To think they may as well say "don't send children with additional needs back in September"

[drspouse]

The current plan is:
All in bubbles of 30
All in the classroom together
All facing the front (WTF has that got to do with virus protection)
No use of shared spaces except at your rota time and after it's been bleached.
Teachers at the front, 2m away
AND focus on behaviour.

My DS has an EHCP and needs a space to escape to when the classroom gets too much. He's often been using a work space outside the classroom. We just looked round a lovely mainstream primary that has a behaviour base and a nurture base. Oh and a library and an ICT suite that children can access at lunchtime.
His previous school had very little space and the corridor was the library etc.

So how are schools supposed to cater for children who need time out of the classroom to prevent meltdown?
This includes children who are having a hard time at home, can't cope with playground noise etc. Not just those who have a diagnosis of SEN.

And children like my DD who have small group teaching outside the classroom most days - you can't do that with 2m separation and all facing the front even if you can disinfect the break out area.

So I'm guessing nobody really wants a child like my DS in their child's classroom if he's not allowed to go out to his calm down area when he needs to?

Well, I guess I knew the government didn't really want to deal with inconvenient children who don't fit their mould, but this confirms it.

I really feel for teachers, yet another impossible task.

I know, but I'm asking have you asked these specious schools these questions. It will give you an idea of what actual schools are doing rather than the black and white guidance

Schools can’t give any idea yet really though because they haven’t been given the guidance for September. All they can do is best guess situations which is hard enough for children they know let alone new children to a school

I’m a SEN teacher in Scotland the latest (it’s ever changing) plan is all children are returning full time on the 12th August.

Yes we cannot social distance, we will just have to do the best we can, PPE during personal care, wash all the children’s hands frequently and our own, clean surfaces and toys etc.

Children have a right to be in school if it’s open, SEN or not.

Yea totally ask the school. School I work in are providing our echp children with their 1:1 support and breakout spaces now ..albeit adapted but it's there x

My DS goes to a SEN school, thank goodness.

Is there different guidance for SEN schools?

One option that some schools are talking about is packed lunches in the classroom this is what my Y1 is having since he is back. You can bring your own or the school provides it.

The 1:1 TAs at my school are on the shielding list and all three of them are resigning rather than coming back in September!

They also ran the breakfast club which will be fun

I read there would be no social distancing for children in primary - it’s just simply not enforceable. My daughter is starting school in September and thankfully going to a very small primary, only 100 children in whole school up to year 6. Only 15 in her class. I consider ourselves extremely lucky, especially as it’s out of our catchment area.

They will have to put something in place for vulnerable children, surely? Or perhaps some will use it as an excuse to exclude them to make life easier.

@Letseatgrandma

The 1:1 TAs at my school are on the shielding list and all three of them are resigning rather than coming back in September!

They also ran the breakfast club which will be fun

Frees up jobs for those that have been made redundant? All is not lost. A pain to recruit, but there’ll be plenty, sadly, looking for work.

Well, we’ve advertised and had no suitable applicants yet.

1:1s definitely won’t be in place for those children with EHC plans for September and neither will breakfast club.

I’m sure it will be fine in the end, but next year will look very different.

What's wrong with facing front now? I understand your general point, but complaining about perfectly valid and acceptable details is not helping.
It's absolutely fine for children to be facing the teacher

Schools are currently not accepting most year groups and not all qualifying key worker children! They can't even cater for the majority as they should be able to now, so nothing wrong in writing to the head NOW and clarify what will be done for additional need pupils, whilst the schools are currently making plans. The head might even have an answer, or will have one by September?

I'm interested to see what it will look like in September. My son has additional needs with no diagnosis but it's anxiety alongside adhd. He is on the SEN register and has things in place for him at school such as a quiet place. But he doesn't have a statement or anything.
The SEN teacher at our school has made no contacts at all since they finished in March. My son has not coped well at all with homeschooling and i want him to return to school in September, but i know there will be challenges.
He always has problems when the class goes into the next year and has a new teacher as the teacher has to learn the strategies that get the best out of him. there has to be a lot of involvement from me and lots of meetings. I have no idea how any of this is going to work, and the nurturing groups he was attending will all be stopped. I am abit worried about it all tbh

What's wrong with facing front now?

It's not always conductive to effective learning is what's wrong with it and where children are seated within the room can have an impact on how well they can focus/concentrate and learn. The teacher at the front, distanced from the children and leading a lesson sets a very specific tone/atmosphere, some children will be fine with this but others will learn better from having a teacher who is moving around the room, working at different heights, sitting down with those who need extra support, encouraging, checking, etc and there are teachers whose style of teacher works better this way too. Working in groups and pairs or working individually at a group table and chatting while working is an important part of learning as it helps develop social and emotional skills as well as enhancing lessons through the sharing of ideas, again not really possible with separate desks all facing the front. For children who have problems with social-emotional literacy they have an increased need peer interaction as part of their overall education and they need opportunities to practice social and emotional skills, again this will not be possible with everyone facing the front.

Schools can’t give any idea yet really though because they haven’t been given the guidance for September. well exactly. And even when they are, it will change 40 times in one week, going by the government's track record.

What's wrong with facing front now?
If it's best practice why don't schools do it all the time now? Why are both my DCs in groups/on tables facing each other/in small groups including sitting on the floor for circle time/having some degree of free flow in Y1/having some free choice time in Y3? Why do they have reading corners, art stations etc.?
Not to mention activities where they can't provide each child with, say, an individual bug station and magnifying glass plus another individual hands on science task plus a third individual science task. So quite rightly they circulate children round the pieces of equipment.

We have no idea when DS will be in the hypothetical school, so there's little point in asking them "what will you be doing in September" when they have no idea because things will change (maybe the government will see sense, who knows, anything could happen).

Sorry - pressed post to soon.
It's the idea that the government thinks in any way that this will provide actual education for all. It shows how out of touch with reality they are, and how little they know or care about children or teachers.

JaniceWebster How dare you describe children with needs as 'the bottom'

It is possible to cater for the majority AND children with additionional needs. Theres no need to write off children.

If it's best practice why don't schools do it all the time now?
It might not be "best practice" in the current fashion and the Brits are preferring a more informal setting, it doesn't make it more efficient.

Just because something is a bit different doesn't make it unbearable.

Instead of kids going to whatever corner, the said activity will be brought to their own desk, big deal.

Parents are free to keep their children home or chose a different school if they prefer a different approach. Most kids will benefit from access to the classroom full stop, front sitting or not. Let's work for the majority for a change shall we?

You cannot reasonably expect one-to-one in the current climate, whilst it would benefit everybody a lot more to have smaller groups. One adult for 10 would ALWAYS be a lot better than 1 adult for 30, and 1 adult for one specific child!

Grasspigeons

Please do not twist my words and pretend I said things I did not! How dare you!

The BOTTOM is the CURRENT SITUATION when most year groups are not allowed in school at all and deny all education!!!

my point was that in the current mess, children sitting at desks facing the front of the class was the least of anyone's problem.

*Let's work for the majority for a change shall we? Where are you if you think mainstream schools cater for sen kids as a priority over typical kids? That's not my experience anywhere

You cannot reasonably expect one-to-one in the current climate, whilst it would benefit everybody a lot more to have smaller groups. One adult for 10 would ALWAYS be a lot better than 1 adult for 30, and 1 adult for one specific child!
In a typical class of 30 you'd need 3 staff for grottos of 10, so it would be grottos of 14/15 and 121 for one. And that may well be preferable than one teacher trying to teach 10 kids when 1 cannot do the work unsupported, gets overwhelmed and needs support, has physical needs that night pull thT 1 teacher away the r est of the group.

And not all 121 is alone in a corner, the 121 ta nay well be sorting with another teacher in a larger group but offering extra support to 1 or 2 children specifically

To be fair I don't think @JaniceWebster was saying that children with SEN were 'the bottom'.
I understood her post as: facing front might not be ideal but it is not a bad solution, definitely better than no school at all - and this is for all students, SEN or not.

Grasspigeons
You got my post deleted so you made it look like I wrote something that I didn't.

For the record, I said nothing of what you accused me, you misunderstood me and that's your problem, not mine.

PleasePassTheCoffeeThanks

thank you

The same way that I am also saying a part-time for ALL
would be better than a full-time for some, and nothing at all for the others.

It's not working and it's not in the best interest of any of the children, we'll have to accept compromises but a full refusal to accept some children is not acceptable.