Anyone got ideas on HOW secondary schools can go back full time in Sept?

[Fizzysours]

I am a teacher and I want schools back now. Many of my pupils are getting really low and lonely and about 40% are not managing the work we set. I just don't get how full time will work in Sept though because....
-with one metre distancing we can fit 20, not 30 in a class
-kids will have to sit at one desk all day, to reduce transmission on objects, teachers would rotate
-so if we 'set' the class for english, the setting will be totally wrong for maths, and vice versa, so what level do we teach them? They won't get good appropriate work, but a 'one size for all'- shockingly hard for them
-what about their options? Half of each bubble doing geography, half history etc.....
-how do they get lunch? We can only stagger it so much, with rotating teachers.
Anyone else thinking this is just going to be so hard? Do we give in and have school as normal, with the really high infection risks? If it's as above, these kids cannot be expected to perform at GCSE.

Have I missed some really simple solution? It just seems impossible. But they must come back. Home is just so hard for them.

Young people are less likely to pass on infection

The jury appears to be out on this point and tbh it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They may be less likely to catch it and suffer serious effects from it, but if they do get it I don't see why they'd be less likely to transmit it - particularly to their families who may well be kissing and hugging them.

As to 'how can secondary schools get back safely', I think the answer is basically - infection control. So washing of hands compulsory when arriving at school, after break, before lunch, after lunch, etc, desks to be cleaned with disinfectant after every student uses them, shared equipment to be wiped down with disinfect after every use, face masks to be worn when students are moving between classrooms, packed lunches if necessary to avoid crowds in the dining hall.

My DDs' school has already said there will be an induction day for the new Y7s on the 4th of September. I've no idea how realistic that is, though they have the rare advantage of having more space in their temporary building that they were already expanding into before all this. I have wondered if changes have been made to their new building with this in mind.

There are so many variables and government guidance so far has been a mess that it will likely come down to individual schools, trusts, local authorities. If part-time, I hope they will include subjects that are more difficult to impossible to do at home at school (like DT) rather than just core subjects.

I also hope there will be consideration for those children who still need to shield or are otherwise unable to physically attend (as has been said on other threads on this topic, many children even in recent years who couldn't attend were too often left without education resources) and that uniform adjustments will be made to allow students to wear masks and face shields even if temporary or optional. I've used both cloth masks and the flexible wraparound face shields that connect to hats (rather than the medical PPE ones), both have their pros and cons. I could see either being used in schools alongside infection control things like hand sanitizers, wiping down spaces, and hand washing, though flexible face shields I think would be more inclusive, particularly to those on the public transport exemption list, but I can see masks being better for some.

@GeorgieTheGorgeousGoat

"Teachers to wear PPE if they insist (which isn’t massively necessary since they spend most of the time at the front of the class"

You ever been in a classroom?

@Pineapple1 🤣🤣🤣🤣. I love the wording... 'if they insist'...so all responsibility on us!! Yay I would get to pay for my ppe myself, in other words!!!! My school is deffo not providing it to staff....but then, they don't have enough money for bleedin' textbooks....

’Teachers to wear PPE if they insist (which isn’t massively necessary since they spend most of the time at the front of the class"

What?!

I spend no time at all at the front of a class. In fact I only ever do the register or change a slide.

The rest of it, I’m all over the classroom like lightening.

*Teachers to wear PPE if they insist (which isn’t massively necessary since they spend most of the time at the front of the class"

NOT. A. CLUE.