- Schools haven't closed. Many are open to KE and vulnerable children and are being staffed by teachers and TAs. Some areas have hubs rather than having individual schools open I believe. Schools have remained open over school holidays for those children.
- Schools are widening their intake after the holidays IF certain criteria are met by the Government . There are restrictions being out in on ace, like in almost every other country. Unfortunately the guidance has come in pieces and haven't been very clear, nor has the briefings which gives parents a false idea of what will actual happen and how. I haven't seen anywhere that says schools should close all year at all, just that the widening should be done carefully and gradually to reduce risk.
- Lack of funding in schools for years prior to this, and not limited to any one Government either, means our schools don't have the same space and facilities as many schools abroad in these European countries we keep having comparisons made with.
- Lack of funding for support staff in schools over the years means that not all schools have the extra TAs needed to open all year groups, in smaller classes, even if they had the space.
- Many schools in primary and secondary, and in both sectors, HAVE provided home learning online and not just a couple of worksheets. Unfortunately social media and the media only like to focus on the minority doing nothing/little.
- Before opening for wider numbers schools need to be safe to do so. Work places have been required to be risk assessed before allowing people to work in the buildings. Okay, some businesses may have ignored this but that doesn't mean schools should. Schools need to be safe for both pupils AND staff.
- Not all staff can return. Those who are clinically vulnerable (not just shielded) should not be working in front of classes. This can affect large numbers of staff in any one school. Schools need to mange this carefully and balance the number of staff they have to how many classes can reopen.
- Many schools across the world have been closed far longer than those in the UK have been. Many have not just reopened and certainly not to all children like some would like here. My ex colleague now teaches in China. She last taught in school at the end of January. She is returning on Monday for the first time since then. The children are returning the week after.
Parents may have issues with their children's individual school. This is normal. There are thousands of schools across the country so there are thousands of different ways schools are dealing with this.
Every school catchment is different. What works for one school will be inappropriate for another.
Schools cannot please everyone. Whatever they do there will be some parents who complain there is too much and others complain it's too little. Fortunately for individual schools the minority of parents seem to offer positive comments to staff and schools from my experience. It's only in the media and social groups such as Mumsnet the criticism appears constant and daily.
Like every profession there are some not so good teachers, there may even be some rubbish ones. There are also some fab ones and, like every profession, many are somewhere in the middle and have good days and not so good ones.
Teachers don't make the rules - they follow government guidance, and that comes from their school's leadership teams, academy chain leaders or LEAs.
Every teacher and TA I know has worked through this partial closure. Most I know are working as long a hours as previously but in different ways. It's a learning curve for everyone.
Hopefully I've covered everything.
I may just start to cut and paste - the threads are so frequent!