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.

Or tweaked.

Well that depends on the plans doesn't it? If you've e.g. planned for rotas and the DfE says at the last minute that only YR, Y1 and Y6 will be coming in, then it's pretty hard to tweak a rota plan to achieve that isn't it?

@Backtobasics5

What is the teacher meant to do? They will be the one that have been walking around the class from child to child. Effectively the whole group would need to isolate!! Other wise there’s not much point

The teacher should social distancing, ie 2m away, or 1m with PPE.

No one is saying it is the same as it used to be.

'Our GP practice has pretty much been shut for the last 5 months. Not everyone in healthcare (NHS or otherwise) are being flexible.'

No practice has been shut. Theyve carried out more econsults and phone consults. Patients needing a face to face have been seen.

@noblegiraffe

Or tweaked.

Well that depends on the plans doesn't it? If you've e.g. planned for rotas and the DfE says at the last minute that only YR, Y1 and Y6 will be coming in, then it's pretty hard to tweak a rota plan to achieve that isn't it?

I’m sure you have more brain power than you are letting on.

Crafty I'm honestly a bit surprised at these posts coming from you as I had you pegged as more sensible.

Are you suggesting that schools should have been better at anticipating what the DfE was going to pull out of their arse at the last minute (and let's face it, even the DfE don't know how it's going to go till the bell) or are you suggesting that they should plan for every conceivable outcome and hope that at least one option is even slightly relevant? And that they'll have the resources to implement it?

@Nat6999

There have been so many U turns it wouldn't surprise me if schools opening is abandoned, this shitshow of a government couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

It would be the sensible move right now.

Then do what should have already been done over summer & planned for rotation of pupils & better protection for teachers. Proper blended learning.

Encouraged WFH

ALLOWED parents to apply to schools for a home learning place this term ( hopefully catching the vulnerable/neglected kids in the net)

Tighten up on the general public measures
Close things if necessary to get the community transmission down

Test all children/staff etc before going back

So so so much more could have been done & might have been done if more people had listened & been behind the teachers instead of accusing them of whinging.

'If you've e.g. planned for rotas and the DfE says at the last minute that only YR, Y1 and Y6 will be coming in, then it's pretty hard to tweak a rota plan to achieve that isn't it?'

Yes we know the unions scuppered the full return in June.

So far, all I've gleaned is this final guidance had a contingency plan. Which had been asked for in June, but anyone with any common sense could see that they couldn't predict it then in a changing situation.

What does the shocking Friday night guidance say that disrupts schools return plans?? Or is it just a shock and that is all

@CraftyGin that’s what I get told in my role too! (Hospital). There’s basically no point at all. It’s basically a tick box filled.

@Hingeandbracket

YABU to be shocked at anything shite done by this wanky government - but maybe you voted for them, someone must have.

And you think any other party would have been any better??

I'm not at all denying they've made a right pigs ear of it, but it's not like there was a far superior option waiting in the wings now is it?!

Our contingency plan for if we had to reduce the numbers on site was totally different to the government’s two-weeks in, two-weeks out plan. We’d planned to keep Sixth Form full time and reduce other year groups to one week on, one week off. That will need re-writing. We’re now also looking again at our policy on masks which also means re-writing other policies in which they referenced. Those policies will all have to go back to SLT and the governors to be ratified again. Even small changes are a massive pain in the arse right now.
Frankly, I have other things to be doing. Inducting my new Sixth Formers, sorting timetables and form groups for those that enrolled last week, working out how to make space for autumn re-sit exams without having to send classes home, getting the ball rolling on UCAS for my year 13s, working out what kids will need additional pastoral support, arranging home learning for the kid in the middle of chemotherapy... the list goes on.

@noblegiraffe

Crafty I'm honestly a bit surprised at these posts coming from you as I had you pegged as more sensible.

Are you suggesting that schools should have been better at anticipating what the DfE was going to pull out of their arse at the last minute (and let's face it, even the DfE don't know how it's going to go till the bell) or are you suggesting that they should plan for every conceivable outcome and hope that at least one option is even slightly relevant? And that they'll have the resources to implement it?

The guidance from the DfE is completely in line with what schools and unions have been saying for months. It could even be described as ‘common sense’.

In which case, schools and teachers should have anticipated what was to come. We’ve been anticipating this since early March (two weeks before lockdown).

I know as a teacher, I need to make sure that my lessons run, at short notice, both in person and remotely (I might be remote, as well as students), which is why I have invested a lot of time and effort to get all my lessons onto Google Classroom. I am blessed to have computing facilities and internet access at home to be able to access G-Suite.

As a Science teacher, I have some work to do in how to deliver practical work, so that is my big challenge in the next few weeks. My technician has been working very hard, proactively, over our lockdown to see how we can maximise our potential (sorry for the word salad). I am ‘meeting’ with Edexcel this week to find out how to do compulsory practicals.

As the school Timetabler, I have changed all our rooming to have KS3 in their form rooms, and KS4 in their form rooms, as well as vacated KS3 lesson rooms for their options subjects. I will don my Teflon hat next week when teaching staff realise that they have to move rooms (which involves pro activity on their parts).

@MadameMinimes

Our contingency plan for if we had to reduce the numbers on site was totally different to the government’s two-weeks in, two-weeks out plan. We’d planned to keep Sixth Form full time and reduce other year groups to one week on, one week off. That will need re-writing. We’re now also looking again at our policy on masks which also means re-writing other policies in which they referenced. Those policies will all have to go back to SLT and the governors to be ratified again. Even small changes are a massive pain in the arse right now. Frankly, I have other things to be doing. Inducting my new Sixth Formers, sorting timetables and form groups for those that enrolled last week, working out how to make space for autumn re-sit exams without having to send classes home, getting the ball rolling on UCAS for my year 13s, working out what kids will need additional pastoral support, arranging home learning for the kid in the middle of chemotherapy... the list goes on.

^Exactly that.

MJMG2015

And you think any other party would have been any better?? no, but Jeremy Hunt would have been, Sajid Javid, Angela Leadsom and possibly even the rudest man in politics, Michael Gove.

There are possibly only three vaguely competent ministers in the cabinet.

@MadameMinimes

Our contingency plan for if we had to reduce the numbers on site was totally different to the government’s two-weeks in, two-weeks out plan. We’d planned to keep Sixth Form full time and reduce other year groups to one week on, one week off. That will need re-writing. We’re now also looking again at our policy on masks which also means re-writing other policies in which they referenced. Those policies will all have to go back to SLT and the governors to be ratified again. Even small changes are a massive pain in the arse right now. Frankly, I have other things to be doing. Inducting my new Sixth Formers, sorting timetables and form groups for those that enrolled last week, working out how to make space for autumn re-sit exams without having to send classes home, getting the ball rolling on UCAS for my year 13s, working out what kids will need additional pastoral support, arranging home learning for the kid in the middle of chemotherapy... the list goes on.

Our plan, set back in May, was to have half of KS3 in school, with the other half connecting from home. They would then switch the following week.

KS4/5 would be in school because of options, and the possibility of splitting English/Maths/Science into two spaces (one in person, one remote).

We are not planning to be this drastic because of bubbles and teacher PPE, but it’s an option if things get tighter.

@CraftyGin we have been planning our contingency plans for months, does sort of beg the question why the Government couldn’t have done the same.

Also school plans could have been based on receiving the laptops promised by the Government (hollow laugh)

Our plan, set back in May, was to have half of KS3 in school, with the other half connecting from home. They would then switch the following week.

KS4/5 would be in school because of options, and the possibility of splitting English/Maths/Science into two spaces (one in person, one remote).

The thing is that, if you were a state school, that plan would now have to be re-written in light of yesterday's announcement.You have the luxury of choosing to ignore the new government plan - state schools don't.

@cantkeepawayforever

Our plan, set back in May, was to have half of KS3 in school, with the other half connecting from home. They would then switch the following week.

KS4/5 would be in school because of options, and the possibility of splitting English/Maths/Science into two spaces (one in person, one remote).

The thing is that, if you were a state school, that plan would now have to be re-written in light of yesterday's announcement.You have the luxury of choosing to ignore the new government plan - state schools don't.

You need to plan according to your local needs. You plan should have been made months ago, and not dependent upon last minute recommendations.

BTW, government recommendations apply to all educational sectors.

@MadameMinimes

Our contingency plan for if we had to reduce the numbers on site was totally different to the government’s two-weeks in, two-weeks out plan. We’d planned to keep Sixth Form full time and reduce other year groups to one week on, one week off. That will need re-writing. We’re now also looking again at our policy on masks which also means re-writing other policies in which they referenced. Those policies will all have to go back to SLT and the governors to be ratified again. Even small changes are a massive pain in the arse right now. Frankly, I have other things to be doing. Inducting my new Sixth Formers, sorting timetables and form groups for those that enrolled last week, working out how to make space for autumn re-sit exams without having to send classes home, getting the ball rolling on UCAS for my year 13s, working out what kids will need additional pastoral support, arranging home learning for the kid in the middle of chemotherapy... the list goes on.

Don't forget we're also still trying to help the ex Y11s with college applications where they didn't get the grades for where they were intending to go, providing form 8s where the colleges didn't ask for them earlier because they were closed, CTFs and physical transfers, parents wanting to appeal, parents wanting to vent (understandably so), people who have been bereaved, people who are still ill, trying to plan for the clusterfuck that is going to be the buses in the mornings and afternoons, sorting out what to do with multiple children who are ill and need collecting (whether the parents do or not), updating what happens in the medical room, and all the bog standard things like updating medication consents, EHCPs, confidential shredding, transferring files into various parts of storage, answering parent queries or at least telling them we're updating it in the light of the latest government fuckup recommendations, somebody wanting to know where their kid's PE bag is as it was last seen in January 2019 and surely we've found it by now, setting things up for new staff, updating all phone and email lists, getting things to work when they've been disconnected and moved to allow for new spacings, blah, blah, blah. With half the staff on TTOs so they are either working for free or, as is their right, not coming in at all until INSET.

The lists are really neverending. It's busy enough normally with the things that have to wait until the 1st September. Now there's all these extra things to deal with as well. And the odds are that the 'advice' will change again by Wednesday morning.

@Backtobasics5

What is the teacher meant to do? They will be the one that have been walking around the class from child to child. Effectively the whole group would need to isolate!! Other wise there’s not much point

In my school, we will teach from our desks at front. There will be no sitting next to the student who doesn't get it, or wants us for advice, or feedback, or encouragement. Normally I manage behaviour by my position in the room so I rarely need to actually deal with issues, because there squashed by proximity. I know who will need another slightly different explanation so I go to them. I know who needs help getting started and who needs prodding and go to them. I won't be able to do that. I'll have to do it publically from the front. It's teaching but it's not great teaching.

@CraftyGin not all schools have the luxury of having a classroom large enough for a teacher to have a safe 2m zone, even if they flatten themselves against the wall. If it is less than 2m them and at least the front row would have to wear masks, which is expressly against the Government guidance

You need to plan according to your local needs. You plan should have been made months ago, and not dependent upon last minute recommendations.

The plan WAS made months ago.

However, it DOES have to change in the light of new recommendations - as it has had to change in the light of all other recommendations e.g. changes to mask recommendations.

Some of our local schools have inset days on Tuesday and Wednesday next week because they expected last minute late night chicanery from this government and wanted tome to ask questions before the children were back.

What happens to the all the teachers who taught the bubbie being sent home to self isolate? Do they self -isolate too?

@Ffsnosexallowed

In scotland whole bubbles aren't bring seng home. A pupil in my daughter's class tested positive. A few of the others were deemed close contacts so have been asked to self isolate, but all others at school as normal.

How do you feel about that?

@cdtaylornats

Lots of complaints - no solutions.

You have to be bloody kidding?!

There has been thread after thread of suggestions and plenty suggested via schools as well (and other 'real life' platforms)

There's no lack of solutions being offered up, it's just fallen on deaf ears!

Ridiculous comment.