Disappointed secondary schools are reopening

[wovengrass]

I'm hoping for a sensible exchange of ideas on this.
I understand the importance of children missing out on learning, but I can't help but feel that a full reopening of all secondary schools in the UK at the same time is madness.
I strongly feel that it would have been better to spend time/money on making home learning a realistic and standardised solution, as well as putting plans in place for the children that need further support. That way if any future outbreaks happen we aren't just hoping for the best and blindly following this idea that "schools must be the last place to close no matter what."

I also can't get my head around the logistics, locally. The local secondary that my nephew attends (there are several large ones near to me) has over 1000 students, many rely on public transport to get there. With reduced space on transport due to social distancing, I wonder how children will actually all make it to school on time? Many schools are also not allowing children who are late to enter, to avoid the crossing of year group bubbles.

Throw also into the mix that many adult will be relying on the same transport to return to work. I'm genuinely wondering how on earth it is realistic?

I think primary and nursery schools are a different thing entirely, and obviously childcare is a factor then also. But putting 1000 teenagers/young adults + teacher staff into a building with no masks and no country-wide home learning plan if things go wrong, seems absolutely nuts to me.

Just wondering what others think about this?

And just to help with that, the school have said detentions won’t happen

that’s a bad idea. My school has actually increased the number of detention slots. Thankfully they’ve decided behaviour is an absolute priority and will come down hard on misbehaving kids.

But I think one of my points is that schools are not ‘everything else’. They are schools. They are an absolutely vital public service and they form a fundamental part of our social contract. And children are not ‘everyone’. They’re children and they have a limited window for education. We have deprived 9 million of them (more than 10% of our population) of a basic human right for the last 6 months. And we will ALL suffer the consequences of that decision for a generation or more

Absolutely this. You have hit the nail on the head totally.

The gap is huge between private and state.
T'was ever thus.

I feel this is how many secondary schools shot themselves in the foot by not even trying to go on line and yet many other schools managed perfectly fine.
Yet, the funding for advanced IT systems to manage this has been very patchy. So, some schools are set up to go, and others have floundered, although those flounderers might excel in other areas. Unfortunately, the pandemic has removed the curtain and parents are now beginning to see for themselves just how stretched schools have been for years. Too good a job was done at covering it up previously.

viva

Exactly, that's what my setting, where I work did.
We didn't miss a beat and the students were engaged and interacting every single day. We were preparing for it weeks before lock down as were many other schools. However, my dc secondary, seemed to think it was all stuff and nonsense and proudly declared they were still having gym meets and after school clubs leading up to lock down.
We were never asked what provisions we have at home to learn on line, we were never asked if we had spare tech to give to give to students who had non.
Then they said '' the government only gave us two laptops ''

My dc schools were awful, they didn't even try.
Our primary didn't even give us the work sheets so many mn complained about, we didn't even get that.
My dc friends at other local schools have been given work weekly, supported and others had on line lessons.

When one has done it, one wonders why other settings make such a mountain out of a mole hill.
And now they are backed into a corner because there is no other way.

But I still can't understand why visors at the very least can't be worn.

Sadly the virus doesn’t care and won’t stop at the school gate just because it’s an essential service.

But are we saying that about law and order, food production, essential health? No we aren’t. These things continue regardless because they are essential. As are schools.

Absolutely we try to mitigate the risk as far as possible, but the objective needs to be providing full time education for all.

I like many parents, would support teachers in any measures they need to maximise safety while providing for all children.

that’s a bad idea. My school has actually increased the number of detention slots. Thankfully they’ve decided behaviour is an absolute priority and will come down hard on misbehaving kids.

I know. I can understand why they’ve said they won’t happen but I think it’s even more important at the moment that the kids are disciplined effectively and teachers have control. Certain children will take complete advantage of no detentions and teachers will feel even more vulnerable.
And selfishly, my child who attends this school will probably have to deal with more disruption in lessons. Bad behaviour will inevitable be more ignored as the teachers won’t have as many options. 😔

Call me,

But places have been using free tech like Google to teach on line?
Most teachers at home have lap tops, if not school lap tops.
At the very least most teachers have a smart phone where they can talk to pupils from.

That's how we did it. I'm not sure where this huge financial cost comes from?

The curtain has been pulled back to show how archaic and behind the times many heads are. We are living in the age of computers and the Internet.

My dc schools were awful, they didn't even try. Our primary didn't even give us the work sheets so many mn complained about, we didn't even get that

This is why there needs to be plan B. If individual schools go their own way some will be great and others will be poor.

Only someone schools, but admittedly a large number have deprived their pupils of their human rights to education.

Many have not missed a beat and gone on line.
Issued work at the very least, weekly.

I can't think of any other work places, where people are exposed to huge numbers of people in cramped stuffy spaces, who can't wear masks or visors?

That's all I want, is for visors to be compulsory inside and masks where possible.

Most teachers at home have lap tops, if not school lap tops.

I wonder how many modern companies, expecting their employees to work from home, also expect them to fund buying their own high-performance technology and wifi bandwidth to facilitate it. Heck, my sil's small company delivered high-spec desks/chairs/foot-rests/wrist-rests/headphones to each employee's home, along with a contribution to increased electricity costs and a wifi upgrade.

a large number have deprived their pupils of their human rights to education.
See, it's this sort of emotive language that is quite damaging.

@Vivalasjohnnyvegas

Are there any secondary teachers on here? Please share what your school is doing and what you have been asked to do to facilitate schools opening in Sept.

Some of you seem to think schools are going to open with no thought put into it and no SD in place. I highly doubt that.

@Vivalasjohnnyvegas I’m a Secondary teacher. As @FrippEnos has said, there are some plans around trying to reduce mixing of bubbles and trying to increase hygiene. However there is no SD in effect as the bubbles are whole year groups, class sizes will be as normal so no room in classrooms for social distancing. Teachers are supposed to stay 2m away from pupils but I know in my room (and many others I’ve taught in over the last 30 years) getting 30 pupils in means there isn’t actually space for that unless I teach from outside the door or on a platform outside the window. This is then exacerbated b6 the fact that I will teach all but one of the year group bubbles over a week so if I’m exposed to virus due to not being able to distance, I’ll spread it to all the others. Also many come in by bus. I doubt 7 buses will be put on for each route to keep bubbles separate on those... Plus many families have children in more than one huge year group bubble... You can doubt schools are going back without SD all you like, but the fact is they are.

The OP is about how we manage this, not about staying closed. We need either a)twice as many (at least) classrooms and teachers to manage some SD (still doesn’t work very well for teachers teaching more than one year group) or b) only half (or fewer) pupils in at any onetime (again, not perfect, but reducing the risk).
Without that, there will be burst bubbles and staff shortages - and absent a national Plan B what will happen then?

Yet, the funding for advanced IT systems to manage this has been very patchy

Funding wasn’t the issue for my sons school. It’s in an affluent area, I can’t think of any child who wouldn’t have had access to a device. If they do exist, I have three devices that I would gladly have donated to another family who needed it - and I’m sure that’s true of many people. We were never asked.

Proper digital learning didn’t happen because the will wasn’t there from the school.

My ds is 13 he can stay home alone as I work full time but if im out working there is no one here to ensure he's doing what he should with home learning! He needs to be back in school!

Home learning is great if someone is home to oversee it... 🙄

We were never asked.

That's quite a big operation to co-ordinate, fraught with potential difficulties, I expect.

Proper digital learning didn’t happen because the will wasn’t there from the school

So why aren’t the government coming up with a plan B for the autumn and winter terms?

"Proper digital learning didn’t happen because the will wasn’t there from the Government."

There, fixed that for you.

That's quite a big operation to co-ordinate, fraught with potential difficulties, I expect.

The excuses never stop, do they.

It’s not a big operation in the slightest to a school actually committed to educating their children.

There, fixed that for you.

The school down the road, with exactly the same type of catchment managed it really well.

So explain to me again, why it’s the governments fault that our school didn’t?

OP you are obviously not a parent or you would realise it is VITAL that the children get back to school, and they should have been back months ago.

The only people I know of who don't want the schools to go back are a tiny minority of teachers who've just had a payrise for sitting at home watching Netflix for five months and don't want that to change.

Yes - online learning will not solve ALL problems, including need for technology or internet access. However, it will provide efficient continuity for some and if you do couple it with distributing laptops and improving internet access, then can be made more widely available.

Furthermore, I think it is more efficient than each school trying to individually make an online offering if pandemic requires another lockdown

Callme suffice to say that if I was honest about what I think about some of your comments, I’d be banned.

I’ve supported my sons learning to the absolute best of my abilities. I’m very content with what I’ve done. The provision he got from school (two worksheets a week, no feedback) was absolutely abysmal. Continue to stand up for that kind of delivery if you want. It says a lot about you and the profession.

There is a simple solution to your worries; take your child out and hone school them. Let the rest who want to attend, attend.

@Literallynoidea

OP you are obviously not a parent or you would realise it is VITAL that the children get back to school, and they should have been back months ago.

The only people I know of who don't want the schools to go back are a tiny minority of teachers who've just had a payrise for sitting at home watching Netflix for five months and don't want that to change.

Absolute bollocks but do carry on with your ignorant bile.