A quick poll - year 6 returning to school

[Lougle]

I have to decide whether to send DD3 back to school on June 1st. I am a SAHM, so I don't 'need' to send her back for work purposes.

The school has told us the measures they'll be taking, and the general message is "We'll be here for your children, but they aren't going to get any more teaching than the children who stay at home."

So Google Classroom set work. Groups of 8 kept 2m apart. Eat lunch in Classroom. Don't mix with other groups.

YABU - don't send her in. YANBU - send her in.

[Sallycinnamum]

I'm sending year 6 DS in because 7 weeks of school is better than no school. I could keep him at home but he wants to go back.

Plus I'm really concerned that year 7 won't be starting until January 2021 if current rumour mongering turns out to be correct.

[Wishforsnow]

I don't understand why the school have said they will not be educating them properly. If the children are there then it is their job to actually teach them.

[spanieleyes]

They will be "educated" properly, it just won't look the same as in previous years.

[Lougle]

Our school has been very good at sending out work on Google Classroom. They've said that ther children will do this work at school, too. It isn't fair to give children who can come to school better provision than children who can't (shielding/ vulnerable).

[Lougle]

They won't be actively teaching, teaching new material, or marking work.

[spanieleyes]

We will be doing the same. So far, we have provided all the activities remotely. Going forward, children in school and the children at home will be given very similar work.

[ineedaholidaynow]

Not all classes will have a teacher, some will have a teaching assistant. The documents give guidance as to what should be prioritised for some of the year groups eg Y1 reading. It won’t be proper lessons, certainly to start with. Obviously if this becomes more the norm then I am sure lessons will be adapted.

Remember in our Primary schools especially for the younger year groups, a lot of the learning is sitting in groups with various resources and the teacher is very hands on, not everyone sitting in rows looking at the board. Unfortunately it will be more like the sitting in rows and the teachers have been advised to try and limit how much they need to go up to the children.

[EvilPea]

Mines going in.
Have no issue, trust the school implicitly. We are massively in the minority, and I’m looking at this as a positive. Dd will get her teacher, full time in a tiny group.

[Quickerthanavicar]

Where is your child safest?

[GrimmsFairytales]

Dd will get her teacher, full time in a tiny group.

How can you be so sure of this?

Even if very few say they are sending them in now, that could easily change in a few weeks.

[Redlocks28]

Dd will get her teacher, full time in a tiny group

Impressive you know that categorically. That will not be the case for the vast majority of children.

[Lougle]

DD3 is very unlikely to be with 'her' teachers (job share). One was shielding for a health condition, and the other because of a shielded relative, before lockdown began. They've said they will have 2 'adults' per class, and the wording is very deliberate, I think, to give flexibility to have 2 teachers, 1 teacher and 1 TA, or 2 TAs.

[BramwellBrown]

It sounds like your school is in a very fortunate position space and staff wise, and no little ones to consider so I think it just depends on your DD, if she is happy at home and managing to get work done and seems ok I wouldn't send her in, but if she's struggling send her in. Mines going in because given half a chance she's just staring at the computer/TV all day every day, her sleeping is all over the place, I have to argue with her to get her to wash, brush her teeth etc and getting her to go out for exercise involves a whole door slamming tantrum first. I'm hoping a bit of routine will help.

[Sallycinnamum]

@EvilPea that's exactly how I'm viewing it. The less kids in the more one to one my DS gets.

I suspect some of the parents in DS' class just can't be arsed to get up each day to take their DC to school but will be the first ones to complain when they are behind when they start secondary school.

[CandleNoBra]

It would depend for me.

Year 6 - if the school is doing transition to Y7 things then yes I’d send in. Otherwise Y7 is gonna be a hell of a shock.

If it’s just to sit in a classroom being babysat then no I’d not send in for that alone if I had a choice.

It has to be worth whatever risk there is imo.

[bellinisurge]

I spoke to someone who works at a primary school yesterday. They said they only expect half the y6 cohort in. In fact, any more and they don't have the space.

[justdontatme]

Does she want to go?

Personally I would send her in, if she doesn’t get anything from it you can keep her home again. I don’t have a Y6 but I would happily send my Y7 and my Y3 in when it’s offered to them, probably will keep my 4 year old at home though as it sounds much more grim for him.

[UtterlyPerfectCartoonGiraffe]

I’m 99% sure I won’t be sending my year 6 in. Dh and I are both really lucky to be working from home, so I’d rather leave the space for someone who needs it to get back to work. I may have to go to work at some point in June, but dh can still opt to wfh.

He’s doing well with his school work at home, and I’m (gently) preparing him for year 7 work.

I also think it will be less stressful for the teachers if there are fewer pupils, and if I can give him the same education (ish! Obviously not as good as he’d get from his teachers, but the same topics etc) at home, and he wouldn’t be in a group with his friends anyway, there’s more benefit to keeping him home.

He was also really ill with a coronavirus-like illness after schools broke up, and is still suffering from random side effects and exhaustion. I want him to be 100% healthy before I send him back so he doesn’t have any more relapses.

My only hesitation is him missing transition days, but at this point I don’t know if they’ll even go ahead in the same way as previous years.

[Kirschcherry]

My year 6 Ds is homeschooled anyway due to dyslexia and school anxiety, but no I would not be sending him in at this point. I do not, however, think it is at all wrong that some people will send their dc in, it is a personal choice based on personal circumstances and how you think your school will handle it. We are in Wales so I’m not sure it will be an issue but I won’t be sending my year 4 back before September at the earliest. My DC school is a tiny rural school which is massively oversubscribed because it is the best in the area. They are amazing so I think they will do everything they can to make it ok for the children but it is in a tiny building with very narrow corridors and a limited number of small classrooms which house composite classes of up to 37, I have no idea how they will manage at all. Even the dining hall in tiny and packed, they already have to stagger lunch times.

[Daisydad]

School Headteachers have had 14 documents from DfE since last Sunday’s announcement. Many of them contradict advice issued elsewhere. The whole thing is a can of worms.
My message to parents is....if your child doesn’t NEED to be at school, keep them at home; the fewer children in school the better we can control risk.

[theluckiest]

I'm a teacher (dons hard hat ) and have a Y6 child. We've made the decision to not send him in.

Our reasons are that Y6 at school will be very different to 'normal' school and not in a good way. They have pretty much finished the Y6 curriculum as it is. They can't really do much transition work as the secondaries are shut to them. They're not guaranteed to be in a 'bubble' with their friends so seems counter productive to send DS if he doesn't need to be there and may not be with his friends. We can keep it ticking over at home - it's not ideal, but what is at the moment?!

[HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend]

I'm in the North East, no way am I sending my DS back when the NE atm is the epicentre.

[Oblomov20]

I can't decide what is best. Dh is unsure, maybe verging on thinking it's pointless/little benefit in sending Ds2 in.

[namechangenumber2]

Same situation for us OP, I'm not a SAHM as such but work very few hours and that work currently isn't happening ( and I doubt for a while)

We wanted to send DS in, he's keen to go, however his school have been very honest in that priority goes to yr R&1 so likely to be very limited yr 6 spaces. I'd rather those spaces go to families who are struggling with working parents etc than us. I was also keen as I'd hoped for some form of transition but I don't think that's likely.

Fortunately school has been great, plenty of work options and regular contact with teachers and TA's ( DS's teacher even worked at a weekend doing something specific for him - She's fabulous!) and his new secondary yr 7 head has been very good with communication too

[MaggieMagpie357]

I'm really struggling with this. Our school are still at the planning stage so no guidance yet on what may happen.

On top of this, our town has a 3 tier system, and it is our year 8s that are due to move up in September, not year 6.
I have a child in both year 6 and year 8, so one of them will no doubt be invited back first, but I can't tell them any more than that.

Currently the DoE are not budging about it being year 6 (although our MP is lobbying the government about this) but I'm really torn. I don't see any reason to send my year 6 child back, apart from the fact she is missing her friends enormously. But I'm yet to be convinced it's safe enough. Argh!