to be in practice with the upper years, but this is not practiced or enforced where teachers are not in attendance. They are no longer children and they should be able to follow instructions, but they don't

My primary age children are staying in their own classrooms for most of the day unless they are outside. The music, IT rooms and gym hall aren't being used at the moment. Extra cleaners have been employed to do all touch points etc during the day and year groups have allocated toilet blocks (large school roll of 400).

Our wraparound care has also reopened and they are bubbling children in groups of 20 by year group, p1-p3 and p4-p7. Again spending most of the session outdoors (but they did this anyway).

I'm so please to have them back to school and so grateful to school staff who have made it happen.

Children need to attend school or you need to deregister them from school and home educate.

Thanks @Buttons4491, your reply saves me from getting my head bitten off.

I meant no indoor PE only outdoor

You don't get fines in Scottish schools.

You don't deregister either. You apply to withdraw your child from school.

My 8 year old is back at school and having a great time. No masks being worn, kids are indoors and outdoors. Staying within yeargroup bubbles.

There is hand sanitiser; one-way systems; boxes drawn round teachers; protocol whereby every pupil in high school wipes down their desk and chair in every class. Breaks taken in class.

But it's going poorly from the pov of compliance with health and safety advice. No social distancing. No masks. No bubbles. No attempt to keep to the rule about groups in school being limited to under 50. Older pupils congregating on corners, etc.

My teenager is scared. She says if anyone in her school had Covid, they'd all get it.

It's a large secondary school, and they are all attending full-time, and she says there are times when they are all squished in together. For example, the new rule is they have to wash their hands when they first arrive at school - so they do, but it means a whole class is squeezing in shoulder to shoulder to do that. No social distancing at all.

She travels to school by bus - no face coverings, as guidance is they are not required as it is a "school bus" with only children on board.

The new school rules means a one-way system is in place, for moving around the school - supposedly everyone facing the same direction, so not breathing in each others faces. But shoulder to shoulder, squished in until they get to class. No social distancing.

My daughter is scared, and I'm scared. How can the rules be so different for a school than for other places? The school bus one is bizarre. The hand-washing set-up is ridiculous. The moving through the corridors is , well, so contrary to the other rules we have - metre distancing.

I despair.

@cantstopsinginglittlebabybum apologies I missed the memo on this one!

@Wheresthebiffer2 you can encourage your DD to where a mask on the school bus if she is worried and speak to the school to highlight the fact that children are not socially distancing?

Ds has just started primary 1. He's loving it so far. It's a relatively small rural school though, 14 in his class, less than 100 in the whole school. P1 has it's own entrance/cloakroom/toilet. The teacher wears a mask if she's in close contact with them. Drop off is staggered, basically have 15 minutes to get them in. Hand sanitizer is used on arrival. Lots of it/hand washing encouraged. When it's PE, they go in their kit. It's been yoga inside so far.

DS has just started primary 1 and is absolutely loving it. His school have been sensible and very much focused on children having as ‘normal’ a time as possible while still putting in sensible precautions (e.g. regular hand washing, reminding parents to socially distance at drop off and pick up etc.). They’re not allowed bags and lunch is in the classrooms with a school or home packed lunch, but actually I think that works better for ds right now. From what I can tell, they are doing very play based learning absolutely fine and non of the staff are distancing from the kids or wearing masks.

I’m also an advisory teacher in a different authority and have been out to 6 schools so far. As above, things are generally going well, the kids are happy and school feels relatively normally. There are some things like children having their own set of school equipment and no group tables (lots of classes seem to be going with horseshoes or long rows which makes it still feel social) which are different but are working fine. Schools are still trying to work out exactly what the best approaches are within the restrictions which is stressful for staff, but everyone I’ve spoken is happy to be back and in class.

No assemblies. More kids walking just now or getting lifts rather than school buses.

Feels like some normality has returned for them. But I'm no longer so happy to visit elderly relations.

From a number of infections and risk pov, my sisters are primary teachers. We've only been back one week. But in one of their schools, ten children are off awaiting the results of Covid tests.
In the other's school, one of the children in her class is off, awaiting the result of a Covid test.
This article shows where pupils have tested positive already Scottish School Pupils Test Positive

We’d heard nothing either OP, but two of our schools sent out info today. Basically, no tuck shop, staying in classrooms with teachers moving round, staggered lunches/play times.,going in wearing PE kit in PE days. Packed lunches.

@Wheresthebiffer2

My teenager is scared. She says if anyone in her school had Covid, they'd all get it.

It's a large secondary school, and they are all attending full-time, and she says there are times when they are all squished in together. For example, the new rule is they have to wash their hands when they first arrive at school - so they do, but it means a whole class is squeezing in shoulder to shoulder to do that. No social distancing at all.

She travels to school by bus - no face coverings, as guidance is they are not required as it is a "school bus" with only children on board.

The new school rules means a one-way system is in place, for moving around the school - supposedly everyone facing the same direction, so not breathing in each others faces. But shoulder to shoulder, squished in until they get to class. No social distancing.

My daughter is scared, and I'm scared. How can the rules be so different for a school than for other places? The school bus one is bizarre. The hand-washing set-up is ridiculous. The moving through the corridors is , well, so contrary to the other rules we have - metre distancing.

I despair.

@Wheresthebiffer2

I think this highlights the difference between primary and secondary. I’m in England. I have primary school aged pupils and I am confident about their return, my return as a secondary teacher causes me anxiety because of this very issue. Pupils can’t SD at school, and actually in the Dfe guidance it states they don’t have to. I fear your DD is correct.

I was surprised they didn't say masks for the school bus.

No experience with secondary (and I do think a bunch of 15-17 especially is very different kettle of fish than young primary).

Primary ages here and they’ve lived it and haven’t seen many “big” changes. Stay in classrooms more so can’t use the open space outside the classes nor the gym hall. School bags and lunchboxes are okay (I hang school bag by front door and give his lunchbox a wipe over and dishwasher boxes that are inside it). PE is only outside so to wear sports clothes those days - no pe in school gym. Lots more outdoors learning but not as much as I’d anticipated. Staggered starts no parents p4-7 in playground. I’ve seen tea here’s wearing masks but on the entry doors when most kids from various years walking past and some parents of younger children too. No reports of masks being worn in classrooms.

Children are very happy as are all their friends.

This is not related to schools, but I live close to a mobile Covid test centre in London and have walked past it most days. This morning I noticed the queue of people were younger than usual (around 15 people in their twenties). Coming home just now the queue was again 98% young people apart from a woman who looked to be around 40. It's a purely anecdotal snapshot, but previously the queue was a wide variety of ages.
This age group have been socialising together lately (bars and outdoor venues are heaving around here) and I wonder what the effect will be on households.

I don’t think they could say they needed masks in a bus to school when they are then saying these children can be in classes non socially distanced. I think it’s too political a
Juxtaposition of kids arriving at sxhool in masks then going in with none.

I don’t see why masks on bus wouldn’t have been encouraged when range of years mixing in buses (and they need id using a general public bus!)

Primary DC here. All going pretty well, arrangements as others have mentioned. The staggered pickup and dropoff days/doors were a pain for the first few days (massive crowds of parents all milling round the same bit of path) but has calmed down a bit now.

I would be more concerned about secondary given the arrangements in place. First Minister in Parliament yesterday seemed to suggest they might revisit the masks guidance at least.