Is your primary school opening - poll

[Greysparkles]

Received a detailed email today from our primary school on how the return will work on June 1st

They propose to have all students from R, year 1 and year 6 (who wish to go) full time Monday - Friday with staggered drop off/pick ups.

Another primary half a mile away isn't opening at all.

I'm curious to see how many schools are opening and how many are not.

So YABU - school closed
YANBU - school open

I dont understand how this is so different for each school

Schools will vary hugely as to how much space they have to separate groups of children, how many shielding or quarantined staff (and at what level) etc. Some schools had made detailed plans that were thrown up in the air by the ever changing guidance (the latest was on Monday night, and I know of at least one school which then had to change everything they'd spent many days planning)

Schools aren't carbon copies of each other

I dont understand how this is so different for each school? Schoosl have been told to prepare to open on 1st june

Isn't it just guidance?
Some schools are adopting it as best they can to allow parents to send their kids.
Some schools are saying they can't do it safely so they're finding other ways of they can.

Hedgehog The DofE guidance is studiedly vague. Schools are being "invited" to "prepare" to open on 1st June. I don't know what influence LEAs have - I'm waiting for a call back from my council to clarify (have a very strong suspicion the head is at least bending the rules in my case).

Ours is opening for Yr R, 1 and 6. Only to keyworker children and now also parents who both have to go out to work. Works out at 200 children.

Ours announced today that not only would they reopen to Reception, years 1&6 on 1st June but all other years will go back on 22nd June! It will be half the class on Mondays and Tuesdays, Wednesday will be closed for deep cleaning and then the other half a class would be in on Thursdays and Fridays.

I can't see the point of all the hassle of them going in 2 days a week for three weeks then breaking up for summer anyway. Plus I am fuming that they want the children back in uniform. Fuck that. My child has grown out of it and I am not buying new uniform for just 6 days of school.

Is your child in year 6 Pikachu?

Yes and no. It's opening but v limited extra capacity (given spacing requirements) due to numbers of key workers' children already going in.

saraclara 30'658 lab confirmed. 40 more than yesterday. 1630 have died (Switzerland, population of 8.5 million with density of 207/km2). The kids were back Monday for 9 days, now we have a long bank holiday weekend and nice weather... so now we have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of weeks.

healthcare institutions, self-service facilities, personal services and DIY and garden centres have been open since 27th April.

primary and lower secondary schools, shops, markets, museums, libraries, certain sports facilities and restaurants open since 11th May.

Although the "only allowed to meet in groups of 5" is still in place Most people seem to ignoring this now and not counting primary age children especially if they're at school together.

ours is opening as much as they are allowed to. its a very unusual building that under normal circumstances is an absolute pain, but perfect for the current situation: classrooms are little pavilion like structures on the grounds. most with own entrance and own toilets, all with multiple sinks. hardly any shared indoor connecting corridors

Got the feeling the school was doing all it could to put us off sending them back.

Yes of course they are - all these pictures of teachers on the floor with tape measures and masking tape is bl**dy ridiculous. They know they can have an easy time until September if they make sending kids to school an unattractive option. I'm sure they will all make it business as normal from September.

If schools can't make it safe on June 1st when CAN they make it safe? September? October? Never? They need to make it work NOW.

Our school has taken I think a v sensible approach which works with only 3 year groups back. Open 4 days, kids in a bubble of 15, 1 teacher and 1 ta, each class has a garden to play and eat in. Social distancing not expected in the bubble but increased hygiene measures. Not sure what will happen when more year groups go back.

What is missing for me is test and trace. This is the only way to ensure that schools don't become sources of new infection. But no sign of an app or a testing protocol that works.

Sorry Grey I'd headed to bed, it just said that they had agreed now was not the right time to open and 'we have a low level of confidence that the measures suggested by DfE are sufficient to mitigate against the risks'

Afaik, not here in Northern Ireland. I think the fact the UK is now the second worst hit country in the world, has somewhat swayed the determination amongst certain parties, to follow Englands example.

Track and trace simply won't work without a mobile signal will it ? Our village is horrendous for a signal and school is in a black spot.

Ours is planning to open on 10 June I think (we have a 2 week half term so it would have been 8 June normally) with "inset" days 8-9 June to allow the teachers and staff to get things in place. They are opening for R, 1 & 6 to begin with, with the bubbles of 15, staggered drop offs, lunch in classrooms etc as required. My children are in years 3 and 5, so there is no option to send them back for the time being (we are happy with this).

@LittleBearPad my child is year 4.

Our schools will be open from 15th June to Nursery, YR and Y1 on a part-time basis. Y6 may get the odd transition type session but will not be back.

They will not open to non keyworker/vulnerable kids if they don't feel it's workable, if by the 28th May the R rate has increased etc.

Agree that some schools appear to be painting an excessively negative of what it will be like in order to put parents off sending children in.

Please can posters say which Local Authority they are in, if they don't mind. Thank you.

I'm South West so probably less pressure on schools as we have been fairly unscathed by it so far. We are in the best position to ease back to normal

I'm North Yorkshire for the one that sent out a detailed plan then changed to a weekly review.

The thing I don't understand is why they are saying children in the bubble of up to 15 will social distance. The way I read the guidelines was that children in the bubble would mix within their group, which I was fine with.

Gosh our school seems quite organised compared to some!

The headteacher has confirmed that the school will reopen to years R, 1 and 6 from June 1st. Key worker children outside of these years will be taught in a separate group.

Year R (my daughter’s year) will be taught by a teacher and TA in each bubble and 50% of the year have confirmed they are planning to return. It’s a two form entry school so this means the kids will be in their usual class rooms with year R teachers. Basically no real difference at all. In fact I’m hoping she really benefits from the hugely reduced class size over the next few weeks.

No idea what will happen when all the other years return as there simply isn’t the space! Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Ours is planning to open for R on 1st June. Class of 30 divided into two bubbles, one in nursery, one in reception. For the first week it's mornings only four days a week with staggered starting and leaving times for each bubble, then from 8th it's closer to full days, again four days a week with a deep clean on Fridays. The letter does make it clear that things will be different and that if, for example, children aren't likely to want to go into the classroom area by themselves we might want to consider whether it's best to send them so as not to upset them, but I wouldn't say it's trying to put us off. Head rang everyone last week to gauge if there were any definite yesses or nos. I trust her and the reception team entirely to find a way to do the right thing for the kids. School is set in a massive field and it looks like they're planning to do as much outdoor learning as possible. We're a joyful yes and hoping it goes ahead. Our Y3 daughter will still be at home with us.

Ours will reopen for yr R on the 8th. Then yr 1 and 6 the following week. Key worker kids separate.

We are a small one form entry village primary so not sure how we will work it when other years supposed to go back.

So far approx 65 out of potential 90 hav said yes to wanting to return