To be shocked at yet another last minute gov announcement.

[wantmorenow]

New guidance for schools just announced on a Friday night before schools return. Breathtaking incompetence.

And what pisses me off even more is that half the country didn't vote for them anyway

Irrational

65k excess death in 3 months

Can't really see how you can both both those in the same sentence

But if your not worried carry on

I will carry on, thanks. Do you really think those 65K excess deaths were all covid!?

Yes, people are still testing positive for covid but those increasing numbers of positive tests aren't producing the same increasing numbers in hospital admissions and new deaths. The new fear being touted of it not being about the deaths, its about the long term health effects it can cause. This is true of every illness you can potentially catch - you never know how your going to react, even with the most common viruses in circulation.

Covid will never be eradicated so do you really think it is reasonable to continue to impose local lockdowns and the never ending disruption to schools just because 10/15 people have tested positive in an area and those positive cases have had a knock on effect on absolutely nothing - no new hospital admissions, no deaths.

At what point do we accept that this is just the way it is now and life needs to carry on.

@herecomesthsun - there are three solutions missing

1. Sack Gavin Williamson
2. Get someone competent is to lead the DfE
3. Everyone at the DfE and OFQUAL must have relevant and recent school work experience.

The release of new guidance at the 11th hour means every single policy will now have to be reviewed (before Tuesday?!) to check it meets the updated version

Why? It's guidance. It's not mandatory, legally binding measures that must be put in place. If your school was satisfied with the return to school measures/policies it has already put in place then why the need to tinker with them further.

@GetOffYourHighHorse

"But back in April and May when HT and unions and teachers were calling for this guidance they were subjected to a hate campaign from government and MSM outlets."

I must've missed the hate campaign from Government which is odd as I do watch the news. Ignore the MSM though, they do not offer balanced views.

Tbf they couldn't offer guidance in April as no one has a crystal ball. It seems cases spike in specific areas that can then be brought under control as we've seen in the Northwest.

It is a contingency plan! I could understand the outrage if it had been announced that all year groups had to go part time or something.

Well you must have missed a lot of news then.

Because I saw it!

Answer to any journalist asking what plans were to schools was "unions are blocking it"

Answer to Kier Starmer in PMQs when he suggested cross party talks about schools was his circus clown act about "well you don't want them open anyway. You back the unions"

Honestly. I don't know how you missed it?

DM have been on it too - Andrew Pearce sneering at unions and schools yet he's also critised the government at other times which was surprising.

"surely you can see there would be less room for complaint if the Government had issued this guidance in good time not like a fresher feverishly submitting it just before the midnight deadline on a Friday thus giving the staff no time to look at it and address concerns!

The thing is I've read the guidance and it doesn't seem much, if any, different to what schools have planned?

Which bit has shocked you? Or which bit do you disagree with? Isn't it a framework to give authorities the ability to be flexible depending on their local infection rates?

@GetOffYourHighHorse

Intelligent contribution, well done *@itsgettingweird*

Thanks?

Any bit in particular?

😇

[quote StaffAssociationRepresentative]@herecomesthsun - there are three solutions missing

1. Sack Gavin Williamson
2. Get someone competent is to lead the DfE
3. Everyone at the DfE and OFQUAL must have relevant and recent school work experience.[/quote]

Cool with all of that

Spot on pennylane83

@GetOffYourHighHorse

"surely you can see there would be less room for complaint if the Government had issued this guidance in good time not like a fresher feverishly submitting it just before the midnight deadline on a Friday thus giving the staff no time to look at it and address concerns!

The thing is I've read the guidance and it doesn't seem much, if any, different to what schools have planned?

Which bit has shocked you? Or which bit do you disagree with? Isn't it a framework to give authorities the ability to be flexible depending on their local infection rates?

Yes it is.

But they didn't have the flexibility or guidance before.

It was all in until local health say anything else.

You have to remember funding from schools comes from government and Dfe get to dictate.

Schools cannot just do what they think is sensible and necessary.

That's why Ofsted inspections exist.

We tell you what to do
We set standards to which you must do it
We just he how well you meet those standards whilst cutting funding

@pennylane83

The release of new guidance at the 11th hour means every single policy will now have to be reviewed (before Tuesday?!) to check it meets the updated version

Why? It's guidance. It's not mandatory, legally binding measures that must be put in place. If your school was satisfied with the return to school measures/policies it has already put in place then why the need to tinker with them further.

Already, parents have been writing to schools threatening defamation and / or legal action should the school's Covid measures not be sufficiently secure to keep their child / vulnerable parent well.

IOf a school chooses to stick with an old version of the guidance, and not revise it in line with latest versions, can you imagine what the backlash would be?

It's like the partial opening - schools worked really, really hard to write their own guidance, which included rotas. Then the guidance came out - no rotas allowed. So schools had to adjust their guidance, because if they went their own way and there HAD been an outbreak, the head would have found themselves in a very sticky spot of personal liability.

'Answer to any journalist asking what plans were to schools was "unions are blocking it"

Ah the criticism of the Unions for blocking the return in June. Sorry, when you said hate campaign I didn't realise that's what you meant. Yes I did see that and Sir Keith's flip flopping.

We should start clapping for teachers every Thursday. Looks like they are next in the firing line after the NHS staff.

I'm not surprised at all by this coming on a Friday.

Every bullying individual or organisation typically sends out difficult news on a Friday evening, to make the recipient more anxious and basically to spoil their weekend, in the knowledge that usually there is bugger all they can do about it til the next working day.

Having said that, as hard as it has been, I'm a single parent and since March (when we were required to home-school) I became aware that as a family, we were on our own, and we couldn't rely on the govenrnent to do the sensible thing, or indeed to help. So, despite being on sickness benefits, I've had two weeks worth of supplies in, in case my DD and I need to go into self-isolation in case either of us gets ill. We've gone through times where the local hospital went into lockdown so we both knew there was no chance of getting medical attention for even ordinary accidents. And yes, it has been terrifying.

I might well be at times difficult, but my birth family has been beyond a joke. Not heard from them to check if we are still alive, even. So the delivery people (I've stayed up often till midnight to get a slot) and the milkman have become our best friends.

My stress and anxiety levels are through the roof really on a day to day basis, but I guess I've become numb to it now.

School lent us a computer to home school and then asked for it back two weeks before the start of term. I've said no you are not having it back (as I knew in the event of an outbreak we would need it).

As for the bubbles, I have respect for our school they have done their best, our start is Thursday.

I have always thought that the government seems mothers, and parents in general as unpaid skivvies, actually and of course all that rhetoric about boris and co caring about 'education' is bullsxxt. Always has been.

So yes, about fifty per cent of people on this thread must have voted for Boris. what did you expect you were going to get? Compassion? Don't me laugh, they are fucking Tories.

Thinking about all those who have started already. I've done the prep thing, ordered new uniforms about six weeks ago which are yet to arrive as the place we get them from is up shit creak with deliveries.

Strangely enough, this doesn't feel so back as back in March.

What worries me a bit is how how staff are going to deal with testing. I should imagine they are completley terrified on some level too. What happened to parental input and rights? It is a legal requirment for schools to listen to it. Maybe mumsnet helps with that.

Good luck everyone, nothing to do here aside from grit teeth, organise and get on with it...

as well as being prepared for furtheer outbreak and home schooling again...

Do some people seriously think that school can just ignore government-issued health and safety guidance if they don’t feel like updating their policies? Funnily enough, the vast majority of school leaders take H&S a bit more seriously than that.

sorry a few typos there,
hope it is still half way intellelligible and I've lost my ability to spell...

@GetOffYourHighHorse

'Answer to any journalist asking what plans were to schools was "unions are blocking it"

Ah the criticism of the Unions for blocking the return in June. Sorry, when you said hate campaign I didn't realise that's what you meant. Yes I did see that and Sir Keith's flip flopping.

They weren't blocking though. They were asking for the guidance published at 7.30pm yesterday.

Then re issued 2 hours later.

We could have possibly has wider opening in June or increased opening from June if they'd shut gobs and engaged ears and brains and listened to what was being said.

It's fantastic the guidance is now out.

Proves the unions, HT and teachers were all correct.

And as a parent I'm very grateful for them for campaigning - and empathise with them trying to implement it over a BH weekend.

School risk assessments are based on the Government guidance, so they have to be adapted once the Guidance is amended.

Interestingly some of the earlier guidance the Government published in the summer term used to include 'this is purely for guidance'. they have removed that now.

I suggest each and every school does a survey now to see what technology would be available at home if home learning is required. This way they could be ready to plug gaps quickly. They could then let the DFE know how many children won’t have access to laptops/tablets. Of course one problem may be parents saying they don’t have devices when they do. But this would be better than the local secondary school having to beg secondhand devices from local businesses months down the line when the Government promised laptops had failed to materialise

There’s likely to be some learning from home so schools and parents should get prepared for it

Seriously? You think nobody's thought of that yet? We were doing that in February whilst IT were rebuilding ancient laptops to get them running for kids by March. Still haven't received any government laptops, either.

@guilttripjourno

We should start clapping for teachers every Thursday. Looks like they are next in the firing line after the NHS staff.

Ok

What we did - clap

What NHS staff wanted- PPE , adequate planning, a Government with a clue

What you are suggesting - clap

What teachers want - masks, funding for PPE, social distancing in schools, funding for premises to allow for this, enough sinks, not to have guidelines issued on a Bank Holiday Friday after months of planning. Not to be slated on social media after working their arses off. Apparently to have Gavin Williamson sacked .

I think clapping is not an appropriate response to this,mate.

'Yes it is.But they didn't have the flexibility or guidance before.'

So, again which bit of the guidance is different to what your school planned. Why is it all so outrageous? Its what out local schools were all doing anyway.

It's guidance with a contingency plan. Guess what, they may release something else next week as it's an ongoing situation!

Teachers have my full respect and support. However I have many family and friends who work in the NHS with policies and procedures changing weekly, they just dont expect this weeks in advice instruction.

@GetOffYourHighHorse

'What's wrong with giving updated guidance on a Friday evening before a bank holiday weekend with 0 working days before schools open? Goady or clueless?'

I'm neither goady nor clueless thanks.

If you read the article instead of going all Piers Morgan about it, it clearly says it is last resort guidance for areas with significant rises in cases.

Why are some of you panicking about that?!

We want contingency plans surely?

If you are not clueless then please enlighten us about who Keith Starmer is....if you are going to discuss politicians at least make sure you know what their name is.

ineedaholidaynow or maybe the teachers just need to go and look up the definition of 'guidance' in the dictionary:

According to the Cambridge Dictionary:

GUIDANCE

help and advice about how to do something or about how to deal with problems connected with your work, education, or personal relationships:

I've always looked to my father for guidance in these matters.

careers guidance

I can't see anything there that says this MUST be carried out to the letter so not sure why teachers are tearing their hair out over the late night publication of revised guidelines if their schools have already implemented appropriate measures.

School leaders aren’t annoyed that the government has issued contingency guidelines. We are annoyed that we’ve been asking for this guidance for months and the government, who have been telling us that we didn’t need this contingency guidance, have now decided to issue it on a Friday evening with 0 working days left until we reopen. I don’t think the government appreciates just how complex an organisation a large secondary school is. We’re a community of over 1000 people, spread across 6 buildings, over two sites (4 miles apart) with large numbers of teaching staff moving between buildings and sites during the school day. We have over 70 teachers and less than 10 of us are based on only one site. And I can think of nobody who doesn’t have to move between buildings or teach in different classrooms.

We are keen to reopen and I am desperate to keep my Sixth Formers (I’m Head of Sixth Form) in school this term. They have been out for too long and really need to be back in the classroom. My HT, the DHT and the member of SLT responsible for the RA are all on board with a return to school. We are just disappointed that the government doesn’t see school reopening as enough of a priority to put their money where their mouth is. Words are cheap. It’s very easy to say schools are safe and their priority is getting kids back in. If they’d give us the funding to put in preventative measures that would help prevent outbreaks and help us stay open once were back then I’d believe they meant it.

Our already precarious financial situation is now an almighty clusterfuck. Our school has all but bankrupted itself buying sanitisers, signage, perspex screens for reception and staff areas, laptops for students and staff, software to enable home learning, resources for September so that students don’t have to share, employing extra cleaning staff and paying for antiviral treatments for surfaces. We’ve had no extra money for this so will have an almighty budget deficit that will affect our students for years to come as we’re going to have to make cuts for years to claw this money back. Despite all of this it’s likely that, if we have an outbreak in a year group, we’ll have to close the whole school. Our staffing levels are precarious anyway and your average year 7-9 kid has 11-13 different teachers. If one of them tests positive and 11-13 teachers have to isolate then we will have to close. We just could not afford to bring in that many supply staff, even if that many were even available and we just couldn’t operate with that many teachers off at once. (None of our lower school classrooms are large enough to allow teachers to be 2m away so a positive case means teachers isolating.

@pennylane83

Irrational

65k excess death in 3 months

Can't really see how you can both both those in the same sentence

But if your not worried carry on

I will carry on, thanks. Do you really think those 65K excess deaths were all covid!?

Yes, people are still testing positive for covid but those increasing numbers of positive tests aren't producing the same increasing numbers in hospital admissions and new deaths. The new fear being touted of it not being about the deaths, its about the long term health effects it can cause. This is true of every illness you can potentially catch - you never know how your going to react, even with the most common viruses in circulation.

Covid will never be eradicated so do you really think it is reasonable to continue to impose local lockdowns and the never ending disruption to schools just because 10/15 people have tested positive in an area and those positive cases have had a knock on effect on absolutely nothing - no new hospital admissions, no deaths.

At what point do we accept that this is just the way it is now and life needs to carry on.

Do you understand what excess means?