Our children have the right to an education.

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So many posts about whether schools will be safe when they reopen but I’m not seeing this point made. Lots of discussion around the childcare that schools provide and the importance on children socially.

My 11 year old has lost all interest and I can’t get him to do anything significant. We’ve had one zoom social with his teacher and classmates. So pretty much zero learning going on.

We know children are less susceptible and there is some discussion around whether they’re transmitting less. The children of key workers (i.e. the ones more likely to catch and spread it) have been at school the whole time and as far as I know there haven’t been massive outbreaks in schools.

So I think I just want to loudly shout: our children have the right to an education.

@Whatsername177 It sounds like you're doing an amazing job :) I think it's tricky on these forums, as the parents tend to be the dissatisfied parents whose children are not receiving such work from their schools. Which may be for myriad reasons. They're certainly not annoyed with teachers providing the level of work you are, but there has been a lot of generalising into "teachers" when really they mean "my child(ren)'s teacher"

That is your decision, but you can't expect teachers to work in unsafe conditions. Would you work if it wasn't safe for you to do so?

Going by what a number of teachers have posted on here, they wouldn't think my working conditions were safe. I am broadly OK with them; I think it helps that every colleague of mine who has had c19 so far has recovered, even those in higher risk groups, so my belief is that if do contract c19 (tbh I think it's more 'when' than 'if) I am highly unlikely to die or be very seriously unwell. I appreciate there is a risk I will; but life is risky. Every time I leave the house I take risks. I work in mental health, there are always risks. I think the expectations of a number of teachers who have posted over the past week or so re safety are unrealistic; I also think many people's perception of the risks are unrealistic.

It's a shame these conversations are becoming all out wars because if we were able to discuss without the "you are a shit parent who clearly doesn't care about your children's health"/ "you are a shit teacher who clearly doesn't care about the children's education" shouting that goes on we could probably find more agreement than we would expect.

My DS struggles due to ADHD.
It's taken us a decade to get a diagnosis and finally we were looking at getting some more structured support and ongoing support from services
This has all now been blown out of the water
He is year 10
I fear he will never catch up and that's not me be a drama llama that's how difficult getting him this far has been and keeping him going
He may lose over a third of GCSE teaching time
He has anxiety
He has struggled socially but was finally making progress
But that is all vanishing.
I am beyond worried.
And before someone says he is our responsibility, seriously fuck off, after ten years of fighting I am aware of that
We are supporting as much as we can with homeschooling but it's not replacement for what school can offer when the clock is ticking towards next summers exams
My DH has been out working teaching key worker kids and wfh teaching his own pupils as well as trying to teach our two whilst I go out to work
He can't wait to get back to work
And most of my colleagues can't wait for their kids to be able to get back to school to get some structure and normality
We are doing a huge disservice to the mental health of thousands of children and we need to offer the option of attending school as soon as possible

@iamruth I’m not a teacher but I do work in a primary school and can assure you that the teachers there are not sat on their arses moaning as you so eloquently put it. They are in school with Key Worker and vulnerable children, they are providing learning packs which a lot of parents haven’t even bothered collecting, putting lots of resources on the school website as well as fun activities and competitions for the children and many other things. I have read so many teacher bashing threads on here and have always thought parents should spend some time in schools just to see what does happen and how much teachers have to do and how much of their own time and money they spend on YOUR children. I don’t blame them in the slightest for wanting schools to be safe before more children start back.

@TheFallenMadonna Schools should be setting meaningful work and reviewing it. Some, where they are confident that the children have individual access to the tech required, may do this synchronously with live lessons. Many, who do not have that confidence, will set work to be done asynchronously. I got a message at 2.50am from a student doing some Maths I'd set. I did not respond immediately (!), but I did respond, as I do to all students who complete work. I also message them to give them a nudge if I don't see anything from them. If your child's school is doing nothing at all, then IMO they are not meeting the basic expectations. However, parents do need to support with the motivation to engage with the work, in the same way that parents need to get their child to school when school is open. If appropriate work is provided, and the child is not engaging, that is not, in the current situation, disregard for the right of a child to education.

Lovely post. It's interesting what you say about engaging in the work provided. I have a small number of pupils in my class who are not engaging in the work set. However, I've called their families and heard about all of the other wonderful education their parents are providing - cooking, decorating, researching VE day, writing stories, learning how to get on with their siblings... While my normal teacher hat panics (eg. but they'll forget about fronted adverbials!), lockdown teacher knows that if the child and family are happy and learning something, we'll pick up the pieces of the curriculum stuff when we're all back (I hope!)

@qweryuiop I absolutely take on board what you’re saying about the OPs post struggling to motivate her 11 year old and agree wholeheartedly that it’s gone far too far in terms of people claiming it is parents legal job to educate their children. Overall I just believe that people (not just teachers) were perfectly happy to listen to the government tell them to go home and still be paid but now have decided that they know better and it can’t possibly be safe, despite the evidence to the contrary. People forget that life is risky full stop and there are many many many people the teachers rely on for good, safety and warmth electricity etc taking far greater risks whilst they are well paid and if the government says they need go to work they should and wear masks and gloves if they feel it necessary go or resign as they’re making a different choice.

So teach them. Teach them to cook, how to wire a plug, how to grow plants, teach them to budget and meal plan.

Life skills that people I went to uni with were woeful at. Far more valuable than 2 months of year 6 school work.

Anyone else wonder whether some of these threads are intended or at the very least utilised to divide people (furloughed and non furloughed, teachers and parents etc etc) to distract from central government altogether. Pitting marvellous "Can do" parents v Negative Nelly teachers. And then reversing the arguments when a parent starts a thread about being unable to HS.
Better to have us sling mud at each other than at them.

"Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you"

I think the expectations of a number of teachers who have posted over the past week or so re safety are unrealistic.

Agree. Life is now much less safe for us all than it was pre-Covid-19. Where we can't work around this, we are ultimately going to have to accept it.

I am including the projects as engaging, TBH

Although my year 10s, they need to do some work!!

Thanks @BetsyJameson but as I was a primary school teacher for 15 years I’m well aware of how it works. I’m normally the first to defend teachers (search my username if you wish) but on this occasion I believe that a number of teachers whining it’s not safe are giving the profession a bad name. Tell that to the doctors, nurses, midwifes, police officers, water maintenance engineers etc who have a much higher risk. Teachers were happy to go home as instructed and should go to
Work as instructed too

Thanks @queryuiop. People need to take these issues up with their schools. I also wish people would take the time time to appreciate the good. We have complaints comming in every day - some parents complain there is too much work. So we reduce the expectation. Some complain there is too little - we set extension tasks. Some parents refuse to allow their kid to complete the online work as they think it's bad for their mental health. We offer MH support and make phonecalls to check on wellbeing. I know we cant please everyone, but to be bashed constantly is so disheartening.

@Iwalkinmyclothing I do agree with you and I have never called anyone a bad parent. This is tough on everyone and I have twice given the link to Oak National which will educate your children until we can get back. I've just spent a happy hour writing detailed feedback to kids on yesterday's work so they can try the on line assessment tomorrow with the best chance of doing well. Lots of us are trying our best. I sit in the kitchen on a stool a lot of the time as we have no spare room. When my own DD is sitting her medic exams on line I have to get off the internet or it crashes. We all know this is not easy. And it will end and we will get back to school. When it is safe. A baby died today. It should not be a war between parents and teachers (many of whom are parents). We should work together to make this work as best we can. But I would like to live a bit longer so would like some protection before I enter the swamp of germs that is a classroom. Some people on here need to get a job to keep them busy 😜

www.thenational.academy

@Hobnobswantshernameback That's really sad to read. I'm sure you're doing a great job and so is your DS.

Be kind to yourself - for the academic side, remember that every Year 10 in the country is in the same boat with regards exams. It will affect how well they do, but all exams are marked on a curve, so the grade boundaries will be lower.

I hope your son gets back to his routine soon.

@hatingthevirtuous absolutely agree. Life is less safe owing to this virus but there are equally scary dangers out there not just in other illnesses but in the poverty that will await us all if we don’t get back to life soon. The risk is so low to young people we need to see the bigger picture

@iamruth so just young people in school then as they are low risk ? That's fine by me. Weird Universities are all closed and not opening anytime soon.

Please read this

schoolsweek.co.uk/dfe-chief-scientific-adviser-admits-he-hasnt-assessed-school-reopening-guidance/

@mumsneedwine the government have clearly said that the reasons for younger students going back first is because of the vital importance of early education and the impact on their future lives. Many many people successfully study for higher level education remotely - it’s just not possible to meet the education needs of young children remotely hence it’s a priority

What do people think about uk’s covid response with high number of deaths and infections - compared to Aus, Nz, S Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, germany?

Do people think that these places will eventually get the same number of deaths as UK - because the only way out is herd immunity? Or do they think in the long-term it evens out because lock-down causes deaths due to mental health and poverty? Or do they think that UK will end up having more deaths than these places but that it is an acceptable price to pay for more freedom?

People forget that life is risky full stop and there are many many many people the teachers rely on for good, safety and warmth electricity etc taking far greater risks whilst they are well paid and if the government says they need go to work they should and wear masks and gloves if they feel it necessary go or resign as they’re making a different choice.

@iamruth I do think that you're spot on about understanding risk. I've seen someone mention that teachers are constantly producing risk assessments (we have to write and submit them just for a workshop in the hall, or if we are using food in a maths lesson), so maybe this explains why we are risk averse as a profession. However, I do think it's a real shame that genuine concerns about how workable the DFE's plan is are being dismissed as teachers being negative. My least favourite part in the guidance is that "assembly times should be staggered." So they do think we should have assemblies, even though THAT IS MADNESS. Parents should be concerned that some schools may follow this advice and run assemblies, gathering together large groups of children. Thankfully, our school cancelled assemblies in early March.

@LittleFoxKit looks like he should have read the sage modelling - doesn’t mean there’s no evidence at all. coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/und0008/

It’s all mixed but we can’t sit here doing nothing forever

@iamruth and just sending the young ones back is absolutely fine. They will have a lovely time spreading the germs around and taking them home. As long as you don't expect other adults to risk their lives. The economy will recover one day, dead people won't.
Oh and governments chief scientist has just come out and said there is no actual evidence that kids don't spread it. And MPs are up in arms about being told they might have to go back in. Because it's not safe to face crowds on enclosed spaces.

@iamruth - there is also the danger that younger children may spread it more because they are unable to do social distancing. A cautious approach would not roll this out everywhere at once.

@iamruth I think we all know how accurate the SAGE modelling has turned out to be 😂😂

@qweryuiop

Absolutely agree that having assemblies is madness, however, correct me if I’m wrong, this is all guidance and head teachers are being left to try to make sensible decisions in line with the LEA (or academy trust is suppose - I’ve only ever worked in LEA maintained schools in a class teacher role)

Ultimately no one expects everything to be back to normal but we’ve got to make the effort and get going because this isn’t going away