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.

I hope so. It's so sad.

We’re preparing for September. I’m doubting I’ll see my yr6 class again.

September I'd imagine, not a cat in hells chance of opening before then

Also, forget your actual summer holidays. None of us will be flying anywhere for a long time! Priti Patel wants to close the borders today to people coming in from abroad, so they're hardly going to sanction everyone going off on the holibobs!

Same here Feltcarrot. I am on indefinite standby to go in to look after key worker and vulnerable children. I have a holiday booked for the last 2 weeks of August which I cannot cancel unless the airlines are not flying. I am a TA so not much I can do at home but teachers are setting lessons and work from home. We will need a break from the stress and anxiety ourselves so we can be fully physically and mentally fit for September.

I am in FE currently WFH - I am exhausted. 2 young children of my own to educate and a full working week or resources, emails, messages to answer, phone calls to make and marking to do. I am used to working all day and into evening but can feel my sanity slipping away as I try to juggle that with making sure my own DC are safe and happy. Lots of colleagues in my position

Blimeyoreilly2020, You're lucky my DS school who is in Yr 6 was basically sent home with his SAT books and told he could do some if he wanted too. I am doing some home schooling with him because he can't go potentially 5 month with out any education.

The high school my older two are at is much better my Yr 7 has lots of homework/class work set to do via their homework App. My Yr 11 obviously not doing her exams but they have still set some work on there if they want to do it, so they keep there 'hand in learning' before going onto 6th form college.

As for when they go back I personally hope the children go back after Whit week, so the beginning of June as think it's very important we some sort of normalcy in education before September.

Possibly July if theses measures have the desired effect, more likely September. DD’s uni is online for the whole of next term.

We are in scotland.. I think it would take a miracle to get the school re_opened before our summer break up at the end of June

Equally I think if they didn't re-open in Aug it would be because our strategy went very very wronh

I also think that teachers need to have the summer holiday off because most teachers are still working and are expected to do so over both the Easter and Whit week holidays to cover Key workers children.

Also, the thing to remember is that while we care about the health of the nation regarding when our kids return, for the Govt the economy is just as important. We're now heading for a recession that's going to be even more severe than 2008's. Millions are going to lose their jobs, loads of businesses that have been around for years will go under. Financially the nation will be on its knees. So if there's a glimmer of a chance the kids can return in this academic year, the Govt will find a way to justify it.

no - they are closed until the new school year in September

frasersmummy Yes, I was talking about schools in England, Wales and NI. Scotland I can't see returning until the August term starts.

I work in primary school. We just don’t know, we have no dates but our headteacher would love to reopen as soon as we can. Definitely not been told to stay closed all school year.

Clutterbugsmum The teaching unions wouldn't allow it, they'd threaten to strike. As we are now all discovering for ourselves, teaching is really hard mentally and that's why they need breaks to recalibrate. There's no way they can be expected to work through and then start a new school year with no gap in Sept. They'd leave the profession in droves.

Im crossing fingers for September! Not even considering they could be open in May..

China had a heavily enforced complete lockdown of a compliant people. Our figures are on the up and will not peak for another two weeks. Until we start to have zero new cases daily we cannot claim to have the virus under control.

@LemonGingerCakes that is really crappy! we are split so in a 4 week period you have 1 week in school, 1 week online and 2 weeks off but on call if staffing levels change.

@Leaannb and what about children in poverty with no access to computers/broadband?

September, about the same time as the next upswing in cases, at which point society decides how much longer it's prepared to keep going into lockdown to save the elderly or whether we isolate the vulnerable and the rest of us continue as normal.

DC’s private school are suggesting end of April beginning of May. If they don’t reopen then, they simply cannot justify invoicing full school fees. I haven’t taken up my key worker school place this week as I think they should be at home, but I will be after the Easter holidays. I know many parents are planning on doing the same.

I sincerely hope that the schools will go back next term at some point. The current situation with parents having to work/study while home schooling their DC at the same time is proving to be almost impossible for many families. Not being able to access childcare of any kind or rely on family (if close enough/able) means that for many they are falling behind at work, getting horribly stressed, and also neglecting their DC's education. There has to be a balance between controlling the virus/protecting the NHS and protecting people's jobs, livelihoods and educations. I am able to home school my primary-aged DC, who is incapable to just getting on with stuff on his own, only when I totally neglect my own work. That's fine for a week, but not for months. I think most parents are tolerating the situation for now, in the hope that the restrictions will soon be lifted and their DC can return to school. IMO support for this total shutdown will rapidly dissipate it if goes on for longer than about a month.

Not a chance, September if we are lucky. And this will happen again. Further restrictions until they get a vaccine which could take 18 months

I am hoping we will be back in school by the end of May. I really hope the government isn't thinking of taking away the holidays in the summer.
We have all volunteered to work on the rota over the Easter holidays, teachers are setting work, answering emails, planning the next term (in case we go back) or the next year, doing CPD, tas are also planning what they are responsible for.
There hasn't been a day when we had to scrabble round to find volunteers so that says a lot about our staff, we are taking care of children and possibly being exposed ourselves while doing so.
We have holidays booked for the summer holidays that still stand at the moment because we don't know what is happening, young teachers have weddings planned for that period too.
I hope we do get to go back this academic year even if it is just for a couple of weeks, just to get us all back into a feeling of normality.
This is a hard time for everyone, it does feel like people want to punish teachers all the time for having the summer holidays off. I actually get 5 weeks paid holiday a year not 13, the same as most people, but my salary is split over 12 months to cope financially.

Edwin what sort of work are they setting? Any video classes? Just wondering if private can get full fees longer the more they set