Schools reopening before May half term?

[Manchestertimes]

What's everyone's opinion on when the schools will reopen? I think they will reopen a few weeks after Easter.

Let me just give some exsmple:

• tourist industry is dead until at least august/september. that means they loose all high season earning, which will be the end of many providers (airlines, bus companies, hotels, etc ezc)
• its high season for gardening. Plant nurseries, garden centres etc loose all their stock and earning. many won‘t recover
• hospitality will take a long time to recover, many were already on the brink
• fashion industry will 2 seasons. its not a profitable industry anyway.
• highstreet looses 2 seasons. see above

Books, tv, film, music, theatre, events, attractions, festivals all on hold - might seem frivolous but these are huge uk businesses, exported around world etc

Beauty industry (hairdressers, nail saloons, barbers etc)
Fitness and wellness industry
childcare industry
the profitable bit of the food industry (the margin on basics it tiny)
and so on

Antibody testing could get some of population back which would be great. Germany are close.

We need to catch up with Germany 👍

There are a huge number of companies which won't come back, or at least not in their previous size/strength to begin with. You can't just press pause on the economy.

Edinburgh festival has just been cancelled- for a lot of theatres, smaller venues, pubs, clubs etc that's when they make a large portion of their income over the year. One venue I know of well, makes the same amount over the fringe as they do from lettings for the rest of the year. That money isn't coming back. Same for the examples given above

Newgirls we really do. I haven’t heard much from UK lately although did see earlier on another thread a big order had been placed here with a manufacturer.

I reckon Boris will wish it and send them back after May HT

Why on earth do people think that schools will be the first thing to open?!

As I said a gazillion posts ago, because people can’t go back to work until they are. You can’t restart the economy (whatever that actually means) until people can go to work.

@PhilCornwall1 of course it has a factor.

If teachers are expected to work during holidays then their pay will absolutely have to reflect it.

As a secondary school teacher I can tell you first hand it's absolutely Mayhem, I get up far earlier than before to write the work for the students to do. Then I have to reply to the massive amounts of emails from students, parents and other staff.
I have to supply a far greater amount of differentiated work and guidence as I can't be there with the students. I have to supply parents with resources and guidance as they don't have a clue as well.

I start around 6am and end at about 4pm. I continue to get emails through till around midnight.

Then it starts again.

I may be a minority though, I have 19 classes of 25+ students in an Ebacc subject.

If I'm asked to work during the summer, I'll expect my pay to reflect that.

I'm actually in the rota to be in school during the Easter holiday. The school has offered Time Owed to offset it. Unfortunately Unions don't accept that as a thing so I won't be going in and have told them this.

But Pineapple you are just a babysitter so that parents can work don't you know.

Unbelievable!

I'm still guessing we'll get the second half of the summer term at least. Maybe a week or two more.

Cancelling exams does not mean they won't reopen until after exam time. It was simply a recognition that the disruption was already obviously going to impact preparation for exams at the very least, and another scheme of assessment had to be found.

China came out of lock down well over a month ago.

We'll have more ventilator capacity soon. Maybe better testing for the virus too. It won't have gone away but it doesn't need to have done for the government to ease these measures.

@Rosebel

I'm replying to your message on the 30th.

Teaching staff are not paid to work during holidays. Their pay is for 195 days of service Pro Rata across 12 months salary.

For example. A teacher on middle pay gets 29.5kish.

That works out at around 150 a day before tax.

If people want teachers to be like everyone else and be paid for 365 days service and take their statutory holidays their salary would be around 55k.

No school is going to pay their staff 55k for teaching. Not going to happen. Schools and the gov can't afford it.

If you want them to work the extra days, fine, let's find the money to pay it.

It doesn't matter that the world's falling apart, you cant change a workers contract willy nilly.

Why are teachers so unwilling to accept change? I’m working and trying to teach my 7 year old, it’s more than challenging. I won’t be getting a holiday either this year nor will many frontline nhs workers so why should teachers be any different? I’m currently failing at my job and at trying to home school, we’ve had no contact from any teachers just online work set so I’ve no clue if I’m helping or hindering him but I have no choice but to get on with it. Friends with children at private schools have been having full days of online lessons so all I can see is the gap between private and state schools widening even more. I think this year more than ever we need to put the kids needs first, even if that means shorter summer holidays to minimise the disruption if possible.

user1471449595 You can't ask people to work UNPAID overtime for weeks on end, which is what you are asking of teachers. Don't be ridiculous. Teachers are NOT PAID for their holidays.

Nobody has talked about unpaid work. of course it should be paid

I didn’t say it should be unpaid. If the government can find money for everyone else I’m sure they can find the money to pay teachers an extra months pay. I was just thinking about how my child is missing out on the social side of school as well as the teaching I can’t provide. As I said if safe I’d like them to go back sooner rather than later given the circumstances.

Funny how it's frequently 'user' posters with lots of numbers who turn to threads, ignore what's been said so far on threads.

In many jobs you can roll annual leave over to the following year. You can't do that with teachers.
They have a term time contract of 190 days plus 5 days PD days.

I don't wish to state the obvious, but there's a huge difference between private and state provision in some schools, also between state schools where families have parents who can work from home and devices her child, good education levels and those schools where most parents are in precarious work, zero hours contracts, lower prior educational achievement, and so on.
Arguing that some of the summer holidays should be removed based on the grounds that "I know people with money and who pay fees are getting a different approach to home learning" is frankly ridiculous.

Welsh minister for education has today stated very clearly that the 6 week summer break will be happening as usual.

No mention on whether we would be back for any school before then. But the 12 week shielding and distancing may well suggest we could be back at the end of June for a month of school before resetting with the holiday to go back in Sept for a proper year.

If it's paid and teachers who work through all six weeks of the summer holidays can carry two weeks holiday (unpaid) over to take at any time during term-time 2021 (as other professions will be able to carry annual leave over) then I'd be happy to work the summer holidays.

Schools finish up at the end of June for a lot of kids in the Uk so they wouldn't be back at all till Mid August if it opened then .

Sally l think the same. But imagine the national outcry if we did that.

@SallyLovesCheese that seems a good idea.

It makes no sense in my mind that there should be a long holiday period after all this even if it’s not full on academic work.

The children need to get back to routine and company of their peers. And parents will really need to work.

(I’m enjoying my dc being at home btw but it’s not good for them long term)

I was hoping for June so they could finish the year with a refresh before summer hols.
I know it’s doubtful but Hope is all we have right now