It’s week 8- why haven’t schools looks at plans before now?

[hopefulhop]

Just this? We have bee. In lockdown for 8wks. That’s 8wks of social distancing etc. Why is this a sudden shock to schools? Did school leaders and unions think we could return as usual after an international pandemic or just never go back? I appreciate this is unprecedented times, and that your regular school leadership team aren’t six sigma logistics gurus, and more so that many schools don’t have space etc for social distancing- but the move to bring kids back. is not a shock- it was going to happen sometime and would need to be different in some way. There are literally 1000s of teachers ‘working from home’- they cannot all be marking, many are on Rotas for key worker children support- hasn’t ANYONE thought or wondered what to do when kids return?

Does anyone else feel posts like this are intended to soften us all up for the public sector pay freezes that are being discussed? So we all bail out the private sector, but the public sector pays for it. But that's OK because they're only teachers who didn't plan for schools reopening, or the NHS who cancelled non urgent procedures, so they deserve it...

Yes there should have been better planning, however many other sectors have industry bodies that have been filtering down information to assist with planning. The schools, well they have the government and the DoE so really criticism should be levelled at them.

Another difficulty is that no school is equal, McDonald's can plan how to work as there layout is pretty much the same across the board, schools not so much.

There has been planning in some schools as weeks ago my sister told me how many she could fit in her classroom with social distancing and those are the conversations that need to be had, whether they will remains to be seen.

I have got loads of ideas and made loads of plans in my head! Weirdly because I'm not in charge I'm not allowed to implement them. We are waiting on govt/LA advice!!

Our Head, and senior team, have spent weeks trying to wrangle with at least 5 school trip providers and insurance companies to get refunds back to families for cancelled/delayed overseas trips!

He has overseen online interviewing and recruiting for at least 5 roles that need filling! He has waded through inordinate amounts of data to moderate GCSE grades!
He has ensured all FSM vouchers/food packages have been distributed.

He has overseen the keyworker/vulnerable provision. He has read new (vague) guidance and started to make a plan.

It has only just been published!

OMG. We have a million different plans. Have been planning to reopen since the day we "closed".

No one told us what to plan for. I doubt any HT would have prioritised yr6 for example.

Every time we have a plan, what's required of us changes. We measured every classroom to work out how many children can fit at 2m distance (mostly 8) but no now we have to make 15 work. We sourced PPE but no, it's not to be used. We worked out which students we would prioritise for a partial reopening but no, that was dictated to us. We planned catering based on the numbers we could accommodate according to our measuring....etc etc

And this has all gone on whilst trying to safeguard children remotely, open school daily, solve the FSM disaster, and deliver online learning.

What else did you want OP?

Fuck me

It gets worse

And recruit teachers for September!

Funnily enough my husband is a lean 6 sigma black belt and thinks this is hilarious.

The Boris statement gave a plan sunday.

The documents that came out Monday was different.

Schools planned....measured rooms. Worked out how to structure the day, rooms, corridors, canteen safely. Worked out they can rota kids in 2 days a week.

....and the next set of guidance shafted that plan.

Rota isn't allowed. So now CA don't have enough rooms or teaching staff. Back to square on and trying to stuff the proverbial octopus into a string bag.

Oh yes GuyFawkes. The carefully drawn up rota that now shouldn't be used.

I spend my fair share of time moaning about the SLT at my school, but I know that since Easter they have been working constantly on plans to reopen the school, in consultation with the academy trust and local authority. The academy trust were consulted by the DfE. As recently as last week, the information my head was getting was that Year 5 would be the priority year. Then the guidance comes out and it's completely different age groups. So back to the drawing board, working out how to arrange staffing etc, assuming a part-time rota due to staffing and space issues, and then right at the end of the week, more guidance that says a rota system shouldn't be used. Thank God I don't have to be responsible for the planning is all I can say.

I love my job and I miss my groups. They miss coming to school. I feel like I am trying my best. I have two disabled DS of my own.

Posts like this make me want to quit.

I genuinely don't understand the way people are responding to these threads.

Swearing at parents who ask questions? Silly flower memes so you can gang up and bully people who say things you don't agree with?

There's a post which goes through a lot of answers to the questions people are asking, why doesn't everyone just the post the link to that if you're sick of explaining? A page full a links to that post is a much more effective protest than a page of flowers, which make you look like sulky kids.

And no I'm not 'Teacher bashing' because I think vast majority of teachers I know are far too mature and professional to speak to concerned and worried parents in the way these posters are.

The main issue throughout this pandemic here is the lack of leadership and clear guidance from BJ. It's just abysmal.
I agree that the schools couldn't have planned fully without getting proper guidance.
Having said that let's not all go on 'Poor teachers they are so busy' etc - it will vary widely. In my school we're getting v little by way of online learning support and there are very few keyworker's kids in currently so our teachers certainly aren't overstretched. I'm sure others are far busier, it will depend on the head and the LA I guess.

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And yes OP, I totally agree. Every sector, every industry, everywhere is making plans without knowing what the next lot of government guidance will be. I'm finding it really hard to understand that some schools and councils are saying they haven't had time to do that.

I don't understand the posters claiming it was a shock that the youngest year groups are going back first. As far as I know every other country has done that too.

I don't understand people saying schools didn't expect to go back until September. June was always a possibility that needed to be taken into account. It seems like some people had their heads stuck in the sand about that and are now claiming it was totally unforeseen. Of course it wasn't.

"Does anyone else feel posts like this are intended to soften us all up for the public sector pay freezes that are being discussed? So we all bail out the private sector, but the public sector pays for it. " - that kind of comment does my head in though! Do you think the private sector will receive pay rises in the main in the coming years? It's not just the public sector paying for bailing out some industries - all of us will be paying for it for years to come! Staff in the public sector are not all essential, far from it, and many private sector employees have been essential to this current situation (deliveries, food, vaccine industry). So it's not 'the public sector has saved us' rubbish. It's a concerted efforts. Some in the public sector have not been needed and yet continued to receive full pay. And some in the private sector are working their ass. So yes it's tough for NHS frontline workers and they do deserve recognition but to suggest that the whole public sector is in the same category is silly. Pay freezes may be needed because we're going to deal with a recession. It's not a pay cut. Just not an 'automatic' pay increase for the time being.

@withgraceinmyheart

Most schools have had about a million potential scenarios to plan for. There is no point in doing this. Schools have gathered information and are looking at how they can implement the guidelines. The guidelines only arrived Monday, more Thursday and the latest last night. No one knew what re opening schools would look like before then. We can't use other countries because our guidelines are different. Why make loads of plans to have them torn apart every time the DfE change the goalposts?

The wisest HTs have gathered information like which staff are available and how many students they can get per room. Then they have mentally worked out 5000 possible scenarios. Then they have sat back and waited. HTs who decided everything Monday and sent out letters now can't follow their plans due to the DfE.

The PP who said that there has been so much waste in decision making higher up is correct. A small local rollout would have been best. Learn lessons and then roll out countrywide. Oh and some extra funding would be nice.

The Government has told schools they have to prioritise the youngest children, if a school has a pre-school/nursery that will be children aged 3 to 4. If they can’t fit all the year groups that the Government have asked to go back then they will drop Y6, then Y1 etc. So our schools could be just children aged 3 to 4 plus key worker children.

In those news items about Danish schools did you see classrooms filled with 3 year olds?

I'm sure heads/teachers have been trying to come up with a plan that is safe for everyone. But it's probably impossible to provide safe environment for staff and kids. Schools have been designed to pack in as many kids as possible, now all of a sudden they have to try and split up kids to social distance them. Once all year groups are back that will be impossible due to not enough classrooms /teachers etc.

People in offices /other workplaces are reluctant to go back to work due to risk of exposure even though it is probably easier to distance people in offices than it is to in schools. So it's ok for most people to be scared of going back to work but teachers should suck it up and risk themselves being infected everyday?

Also- BJ made that announcement on Sunday and no one knew what he was going to say. It was new news to schools so they could only plan from then.

Also, due to all exams being cancelled most people assumed that schools would be closed until September.

Also, when we went into lockdown maybe the whole country assumed that they would start testing for covid and antibodies asap.....maybe if the gov would test teachers for antibodies before asking them to go back then the ones that have had it don't need to worry about mixing with kids....

My DH is the partner in charge of an office. He looked at the new guidelines for employers and decided it was much easier and safer to keep staff WFH than trying to implement all the new guidelines. So not everyone is going back to their workplaces.

If anyone wants to be angry for the lack of planning be angry with the Government and DfE they are the ones telling schools what they can and can’t do, not the teachers. This guidance also applies to Academies and Private schools.

I was at DD's secondary yesterday (who are doing an excellent job setting work and also supporting families in need). They were busy painting white lines for 'flow of pupils'. I'm pretty certain they have a plan for y10s at least.

(I also think that a lot of the 'they won't be able to keep full classes safe' is a bit of a straw man. I reckon a lot of people will choose to keep their kids at home, so the ones who do go back won't be in full classes anyway.)

I think many gave and realised that many school environments don’t go hand in hand with social distancing. You can’t magic up huge airy schools that fit in 3x as many classrooms with loads of outdoor space.

I am outraged that head teachers didnt use their crystal ball to realise '15 per class' would be the magic number. Then immediately start construction work to double the size of their schools with no money. They've had 8 weeks! They could have built entire foundations of buildings by now! If they couldn't get construction staff, surely the ADT department could have done it? They are all sat on their arses at the moment.

Also cannot believe that head teachers haven't had extra sinks installed either. I mean, the government did sign post them to ESPO in the guidance. You'd think they'd know how to use a fucking ESPO catalogue. Surely they can take the money from somewhere in their budget? Get rid of Drama or sack a few of those lazy bastard teachers at the top of the pay scale? It is ridiculous.

Teachers should be setting work that is easy enough for pupils to do independently but also stretch our children educationally. How hard is that? I dont want too much work as I'm worried about my childs mental health but they deserve a full timetable! So, teachers; set some easy work that raises their attainment but only on days when they can cope with it. Alright?

Teachers need to be teaching on zoom, even though my child will not be permitted to have 6 hours of screen time and I'm actually sharing one laptop between two kids in different year groups. But, unless I see that teacher on zoom all day I will KNOW they are using this pandemic as an excuse for an extra holiday. Bastards. It's a load of crap about marking anyway. And dont give me any bullshit about line managers getting teachers to update schemes of work, do webinar based CPD courses, meet on zoom to discuss departmental issues/safeguarding/pastoral, ring vulnerable kids, search for or make videos and resources to support learning. They are sitting on their arses watching Disney + and we know it.

Also, it is a fact that no teacher is having to manage their own kids at the same time as trying to WFH. They just use it as an excuse for not teaching your kids the way that you want them to. They couldn't possibly understand and sympathise with those of you struggling to WFH and help your kids - they do no know what it is like AT ALL. It's just another excuse they trot out do they can continue getting paid for a job we all know they are not doing. They all hate kids anyway, they only took the job for the holidays and because they all have a God complex. Time to get back to work you lazy, overpaid, over holidayed morons!! Stop using 'safety' as an excuse. BTW, how did you bribe the BMC to agree with you about it being too early to open schools? Whip round in the virtual staffroom?

Teacher bashing, union bashing to add to the NHS (but predominantly nurse bashing) threads from a few weeks ago
Obviously to divert attention from the shitshow that is our current government but as ever the sheeple fall for it and do as bid.