This government don’t give a shit about schools or your kids

[noblegiraffe]

AIBU to think that the government have fucked up literally everything to do with schools and education this year?

Evidence:

Chaotic school closures and keyworker provision (couldn’t decide what a keyworker was until the very last minute)

Forgot that kids on free school meals would go hungry so heads had to go round delivering sandwiches while the DfE put together an utterly shambolic voucher system that crashed and was pretty unusable.

Issued no guidelines for minimum education requirements during lockdown leading to vastly different provision between schools. Even Ofsted said they couldn’t judge schools on lockdown provision as there were no standards to judge them against.

Had to be shamed into u-turning on their insistence that free school meal children should go hungry during the holidays by a celebrity footballer (well done Marcus Rashford you absolute star)

Fed stories to friendly newspapers about schools re-opening in May to judge public reaction, leading to anxiety and uncertainty among parents and school staff

Announced that primary schools would open to all pupils before the summer holidays, an announcement that had surely not been run past anyone who worked in schools given that under the government’s own guidelines for schools for bubbles of 15 and no rotas, this would require double the classrooms and double the teachers available. Then backtracked on this a few weeks later (getting the friendly press to blame the unions) again creating uncertainty, anxiety and disappointment for parents and pupils.

Ignored education select committee questions about Ofqual’s algorithm when they raised issues in July

Lied and said they didn’t have early access to the data from Ofqual’s algorithm

When Scotland u-turned on their use of an algorithm, instead of making a considered response, came out with the bizarre notion that kids could use their mock grades - a suggestion that had obviously never been put past anyone who worked in schools. Again.

Took 5 days to realise that their mock suggestion created more problems than it solved, then u-turned on awarding CAGs creating problems for Y12 next year.

Fed stories to the friendly press that the unions are blocking the re-opening of schools in September so if it goes tits-up, they can blame them again (unions are asking for a ‘plan B’ in the case of local lockdowns, and for working conditions comparable to those of all other workers, no strike action has been proposed or balloted for so they couldn’t block re-opening even if they wanted to)

Blamed Ofqual for the algorithm they were told to create (prioritising statistics over teacher assessment)

Branded a teacher payrise that was agreed back in January a ‘reward for work during lockdown’, knowing this was incorrect, and deliberately fuelling outrage that they themselves had caused by having no minimum requirements for education in lockdown leading to vastly different provision.

Not funding this payrise so teachers probably won’t get it as otherwise it will lead to redundancies for other staff members due to having to fund it from already dire staffing budgets.

Issued guidelines that said that schools should reopen with increased cleaning schedules, increased handwashing, hand sanitising but providing no extra funding for this.

Instructed heads not to take any measures that would improve safety but would require more space (e.g. use of village halls) or not have pupils in full time (rotas, staggered timetables).

Didn’t realise that kids wouldn’t be able to get to school on public transport under current social distancing requirements as there aren’t enough buses until three weeks before schools reopened, and decided to throw £40 million to LAs to sort this (what? buy more buses?) so that they could blame the LAs when it inevitably goes wrong and kids can’t get to school.

And these are the people currently running a campaign to convince parents that they are capable of re-opening schools safely.

YABU: I have full confidence in the government and am perfectly happy with how things have gone so far

YANBU: It is mind-boggling how incompetent they have been, and how little thought they have given to the education of the nation’s children.

Digging away is divisive and deflects from the real issue that without extra money, cases in both countries will rise unacceptably in the community. Nicola S has been opening up Scotland more slowly so that community transmission of the virus is less. That is her strategy.
She said so yesterday in her address to the Scottish Parliament and has hammered home in her daily public briefings. I'm not an SNP fan but at least in Scotland there is clear leadership. Where mistakes in education have been made there is a quick rectification.
The same schools that couldn't possibly manage a part time return in June like England did, with far fewer cases? The Scottish term ends in June.

Boris visits a village.

The villagers tell him they have two problems and they want him to sort them out.

They tell him the first is that they have no village doctor.

Boris gets on his phone, speaks for a few minutes and then turns to the villagers and says right sorted I've got you a doctor. And what's the other problem?

A villager replies we have no mobile phone connection.

Here endeth the lesson.

It's all about England isn't it.

Well yes, education is devolved. Could you write a similar list for Scotland? I don’t know, Sturgeon seems more capable and compassionate than Johnson.

@latticechaos

And missed the update on the 11th for schools guidance.

@FrippEnos Has this update just not happened - is it expected to come before term in England?

As far as I know it just hasn't happened.

There was a mini update to the DoE guidance on the 7th then nothing.

The update due on 11th has not happened.

Unfortunately we have a person in charge who wanted to have the title 'Prime Minister' rather then actually doing the job, hence the invisible man impression.

Schools have to go back fulltime because the one over riding fact is that as a country we do not have anywhere near being able to do distance learning on any scale.

And then to add to this we will have to go through possible second wave and this government dealing with Brexit.

Could you write a similar list for Scotland? Scottish teachers probably could. I don't teach any more and I used to teach in England.
My initial post was a bit 'Who will think of the children?' But they seem to have had the roughest deal of all. I can just imagine me teaching long division at home and completely losing the plot and this psychological torture going on up and down the country. Never mind the poor wee souls stuck at home with abusive parents.
One of the most cheering sights here has been our local high school kids going out for their chips at lunch time. I hope they enjoyed every last greasy morsel. As you were.

@IWantAPetUnicorn

The update due on 11th has not happened.

I think the update on the 11th was an urban myth - one that many LAs and schools believed. I don’t know where it came from, many of us searched high and low for mention of it officially and never found it. I think they said update in August and Scottish schools opening on 11th and somehow they got conflated?

I couldn’t find the update on the 11th thing anywhere from the DfE either, it seemed to be either secret headteacher knowledge, or a misunderstanding that was then widely shared.

Obviously there was an update on 11th August at 10:30pm, it was the infamous ‘valid mock result’ one.

Actually ending on a prime number has been bugging me so I can add

30. releasing important information about schools and education in an ad-hoc way via comments dropped into speeches (leaving everyone waiting for the detail), press releases in the middle of the night, and worst, and most damaging of all to public confidence - via leaks to the press (including, memorably, one about schools reopening guidance to the Huffington Post ) leading to endless speculation about whether this leak is a correct policy or merely a flag-flying exercise.

if school leaders and business leaders and finance staff are saying "we spent more money, not less, during this period" why would you not believe them

Because it doesn't suit a narrative 🤷‍♀️

Schools spent more and have been refused in guidance to have funds to meet needs for Covid secure opening and aiming been told to do so it possible.

Against a company listed in companies house worth £100 who have never had experience making PPE getting a huge government contract.

I'd almost suggest I'm being cynical when it turns out the owners were massive pro Brexit speakers in suggesting its coincidence

And to reply to the "who would want to do it being abused and why don't you run yourself if you are criticising"

I have never wanted to be an MP. I wouldn't run because it's not what I want to do. But those who run genuinely believe they will be good at it and want or do it knowing the downsides.

If you take on a job you should do it to best if your ability and if you make mistakes you have to accept people will point it out.

If you don't know your arse from your elbow and can't speak in full sentences then being MP isn't for you

If you want to be really depressed I suggest you follow The Week in Tory on Twitter.

mobile.twitter.com/RussInCheshire/status/1295772678163517443

Of course we need a public enquiry.

In the past 105 years we've had 2 world wars and 2 pandemics.

It's time to be honest about the fact generations are seeing these things and we need to be pro active and not reactive.

We need to know how we can do better.

MrsHerculePoirot

The updates date was from a previous announcement.
The problem is that this government has managed to fuck up so much it may have either been buried or just binned.

noblegiraffe

thanks for the list. I meant to add not to pick. As it may seem that I have done.

No worries Fripp, the list is welcome to be added to, I just wasn’t sure enough about the 11th thing.

Aaaaand we are back on a prime number because I forgot

31. rejected an offer of free help from the Royal Statistical Society with composing the ultimately doomed algorithm by insisting on a 5 year non-disclosure agreement that goes against the principles of the RSS. Given that the technical details of the algorithm have been released in excruciating detail, one wonders what exactly the government needed to be sure wouldn’t reach public ears before the next election.

The problem is that this government has managed to fuck up so much

And yet people still love them.
I think its because of Brexit. If you voted Brexit you have tied your flag to the Tories, Brexit is a cult, there is no amount of evidence that will make you rethink and so you have to also stay loyal to the Tories. They know this, they know they can lie and fail and steal through corruption as much as they want and their Brexit voters will defend them.
I can't see any other reason why their voters can watch all this death and destruction they cause and defend them. That and the fact we're all allowed to be a bit racist now, just like Boris is.

[quote KenDodd]If you want to be really depressed I suggest you follow The Week in Tory on Twitter.

mobile.twitter.com/RussInCheshire/status/1295772678163517443[/quote]
That Russ is much better at this than me. What a depressing list.

[quote KenDodd]If you want to be really depressed I suggest you follow The Week in Tory on Twitter.

mobile.twitter.com/RussInCheshire/status/1295772678163517443[/quote]
I mean... how can anyone find it within themselves to say that the items on that list, and the sheer length of it, are in any way acceptable?

I'm not talking about the 'What if...' and 'Look over there!' distractions that Government supporters typically offer up. I want someone who genuinely believes in this Government to explain their response of all of these raised points and persuade me to have faith in these MPs.

@KenDodd
Brexit is a cult, there is no amount of evidence that will make you rethink and so you have to also stay loyal to the Tories.

That's very true. There's such an expansive list of propaganda that has been so deeply embedded that even when the evidence is slap bang in front of them, they can't see it. I think it must be a bit of an identity thing: it's woven so tightly into who they are that if they start to question it then their view of themselves begins to unravel and that's a huge thing psychologically that many people could not cope with.

rejected an offer of free help from the Royal Statistical Society with composing the ultimately doomed algorithm by insisting on a 5 year non-disclosure agreement that goes against the principles of the RSS.

Ofqual blamed here, not the government;

"Sky News has learned that the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) offered to help the regulator with the algorithm in April, writing to Ofqual to suggest that it take advice from external experts."

"Ofqual agreed to consider the fellows, but only if the two academics signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) which prevented them from commenting in any way on the final choice of the model for five years after the results were released."

news.sky.com/story/a-levels-exam-regulator-ignored-expert-help-after-statisticians-wouldnt-sign-non-disclosure-agreements-12049289

But Clavin, Ofqual were working under direction from the DfE.

Remember “it was confirmed that ‘[i]n order to mitigate the risk to standards as far as possible, the approach should be standardised across centres’ and that distribution of grades should follow a similar profile to that in previous years“

That would affect the final choice of model, right?

Clavinova

The government also turned down Microsoft and google for track and trace.

KenDodd

I know that you love spreading the joy of Brexit.but could you at least stay on topic here?