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?

[LalaLoopy20]

Schools needs to open and life needs to go on. My Dd is year 8, so technically doesn't require' 'childcare' aspect of school but 6 months of being home alone is taking its toll. I work from home as much as possible but it's not sustainable long term.

[SomewhereEast]

@IckleWicklePumperNickle

Take your child out and homeschool them. I for one am happy schools are back.
Life has to go on, we have stood still long enough. We really need to learn to live with it, like we do with every thing else.

Yes to this. We can't shut down society indefinitely. There's a small possibility we might have a reliable vaccine by the start of 2021, but mid-2021 seems to be the best case scenario. Thats a year of this. And thats assuming we do have something by mid-2021. There are no guarantees. So no, I'm not prepared to deprive children of schooling and of the support, security & oversight schools provide the vulnerable for....how long??? Years? And my DCs are still years away from secondary schooling, so I don't have a personal stake in this. And would I, a healthy 40yo, be prepared to teach in a secondary school right now. Personally yes

[lljkk]

I am delighted they are reopening & optimistic that the reopening will generally succeed.

[meditrina]

However, I see localised lockdowns being MORE disadvantageous than a national closure of schools. At least when kids were 'all in the same boat' (Suspended curriculum at least) Things were more even

Sure it was far from perfect, but this is surely just going to cause greater problem than an organised term of 'off site learning' for all (or Rota at least)

I agree.

Also because the exam cohort for 21 (and of a really bad autumn also 22) will,simply not be able to cover the whole syllabus unless there is good off-site learning tomcover all those 14 day isolation periods and local lockdowns. Because unlike 2020, they haven't covered all/nearly all the syllabus before it all went pearshaped

[SomewhereEast]

Also I don't think home learning is ever going to be a viable or safe or effective substitute for what schools do. It just isn't. No government could make it so, any more than a government could make it viable for people to perform DIY brain surgery in their living rooms. But this is part of a wider issue - basically you can have strict social distancing or you can have a functioning society. I'm not sure you can have both.

[WhenSheWasBad]

Schools are essential, like medical care and grocery shops

Schools absolutely are essential. But if a large number of teachers are sick they will have to shut.

[tinytemper66]

I am a teacher and can't wait to get back in the classroom with a full class instead of the 6 or 7 I had before the holidays. Nothing is risk free in life.

[Starlightstarbright1]

Yabu . As a childminder I with a house full of toddlers he cannot really homeschool. It is the wrong environment .

He also needs teaching not internet work - so far he has been generally bored by homeschooling as it is repeat work.

As for equality, have you seen the none exam results out today - children are really suffering .

My Ds (13 ) does see his 2 mates ( one is in our bubble ) He already is not socially distancing . I see many teens out in groups . They aren’t socially isolating.

I would support face masks to protect the teachers but really get them back in school.

[wovengrass]

@SomewhereEast Please read my previous post carefully. I'm saying that without a plan we risk further depriving children of education and support if another closure needs to happen. Instead of blindly charging full steam ahead, surely time and money should have been spent ensuring that children will not be left vulnerable/without teacher contact if schools close again. Children need to be able to be taught, and supported as much as possible from home. (Secondary children)

[WouldBeGood]

Large numbers of teachers being off sick hasn’t happened anywhere else.

[MissEliza]

Not another thread about schools opening.

[IckleWicklePumperNickle]

@tinytemper66

I am a teacher and can't wait to get back in the classroom with a full class instead of the 6 or 7 I had before the holidays. Nothing is risk free in life.

Couldn't agree more, our whole life is a risk.

[Mrhodgeymaheg]

Do you work OP? I think they should go back, definitely. Both the kids and parents have suffered, and the option is always there to homeschool if you want to, but for many people it just simply isn't an option. We just have to do our best with SD and be realistic.

[wovengrass]

@MissEliza So riveting that you felt compelled to comment.

[SomewhereEast]

[quote wovengrass]@SomewhereEast Please read my previous post carefully. I'm saying that without a plan we risk further depriving children of education and support if another closure needs to happen. Instead of blindly charging full steam ahead, surely time and money should have been spent ensuring that children will not be left vulnerable/without teacher contact if schools close again. Children need to be able to be taught, and supported as much as possible from home. (Secondary children)[/quote]
Firstly I'm not convinced that another closure might "need to happen", because I'm not convinced that the whole of society can continue to revolve around Covid infection rates for a year at least. The costs of this approach are already massive, and are disproportionately born by those least at actual risk. Secondly if you close schools, you are inherently depriving children, especially vulnerable children, of security and protection as well as of education. Thats the choice you are making. There is no substitute. There's nothing particularly safe or virtuous about closing schools again- its just shifting cost and risk from one demography to another demography, the most vulnerable demography of all because they have no votes and no unions and no money

[CallmeAngelina]

@WouldBeGood

Large numbers of teachers being off sick hasn’t happened anywhere else.

Well, there's a high school in Georgia which has 900 students and over 40 staff members all testing positive after 6 days back.
Or does that not count?

[Laiste]

At least when kids were 'all in the same boat' (Suspended curriculum at least) Things were more even

Agreed.

This better provision of home ed. - What would this look like OP? Also, no matter how good the provision of resources for the actual learning is it still means someone has to be at home with the child. How are parents both meant to work if they aren't in work from home jobs?

Conversely I have a DC going up to yr 2 in sept and i cannot imagine how it's going to work with all the sniffs and snotty sniffles headaches and sore throats and (in the case of my DC) raging temperatures for even a simple cold once autumn arrives. We'll be back for a month and then the 'everyone out , someone's ill' will start :(

[EatDessertFirst]

Schools need to reopen for the educational benefits and the mental health benefits of our children. Cases in my area are one of the lowest in the country and no schools have been closed due to covid since the beginning of lockdown.

I am not capable, as a single working mother, of the home/blended/whatever schooling of my Yr 5 and Yr 7 children. They need the school environment and they need the expertise of their teachers. Both of my DCs schools have coped magnificently all the way through and have comprehensive plans for the safety of the pupils when they go back.

If you don't deregister your children and homeschool them. Its that simple. The majority of us want our lives back.

[KnobChops]

An awful lot of threads started with the same message, anyone would think there is a group with an agenda...

Lots of us have to work outside of the home. All these posters seem to be coming from a place of SAHP privilege. My DD has been on her own every day for months while we go out to work. She is a resilient and mature child from a supportive home but she’s no longer coping. I can’t imagine what the impact is in children without home support. The toll on children is now unacceptable.

[underneaththeash]

I honestly can't believe that you don't think that's your nephew's education is incredibly important, as important in fact as people going to work.

Education is compulsory for a reason and children only have a few years to access it....that and health care are probably the most important parts of our society.

[CallmeAngelina]

It's not about a choice between opening/shutting/home-schooling.
If the return to school isn't managed properly, then schools WILL close again (if for no other reason than staff shortages) and a Plan B is required.
At the moment, there IS no Plan B. I understand you all want your kids back to school but realistically, what are you all going to do then?

[Pesimistic]

@IckleWicklePumperNickle

Take your child out and homeschool them. I for one am happy schools are back.
Life has to go on, we have stood still long enough. We really need to learn to live with it, like we do with every thing else.

That's all well and good but schools are going back pretty much as they were before covid. That's baffling, surely instead of just rushing things through and making out it cant be transmitted in schools and that children don't pass it on to get people back its school without a fuss about safety is wrong. If this was happening ing in hospitals or any other place of work then there would be up roar. Why cant there be social distancing like in any other work place, it has to be safe, it should be week on week off or half days or something like how it was before the summer holidays. Not full time its just ridiculous, it's too bad that people need to go back to work if it's not safe to operate at full capacity then it's not !

[WouldBeGood]

Our school actually does have a plan b for part time school if necessary.

[stopgap]

Our middle and high school (I’m in the US) are splitting children into two groups. They will each go for two days a week, and all the classrooms have been fitted with cameras, so the other three days will allow for streamed lessons all day. All children without laptops have been provided with one. I think it’s a good plan, and if this phase goes well, the schools would like to open in full for the second term.

Wherever schools have opened in full in the US (many states in the South and Midwest start school the first week of August) it has been an unmitigated disaster, and the schools have closed again after a couple of weeks. Contingency plans are crucial right now.