To think the idea that schools won’t be back full time by September is an absolute disgrace?

[LovingLivingInLockdown]

The government and teaching unions need to pull their fingers out. There should be no excuses.

The effects of 6 months out of school is going to be damaging enough, both educationally and mentally for hundreds of thousands of children. Not to mention the unnoticed abuse and neglect.

Teachers should be wearing PPE with spit screens if they are vulnerable and this should be being organised now. Temporary classrooms should be being built in playgrounds and school fields. Random testing routines in all schools should be being devised as well as guidelines regarding children’s contact with others outside of school and home. Whatever it takes, it must be done.

Our society expects parents to work while their DC are at school and if they want to get the economy moving again, schools being back by September should be non negotiable surely?

I’d value the person willing to get out there in front of the class and get on with it over almost anything else right now

Laurie for the umpteenth time, it’s not that teachers are unwilling

Ffs. What ARE you going to spend your time wilfully misunderstanding when this is over?!

It's like talking to a brick wall.

Your son's teacher may well be working full time in front of a class as well as doing this

She’s not. They aren’t open for key workers.

"formerbabe

I genuinely find it perplexing thought that so many parents think their healthy dc are at risk. Ok, I understand it from a wider public health angle, I don't agree but fine. But, actual risk to children is miniscule. The figures tell us so. It blows my mind that people can't see this. Your child could die from chicken pox. Like covid, it's unlikely but it happens."

Children are great carriers of diseases. I personally dont want mine to get it, nor do I want them to bring it home. For my own personal reasons. As a family weve looked death in the face in recent years, so I'm not someone who thinks bad things dont happen to them and are perhaps a little bit more risk averse. Thousands of people use grandparents as wraparound childcare and dont want them to get it.

YANBU

Time to get schools open fully and if it takes the 2m rule to be abolished or reduced that’s what should happen. The risk of the virus is much much lower than back in March and still falling, I don’t see why it can’t be reduced to 1m and if the old and vulnerable are worried they can stay at home. You can’t jeopardise the life chances and education of a generation of children for the sake of a virus that is dropping in prevalence and that over 99% of people who get it survive. Even people in their 80s who get it are more likely to survive than not. This is all getting silly now.

Some children are back but they are not being taught also they are not always supervised by a fully qualified teacher.

I’d personally be happy by a newly graduated teacher we are all have to learn. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides I’m sure some of the newly qualified teachers would do an excellent job.

So you think it's acceptable for individual headteachers to lose their careers and livelihoods because their schools have buildings that aren't safe to reopen fully?

Yes because they are failing in their duty to educate children. The buildings can and should be adapted to be safer, with the 2m rule banished there will be no other excuse to cling to. All school buildings should be open and running.

The children's commissioner today has already issued an urgent warning that school closures are causing severe damage to children. It is a national scandal that children have been abandoned.

An epidemic of educational poverty is evolving before our very eyes. You can stamp your feet and shout that schools should stay shut, but that says more about you than anything else, that you can not see the immense damage being caused.

Yes just stick any old graduate in front of kids Private schools did that for years. Didn't mean they were bad teachers.

Schools are going vack in year 6, 1, 10 etc

If I was a teacher, I’d fund a visor myself so I could get on and actually do my job, that I’m paid for

On top of all the other stuff that teachers often pay for, because schools are now so skint that they can't be paid for out of school funds?

A friend has recently retired from being deputy head of a large urban primary in a relatively deprived area. Even with almost 50% of the roll getting the pupil premium, her staff were routinely buying paper, art and craft materials, stationery, reading books etc.

My hairdresser friend looked into buying visors. They were around £5 and single use, so even if a teacher used the same one all day, that would be £25 pw. Why should someone pay £100 a month out of their (taxed) income for safety equipment?

No-one who is an employee should have to pay for the equipment they need to do their job safely. The responsibility lies with the employer.

Blame the voters for repeatedly electing governments that won't adequately fund education (or any other public service).

And if lack of PPE is the only things stopping your children's school from reopening, why not get together with other parents and have a whip round to fund it yourselves? It'd be a lot cheaper than the £13k a year it costs to have your child in my local private primary, where they have purchased PPE for staff.

@SmileEachDay only reception, year 1 and year 6 are back. Years 10 and 12 are back part time from tomorrow.

I'm talking aboit getting ALL year groups back on a part time basis. So ALL children will have some time at school even if just a day or two per week.

You can’t jeopardise the life chances and education of a generation of children

10 weeks of education will have been disrupted. We’ll have to do some curriculum juggling, but it’s important to keep it in perspective.

Hyperbole doesn’t help.

Ofsted should rate them as inadequate in September if they are unable to open properly, because that is precisely what they are, not fit for purpose.

OK. Then what? So now we’ve got the schools with the worst crowding and worst staffing issues (mostly in deprived areas btw) marked. How is that going to help? Or do you feel like the threat of it would enable them to magic up extra classrooms and teachers?

Even if the distance goes down to 1m, that's still 15 in a class for most schools. If the absolute end of social distancing is about 1year -18 months away, no Tory government is going to invest in short term solutions like portacabins which are expensive. They will just limp along with 15 on a class and see more migrate to the private sector.

Yes just stick any old graduate in front of kids yes please!!
Lets have the any old graduates. At least they will turn up. Lets face it other jobs are going to be very thin on the ground for years if not decades once the recession bites.
The school system could really do with some graduate blue skies thinking it is completely unfit for purpose.

They will just limp along with 15 on a class and see more migrate to the private sector.

If the private sector can deliver then they deserve the business and good luck to them.

10 weeks of education will have been disrupted. We’ll have to do some curriculum juggling, but it’s important to keep it in perspective

If the schools don't open properly in September it will be much more than ten weeks. I hope you don't teach maths!!!

I'm talking aboit getting ALL year groups back on a part time basis. So ALL children will have some time at school even if just a day or two per week

Why is that a better way of doing it? I didn’t make the policy - so I’m interested to hear what you think.

@LaurieMarlow that won't be a popular opinion amongst parents without any option though will it. Surprised that the government's nasty idea is going down so well.

@pigeon999

So you think it's acceptable for individual headteachers to lose their careers and livelihoods because their schools have buildings that aren't safe to reopen fully?

Yes because they are failing in their duty to educate children. The buildings can and should be adapted to be safer, with the 2m rule banished there will be no other excuse to cling to. All school buildings should be open and running.

The children's commissioner today has already issued an urgent warning that school closures are causing severe damage to children. It is a national scandal that children have been abandoned.

An epidemic of educational poverty is evolving before our very eyes. You can stamp your feet and shout that schools should stay shut, but that says more about you than anything else, that you can not see the immense damage being caused.

Some schools couldn't open fully unless all social distancing were abandoned. Even a reduction to 1m wouldn't create sufficient space to accommodate all pupils full time. Unless the government simply instructs all schools to reopen fully and all shielding staff to work as normal some headteachers will still be in a position beyond their individual control? Yet you think that justifies sacking them?

@pigeon999

Ofsted should rate them as inadequate in September if they are unable to open properly, because that is precisely what they are, not fit for purpose. Full closure or a replacement of leadership should follow. Any other failing public service would rightly expect immediate action.

You do know that Ofsted failed its last inspection don't you?

Yes, it's shit our children won't be at school for six months. Yes some schools have done more than others in terms of supporting homeschooling.

But

IT'S NOT THE SCHOOLS' OR TEACHERS' FAULT.

As far as I know they've:

Basically been left to it when it comes to working out how to teach in bubbles of 15 plus keyword children and implement a raft of new and constantly changing measures, and have to execute it all in a matter of days

Been advised NOT to do live video lessons or live video full stop, there are lots of children that require additional safeguarding at our school and therefore they would be left out if this happened

Had no additional money to pay for cleaning, staffing, PPE etc etc

They've been left in the shit.

Put your hand up if you'd swap from your circumstance to being a teacher right now.

At least they will turn up

Who do you think is not turning up?

Gave up trawling through a lot of the shit that is on this thread at about the 8am posts.
Some of you have Simply. No. Idea.
Best of luck in finding ANY retired (of any age) teachers to set foot in a classroom again after the way that they will have been treated in Education over the years (as evidenced by some of the toxicity on here).
Secondly, I wonder if all those lauding the benefits of education and desperate for schools to open more widely are the same ones whose kids aren't completing the work they've been set by schools. After all, 9 weeks of school have been "missed," but children "should" have been completing 9 weeks of learning, IF their parents have valued it highly enough to ensure they complete it at home.
If not, then frankly, you're not really in a position to complain.

Everyone is an armchair expert on this thread. Experts at teaching and education, experts at medicine. In reality most probably read the Mail (reading age 9) and are educated to GCSE O level grade at best.

I think people need to do what they do best - watching Gogglebox and leave teaching and medicine to those who have studied and trained for a considerable time to do their jobs.