Are our kids being thrown under the bus

[Pixxie7]

Chris Whitney has said that children are safe to go back to school because they are at low risk of complications from Covid.is this another case of politics being more important than lives?

@thecatsatonthewall

Or what Italy is doing, extra staff and space paid for by the government

I don’t think many would be against that

Closed Schools back in March? Schools to reopen (come what may) in 2 weeks... and only now is there any talk of extra staff, less children in classrooms etc etc...... unbelievable.

What do you mean - unbelievable?

It’s not happening here. It’s not being discussed with two weeks to go

If you mean someone has posted about it two weeks before school opening. We don’t hold that much sway.

@MovedByFanciesThatAreCurled

‘Teachers have to get on with it the same as millions of the rest of us who had to work during lockdown.‘

Arghhhhhhhhhh. For goodness sake. There is not one single profession which has been/is being asked to return under such circumstances without PPE. Up to 200 pupils every day. Poorly ventilated, small classrooms. No social distancing. No PPE. Tell me ONE profession with similar circumstances.

I work in a nursery, we haven’t had PPE at all. DP works for the railway and hasn’t either.

My mum lives and teaches in Sweden, no cases in her class

My mum lives and teaches in Sweden, no cases in her class

Do you mean no symptomatic cases? Or are Swedish schools routinely testing everyone?

Unfortunately, people are ignorant: "It's a common cold". That's what you are dealing with

Tell that to Kate Garraway, whose husband was in a coma for months and is still very unwell. He's only in his early 50s, iirc.

@SmileEachDay

My mum lives and teaches in Sweden, no cases in her class

Do you mean no symptomatic cases? Or are Swedish schools routinely testing everyone?

Come on!!!
Sweden have never shut their schools, systematic cases? How are so many parents in the UK refusing to send their kids to school come September? Sweden have not closed the schools and no increase of covid

The exam year kids of next year have already been thrown under the bus . This years students got 2 sets of grades and unis are full and paying kids to defer until next year . Next year is already a bulge year and now they have missed 5 months of teaching and are competing for less spaces with students who have had the full 2 years reaching ( those choosing to resit in October . )
These need to get back and try and catch up as the only concession is the exams may be a month later than usual .
It tough on teachers especially in secondary school because bubbles are so big and the teachers will teach cross bubble anyway , then all the kids socialise out of school cross bubble and then bubbles will close down and isolate but who is going to manage to teach them remotely ?

Sweden have not closed the schools and no increase of covid

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/have-swedish-schools-really-carried-normal%3famp

[quote SmileEachDay]Sweden have not closed the schools and no increase of covid

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.tes.com/news/have-swedish-schools-really-carried-normal%3famp[/quote]
Perhaps you need to see what's actually happening in Sweden
No school in UK?!!!

@Pinkpeanut27

The exam year kids of next year have already been thrown under the bus . This years students got 2 sets of grades and unis are full and paying kids to defer until next year . Next year is already a bulge year and now they have missed 5 months of teaching and are competing for less spaces with students who have had the full 2 years reaching ( those choosing to resit in October . ) These need to get back and try and catch up as the only concession is the exams may be a month later than usual . It tough on teachers especially in secondary school because bubbles are so big and the teachers will teach cross bubble anyway , then all the kids socialise out of school cross bubble and then bubbles will close down and isolate but who is going to manage to teach them remotely ?

Tbh it's the exam years who have most to lose from the bullshit non-plans, as they have most to lose from any closures and chaos.

The fact there are no exam concessions is yet another fiasco in the making .

Blueblue26

I’m afraid I don’t understand the point you’re making?

Read the threads from teachers & anyone who works in a school, they are all worried about returning to school. I've just been talking to ds, his school was built for 1800 pupils but has 2180 on roll, the corridors for each subject group are Y shaped with 12 classrooms minimum on each, the corridor is only 1.5 metres wide, for every lesson 360+ pupils going in & out every hour with 5 minutes for moving around, how the hell is the room supposed to be sanitised in that time, a teacher will probably teach 150 students a day in a confined space, if one teacher catches Covid, every pupil they have taught for 5 days will have to isolate & get tested, in a school of 2000+ pupils that is a fair chunk, imagine if more than one teacher catches it, schools will be constantly sending groups home. Staff are worried that they aren't getting the protection or measures to ensure they have the least risk, it is OK saying open all the windows, what happens when it is freezing or when Flu season starts, the symptoms of flu are very like Covid, teachers, staff & pupils will be in & out of school constantly. If the government really wanted schools to be open safely they would work to bring in measures to protect everyone instead of ignoring everyone's concerns.

The benefits for children of returning to school far outweigh the tiny risk of problems caused by them contracting Covid, so i would say it's quite uncontroversial that schools opening is a very good thing for children.

Not necessarily good for adults working in schools, for the parents of the children or for the wider society of adults, that remains to be seen and nobody can foretell the future on this.

Are we "throwing children under the bus"? No of course not.

So a nursery worker sees over 200 kids a day? A train driver has to spend up to an hour in close proximity to their passengers? People are happy to buy in to the narrative perpetuated by the government that teachers think they are exceptional and that they some how think they are special. Most of them don’t. Most of them just want it accepted that their circumstances are exceptional and that the Gov has offered them little to no help in helping to protect those most vulnerable.

I don't think much to the Government's support for schools at all, which seems to have been totally absent. Online provision has been inconsistent to say the least (for state schools at least), with what seems like the vast majority of parents left to self-serve. Little to no online teaching, no efforts to enable children from poorer families to access tech/ devices etc..

I would rather not send ds in, but it's a simple fact that the education system has been so woefully inadequate that if school closures continue, the divide between those with and without access to resources is going to result in serious long term damage to many children's prospects. Children do need to be back at school, but if only the government would work hard on some options and safeguards that will reduce the risk to vulnerable children/ relatives. They've basically said "children will be back full time" but they're not talking to parents and teachers about how that will happen and there is no investment at all in tech that supports online teaching and learning.

Our children are being massively failed - but not my schools. By a government that really doesn't give a shit unless you can afford private tuition. It's a fucking disgrace. Yet there's money aplenty for eat out to help out etc.

there is no investment at all in tech that supports online teaching and learning.

Department for Education;

"A range of resources to support schools in delivering remote education is available:"

*curriculum maps for key subjects for year groups from Reception to year 9 will be published in July.They aim to provide support to schools in developing the ability to switch from classroom teaching to remote provision immediately in case of local lockdowns or self-isolation. A number of education resource providers intend to align their resources to these maps, to further support schools.These maps are designed as a support for schools and are entirely non-mandatory, for use at the discretion of the school.
*DfE has produced a quality assured list of remote education resources which are available to schools and parents for free over the summer term. Where pricing models have changed, schools may consider using some of their catch-up funding on remote resources in line with the access to technology section of the EEF’s COVID-19 support guide for schools.
*from that start of the autumn term, Oak National Academy will make available video lessons covering the entire national curriculum, available to any school for free.These are being in developed in partnership with a wide group of teachers and school leaders to develop lessons in the popular topics.The resources will be as flexible as possible, allowing schools to reorder topics and lessons, to match their own plans and curriculum.
*Oak National Academy specialist content for pupils with SEND.This covers communication and language, numeracy, creative arts, independent living, occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech and language therapy.Their provision for next academic year will include an expanded range of content for the specialist sector.
*government-funded access to one of two free-to-use digital education platforms: Google for Education or Microsoft Office 365 Education. Schools can apply through The Key for School Leaders. The Key also provides feature comparison and case studies on how schools are making the most of these platforms.
*a network of schools and colleges for help and support on effective use of tech for remote education that can be accessed through the EdTech Demonstrator Programme.
*laptops, tablets and 4G wireless routers were made available to local authorities and academy trusts to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children (specifically, care leavers, children and young people with a social worker, and disadvantaged year 10 pupils) between May to July 2020. Local authorities and academy trusts will continue to own these devices.
*following pupils returning to school in the autumn term, laptops and tablets will be distributed directly to schools affected by a local coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.These will be available for disadvantaged pupils in years 3 to 11 and clinically extremely vulnerable children from all year groups unable to attend school. These devices will be owned by the school and provided to children and young people who would otherwise be unable to access remote education.
*In addition to 4G routers provided to local authorities and academy trusts, the Department for Education is working in partnership with BT to offer free access to BT WiFi hotspots for disadvantaged pupils. We are also working with the major telecommunications companies to expand this offer and provide access to free additional data to families who rely on a mobile internet connection while the response to coronavirus (COVID-19) requires pupils to learn from home and access social care services online. More information on increasing internet access for vulnerable and disadvantaged children is available.
Further support is available from:

*The National Cyber Security Centre, on which video conference service is right for you and using video conferencing services securely.
*annex C of the guidance on Safeguarding and remote education during coronavirus (COVID-19), as well as statutory guidance on online safety in Annex C of keeping children safe in education.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/guidance-for-full-opening-schools

"Guidance for local authorities, academy trusts and schools on devices and support available to provide remote education and access to children’s social care."

www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-with-technology-for-remote-education-during-coronavirus-covid-19

"How schools can access digital devices for children requiring access to remote education due to shielding or local coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions."

www.gov.uk/guidance/get-laptops-and-tablets-for-children-who-cannot-attend-school-due-to-coronavirus-covid-19

That’s right, the government can take 4 months to get laptops to kids but they can tell schools they need to have an integrated online school running seamlessly alongside live provision with only 3 weeks to go before they break up for the summer.

Clav

Laptops/unicorns - remember? We just had this conversation on a different thread.

The government has a habit of making something someone else’s problem with 3 weeks to go. See also: there not being enough buses for kids to get to school now being the LA’s fault (news delivered 3 weeks before schools go back).

noble

Someone should write a list of all the ways the government have fucked schools over....

not sure on what planet clav is living? I know lots of families where children don't have access to their own laptops (mine included) and you get nothing.

As for the Oak SEND specific stuff - it is of no use if you have a child who cannot learn remotely but needs a special school setting with qualified and experienced staff (even if the magic unicorn governmental laptop would materialise). But sadly most children with EHCP were denied school access despite the initial government propaganda that they would be included in the vulnerable groups who would be able to continue to access in-school education

I gather Clav has kids in private Ed so perhaps is not aware that the government says anything and everything all over the media, but actually produces nothing? And refuses to listen to anyone telling them the truth?

This is when a public education sector could have been useful. The Unis could be helping to support secondaries with advice, secondaries could be circulating to primaries. But private competition is always best of course.

Meant tech advice. And staff.

@Clavinova - DfE stuff is all bollocks and pipe dreams. The issue loads of stuff but don’t give us the money. They produce paperwork and guidance and the schools have to apply and jump through hoops.

Bunch of twats