AIBU to be fed up that all the education focus is on primary schools and no mention whatsoever of secondary pupils, especially those in Years 10 and 12?

[enougha1ready]

If I have to see another news article showing the spacing of primary school desks, children washing their hands and parents on school gates stating the obvious about social distancing, I think I’m going to go demented.

Yes It is very challenging educating primary school children at home. I know this. I have 4 DC. Every parent knows this. It is also obvious that some children / families are in more difficult circumstances than others, for all sorts of reasons.

But the same applies to secondary aged children. Hello!!! Where is the mention of them??

I have DC in Years 7, 8, 10 and 12. What I want to know is -

How likely is it that schools will be going back as normal in Sept?

I can’t see how it will be any different then and I think this needs to be discussed now - ie a plan needs to be made for part-time remote learning with some time in school, if it’s still the case they can only take 25% in at any time.

What is the thinking around exams for next summer, given the inequalities around remote teaching and the fact that Years 10 and 12 will have missed at least a term and most probably more of normal school?

Is there any thinking at all about anything? I’m sorry, but could Gavin Williamson appear my more dopey if he tried? I can’t believe the uselessness.

AIBU - the govt need to get off the back foot and start some serious contingency planning. Some pupils have mock exams and GCSE / A-levels in a matter of months.

Agree!! Secondary is soooo important to their future life - and for their mental health now

I think its an economical thing.. parents of children in high school are less likely to have interrupted return to work due to childcare where as primary school parents rely on the childcare. Nothing to do with education in the decision at all in my opinion

Agree with pp that it is an economical decision.
Yanbu though, those years have been terribly let down

Yes obviously it’s about economics and getting parents back to work etc.

But when I see this Gavin Williamson being interviewed, it seems to me like there’s no forward planning going on at all.

There’s more talk about how pubs are going to open than secondary schools.

I agree. Obviously there are some vulnerable children of primary school age who are falling behind, but most primary school kids will be ok as long as they are doing a bit of maths, a bit of reading, a bit of writing.

But it’s a different story for secondary aged children. Most are missing out on huge chunks of their education. Even children with good support at home and good remote teaching are still missing out as it’s not the same as being in school.

I have pretty much the same years. Mine have been offered an hour a week before the end of school over two weeks. One is to discuss uni applications

I don't see how any of this will be fair. To be honest I don't think mine are anywhere near the level they should be at, and following the curriculum set is entirely self taught and learning so motivation is essential.

One of mine has lost his gym his friends his job. He is foul to be around, sleeps all day, and treats me like an idiot.
The other had significant SEN, couldn't attend the hub due to this (ironic) and is skimming the surface of the work set.
Another one has not done any of the work set for the term, didn't understand it, couldn't do the IT and is now lost and tired and crying.

It's a fucking disaster and my kids live in a warm home, have regular meals, working parents and access to computers. So god knows for those that have less resources.

They've done what they are doing with secondary schools this term (though why they capped it at 1/4 of the year group at any time is totally beyond me, surely that should be up to the schools.)

Secondary schools will make it into the news again next week or the week after when they go back.

Then to be honest they need to see how reduction of lockdown goes. If in 2 months time mid August it is all going fine they can make one decision, if it has gone belly up it will be another.

Same with exams next year, they can't decide what will happen to GCSEs until they see whether schools have been able to return.

(I do share your concern OP as I have a y10 who has crumbled.)

I couldn't agree more. I want my primary child back for social reasons.
My son in year 9 needs to go back because he is now dropping so far in academic terms. I can support him in the subject my degree is in but I have no chance with maths or science.
He was supposed to be doing separate sciences for GCSE but we have now been told that as they have not been able to cover everything they wanted in yr 9 there will no longer be a triple science program at their school. He is devastated as he plans to study biology at university and without triple science doesn't meet the criteria for A level at the sixth form college ( his school does not have a sixth form).

My Y7 is so far behind it's unreal. Tbf she was behind before but now she's at a massive disadvantage. She's autistic and suffers from depression. My eldest is going in to Y10 but has missed so much work and some of it we can't do at home. I feel so sorry for them. They keep asking when they can go back and at the moment I'm just saying wait and see but it's ridiculous.
Secondary school pupils have been treated really badly in this whole thing. Government needs to stop being so pathetic and set out a plan to get them back (or pay us all teachers wages 😁.

Absolutely agree, OP. Just proves that the government don’t give a damn about state education at all, because if they did, the focus would be on a secondary level.

The only reason that the focus is on primary is to get the parents back to work

I want my primary age DC back for social reasons. Also, the school has provided no kind of education whereas secondaries have been better, as I understand it. To a certain extent, teenagers have been freer to socialise at a distance during lockdown. But if I had a child in secondary I would also be concerned about missed education.

It's all about economics - it's the same reason they're allowing shops and pubs to open.

Primary school children require childcare for their parents to be able to work. Pubs, shops, zoos (also opening Monday) will boost the economy. Sending secondary children back to school won't do that as most of them get themselves to/from school and are more than capable of staying home during the day while their parents work.

To be fair, the logistics of getting secondary school children back under social distancing are pretty hard:

• moving between specialist classrooms
• setting so that social bubbles is harder
• transport as less local than primary schools
• teenagers are less biddable
• need for specialist teachers

I agree completely. I can't believe it's more important for pubs to reopen and for people be able to go on foreign holidays than it is for ALL schools to be open.

One of my kids is in yr10 and I can see the pressure building in him with the uncertainty of it all on top of the normal stress

YANBU I think all children should be back as soon as possible.

It's just not fair on them.

YANBU. As a secondary teacher, I feel that Y10/12 are being thrown under the bus here. Gavin Williamson said yesterday that exams will go ahead next year. Well, that's all well and good but we will have missed over a terms learning time by September. We are doing our best remotely but I'm the first to admit that it's a poor substitute!

Plus, no plan yet about what exams might look like. If they examine all content, I'll have to go at a million miles a minute with my Y13s. Plus try to prep them for the exams.

I really hope schools can go back as normal in September. Even if no assemblies/school trips, just normal lessons. I can't believe there is more talk about pubs opening than there is about schools

Wales have been offered one or two sessions a week over 4 weeks, not full days.

I was despairing last week but as this arrangement is going to be for the foreseeable future, I decided that things have to change in my house. My son is in year 8 and was getting up later and later, lacked motivation, interest etc and was feeling overwhelmed by the endless homework. I was looking up resources to find a way to apply structure to the day and came across the Ollie Ollerton BBC podcast about motivating teenagers. It has really helped this week, I didn't really know much about his SAS channel 4 programme (not my thing) but lots of what he says on this podcast rings true, even my son agreed. So he talks about arriving at your day which in practice means getting up purposefully at the same time every day, not falling out of bed whenever. He talks about the importance of process as that is what is needed to overcome lack of motivation. He said everyone can lack motivation but when there is a process in place it overcomes that blip so for school a child would get up, uniform on, arrive at a set time etc like in the army it works because it gets you from A to B to C to D even if you're lacking motivation that day. He talks about positive affirmation as if you say things over and over again in a ritualistic way in the morning, it sets the tone of your day. Put your phone on after breakfast as if you see negative comments on social media about you, it will set the tone for the rest of the day etc. There's no doubt the process is not there at the moment but for me personally my DC are beginning to drift and we can't drift through life forever so I had to change this, I had to provide the 'process'.

I agree about the exit plan though - what is it?

OP this has been covered in thread after thread. They don’t know. They don’t know how this is going to pan out over the summer and into September. They can’t/won’t plan for the million different ways it could go. I think the majority of teachers believe it will be a mix of in school and online for the foreseeable and schools will get notice of that at the last possible moment. I know my school - and all others I know - can’t effectively manage social distancing (even at 1m) with a full house so if we still need to distance (and it would surely be wise as we shift into flu season with COVID on top) part time in school is the only possibility. I think we can expect exams to look different for the next couple of years but they won’t announce that till the last possible moment either.

I am no supporter of the government but I think, logically, it is pointless saying let’s plan for X and then have Y happen and have to start again with Z solution. The cost of that would be enormous - think what the Nightingale hospitals must have cost that are now sitting waiting just in case and multiply that by thousands of schools. Teachers will bear the brunt of it, having to work it out at the last minute.

This is not just going to effect Y10's, EVERY child who has missed over half a year of school is going to be impacted by this. Many parents are doing the best they can but most of us are not teachers and there are some subjects that just cannot be taught online. There are a few headlines in the papers this morning about this abandoned generation. Now is not the time for parents to sit back and accept this status quo; this is the generation that is going to be working to pay for COVID and our increasingly ageing population, the generation that is facing unparalleled challenges in finding affordable housing and secure work. How they are supposed to do this with the handicaps we are placing on them I'm not sure. Reforming our shameful exam system is a good place to start. Parents please speak out or the future for our children doesn't bear thinking about.

I nearly cried yesterday when they were talking about pubs reopening. I understand that the economy is important but it really feels like they don't care about children. Seems like schools will be the last to open. Children in exam years are surely going to suffer so much.

I think it’s looking increasingly obvious now that secondary schools won’t be able to open in September as normal.

It will be a month after shops, pubs, etc opening and, even if the “R number” has not increased on a national level, there will be areas where it is above 1.

I think the very least we can expect is to see local lockdowns continuing into next year.

So rather than just “wait and see”, surely they need to be advising schools to prepare for this likelihood now. To think about whether and how rotas between different subject groups and different year groups could happen. It’s massively complex and needs careful planning. It may be that it’s not possible, in which case they will need a national online school initiative and a focus on getting all pupils online.

They also need to start communicating what will happen with exams if this carries on because surely they can see that this is creating a lot of uncertainty and anxiety for students in key year groups.

Far better to just say now - it will be teacher assessed. Or exams will be altered. Or it will be a combination of teacher assessment and exams. Whatever. But just have a plan and start communicating with the public in this because the uncertainty is as damaging as the being out of school.

Far better to just say now - it will be teacher assessed. Or exams will be altered. Or it will be a combination of teacher assessment and exams

But there are all sorts of things that could happen.

Virus disappears. Life normal by October. Some adjustment to year 11 exams but everyone else as normal.

Virus reads head for localised spikes and lockdowns. Combination of teacher assessment and exams.

Virus gets a massive hold in the cold, full lockdown again, teacher assessment (although god only knows how).

These scenarios involve different approaches in school and huge work. If exams need reworking (and I think they really do), that’s massive work for the exam boards and teachers only for us to have to rework it again if full,lockdown.

They really need an option they can pick and stick with which they just don’t know yet. The ideal is business as usual but if they say now that it’s teacher assessment but by September it’s looking so much better we can do exams, it would be one huge mess.

None of it is ideal.

I just get the impression there is no contingency planning or basic thinking with this govt through.

I mean, was it not obvious that primary schools would not be able to accommodate all pupils from 15th June if Rita’s were not allowed and it was only 15 per classroom (rather than 30)? How many schools have double the amount of classrooms or space than they actually require? It’s not rocket science is it? Why wait until literally the day the kids are meant to be going back to announce this will not be possible after all? Ridiculous.

I can just see the current “wait and see” situation bumbling on until Sept. Teachers make no contingency plans because they’re awaiting govt directives. Then there will be a spike in the R number, nationally or locally, and they’ll probably announce, at the eleventh hour, that schools can’t open after all because, no shit Sherlock, social distancing will not be possible in school environments. Still no contingency initiative for online schooling. Still no plan for exams. Still a high proportion of pupils at home with no online access. And on it will go..,

Rotas not Ritas!