So parents now have 5 days to...

[Tanaria]

... find appropriate childcare?

The announcement that secondaries are not going back until w/b 11th with exam classes and w/b 18th for all other years, together with the very vague "some" primaries will be shut in high-infection areas.

Given that most of us have been plunged into Tier 4, how will we actually find out whether our children can go back to school?

It is rubbish. However, there is a virus out there changing shape and stats daily / weekly. It’s impossible to give ‘loads of notice’ ! So yes the government will need to change things last minute.
Having to arrange last minute child care / time off work / or working from home can be a nightmare. But we’ve all had to have some kind of back up plan based on that fact that a child bubble could be sent home and told to self isolate at any point. So just do whatever your back up plan was.

@simonJT they said there was a possibility that the week could change. In my eyes even mentioning it could change says to me that it probably would change, given that we were expecting tougher restrictions after the Christmas period. I am not saying it is ideal at all and I'm not entirely convinced about the kids being tested every week but I am baffled at how people are so surprised by this.

The last minute nature of the govt announcements is a failing, yes. However, the govt is desperate to keep schools open if it possibly can given that last time they shut a significant proportion of children received next to no education from their school. Headteachers and unions were full of excuses as to why it would be ‘unfair’ to set a decent amount of work as those with no access to IT/ parents who would check they’d completed the work would be ‘disadvantaged’ in comparison. I recall teacher posters on mumsnet defending the position saying it was, of course, ‘the government’s fault’ for not being more prescriptive with what it required from schools! Others cited the advice from Unions as an excuse not to do any work.

Unfortunately, a significant proportion of schools took the piss and now the government feels that it can’t trust schools. It’s a shame because lots of teachers did continue to work hard.

Unfortunately, a significant proportion of schools took the piss and now the government feels that it can’t trust schools. It’s a shame because lots of teachers did continue to work hard.

Let's be a bit more balanced

1. In march it was really an emergency situation. Schools and teachers who are not equipped to do remote/blended learning CAN'T be asked to switch at a moments notice and all will be fine.

Yes, some surely could have done better....

1. 11 months in and there is still no framework/scaffolding from DFE to help with what online learning can/could/should be. Yet it's the teacher's fault. Afaik - but active teachers pls. chime in- there was not a wide scale skills upgrade for teachers so far to make them capable of proper online/blended learning. It is not that hard, but not without it's challenges. And each and every teacher/school had to figure it out on their own. Then why do we even have the dfe?

1. What can schools do with pupils who have no laptops/internet? It should not come down to them to solve it. Again - we have a dfe for a reason.

1. Gov and school trust? HAH! dfe has no idea of the disadvantages pupil. They have a column of numbers and that's it. But Ms. Smith knows exactly that Joe will need more encouragement, Jill will excel,....

Did gov really give enough resources to Ms. Smiith or even ask her about what they need?

It has been 11 months. In this timeframe this could all have been sorted if the premise was not to die on the hill, but actually come up with a solution.

And on other levels: since august there have been so many of us trying to campaign here and everywhere else possible for SAFER schools, but even that led nowhere.

@TheSunIsStillShining

Especially as alot of parents are still sending their kids to school even when they have covid & still going to work etc because money is more important to them then others health.

Let's be fair, if it comes down to paying rent and putting food on the table probs you'd do the same.

And there are also the idiots, but I'm just saying that the people who want to do the right thing might not have that option. And they should have financial support to do so.

Yes of course, definitely if that's the case, but that's why the government started the furlough scheme, so they were given financial support.

yes fair enough it's not the full wage it's 80% but with the no travelling to work & buying lunch etc that would've saved some money, & a few more cut backs & they can live on that money. It's better then going to work/school with covid & spreading it therefore making it all worse & potentially putting other families in financial difficulties, that's not fair either.

Yes of course, definitely if that's the case, but that's why the government started the furlough scheme, so they were given financial support.

the employer has to agree to furlough. I work whilst caring for a severely disabled child. The first wave almost broke me with WFH and no school access and my employer deemed me business critical so no furlough for me! I know many parents who are in similar shoes.

Also, furlough does not apply if you cannot go to work because of isolation.

TheSunIsStillShining

I do appreciate that coming up with on line tailored learning is a big job and not something that can be rolled out instantly. However, the schools were shut for several months and from the sounds of it, many schools chose to do very little/ nothing for students at home. It wouldn't have been difficult to photocopy packs of worksheets for students and deliver them to homes, or call students weekly, or even direct those with internet access to the Oak Academy and highlighting bits of the timetable that would be relevant. I know a couple of schools that did do this, so why weren't they all? I don't think they can simply say 'the DfE didn't give us the idea', don't they have to use some initiative themselves?

The furlough scheme applies if your employer has to temporarily close or reduce staffing due to reduction in work. It doesn’t apply if you are off work with Covid or away from work as your DC is ill. If you are ill, there is sick pay. If you are off work because your DC is ill, it is either unpaid or annual holidays if you have any left.

I can't help thinking that if the schools had been allowed to go online for the last week of term as they had requested and when there wasn't much serious work planned compared to January, some of this chaos might have been avoided. As usual the Government wait for the outcries before they make a decision and the schools are always the last to know.

@flattyres

Yes of course, definitely if that's the case, but that's why the government started the furlough scheme, so they were given financial support.

the employer has to agree to furlough. I work whilst caring for a severely disabled child. The first wave almost broke me with WFH and no school access and my employer deemed me business critical so no furlough for me! I know many parents who are in similar shoes.

Also, furlough does not apply if you cannot go to work because of isolation.

That is so unfair 😒 I didn't know that. We haven't been furloughed my DH still works & I had to quit as I worked in a hospital & have a 1 year old so too risky. We have not been given any help from the government, they are doing alot to help people but they need to help the ones they haven't been helping the ones that need more, it's very unfair.

@Parker231

The furlough scheme applies if your employer has to temporarily close or reduce staffing due to reduction in work. It doesn’t apply if you are off work with Covid or away from work as your DC is ill. If you are ill, there is sick pay. If you are off work because your DC is ill, it is either unpaid or annual holidays if you have any left.

That is so wrong, its unfair. If people are off work with covid they should be helping them financially. Sick pay if paid at all isn't nearly enough & isn't paid for long if at all. They really haven't given it enough thought. No wonder people are still working with covid 😢

Yes of course, definitely if that's the case, but that's why the government started the furlough scheme, so they were given financial support.

I've been made redundant because of covid (whole dept sacked). I am entitled to absolutely nothing apart from uc. I was in the highest tax band, uc isn't enough to cover our food bill. So as good as it seems, it's really a safety net for a portion of the working population. And others are just left to fall and solve it themselves as they can.
I will solve it, I have multiple diplomas and 20+years of professional experience from around europe. But how is a shop assistant made redundant supposed to solve it? Or a pub part time bartender with no skills other than serving drinks? Many companies with no income have no choice to furlough as it entails company payments next to furlough.

@Raspberry681
In some way you are right, but not fully, i think.
Teachers have been taught how to teach* f2f, how to build up lessons. Schools have been historically very closed to IT solutions for many reasons. Expecting them to implement something across the board that is of a similar standard is unreasonable.
That is where the dfe would have needed to step in and provide a framework of what is min-med-max levels of acceptable outcomes.
If=no internet, then=packs sent by mail
If internet=yes, then oak academy or pre recorderd lessons or live sessions.

Also the kids have never been taught how to learn and study by themselves. I have an exceptionally bright kid and he struggles with individual learning and I am teaching him how to learn independently. It is a very big paradigm shift to what they have been used to.
I can only imagine how big of an issue this is in households where parents are low educated and kid is average/below average.

So, as easy as it is to blame schools, I think the blame goes 80% on dfe.

@Penguinmuma It is only 80% upto a maximum of £2,500 a month, that wouldn’t cover my mortgage.

Having been with my 11 year old when he had live lessons during an isolation period,(I was on furlough) I can confidently say I wouldn't trust him to organise home learning left to his own devices. Luckily he is old in his year and in year 6 but hes literally a few months younger than a lot of year 7s.

Most holiday childcare provision is for primary age children. It's generally accepted that youngsters will happily spend the holidays on their phones!

[quote SimonJT]@Penguinmuma It is only 80% upto a maximum of £2,500 a month, that wouldn’t cover my mortgage.[/quote]
@SimonJT Oh gosh, I'm learning alot about it today. I didn't know it had so many conditions. It really hasn't been thought of very well so it's not actually that helpful at all 😒 I've heard that mortgages can be put on hold for some payments if you're struggling, so maybe check that it might be of some help to you although that probably has ridiculous conditions too.

I think maybe to solve the problem of underprivileged families they ahiukd probably not do online learning but give the children text books to learn from with answers at the back to help parents. The good old fashioned way & tbh I think you learn more like that. But then it's down to the parents to make sure their kids are doing it as if they were in school actual times etc. Some parents have the "I don't care" attitude & therefore their kids will miss out. But that's on them.

@Penguinmuma
And if you are on rent: absolutely no help for renters.
ANd before anyone says anything about being able to afford that rent is in itself a privilege: people made the choice pre covid and now the world and opportunities changed, but many are locked in for x years by contract.

People don't realize that beyond the headlines the actual substance is quite shallow. The real beneficiaries of furlough are low/middle paid office workers in big corporations.
Anyone above or beyond that is just left to their own devices.

@helpIhateclothesshopping

I can't help thinking that if the schools had been allowed to go online for the last week of term as they had requested and when there wasn't much serious work planned compared to January, some of this chaos might have been avoided. As usual the Government wait for the outcries before they make a decision and the schools are always the last to know.

Totally agree

I think some areas would still have problems but overall a planned early closure would have been best for everyone.

@SallyB392

Most holiday childcare provision is for primary age children. It's generally accepted that youngsters will happily spend the holidays on their phones!

Yes true but will they happily do online learning and attend online lessons if left to their own devices.

Some will and some won't in reality.

@Penguinmuma

I think maybe to solve the problem of underprivileged families they ahiukd probably not do online learning but give the children text books to learn from with answers at the back to help parents. The good old fashioned way & tbh I think you learn more like that. But then it's down to the parents to make sure their kids are doing it as if they were in school actual times etc. Some parents have the "I don't care" attitude & therefore their kids will miss out. But that's on them.

Interesting attitude

@TheSunIsStillShining

The point I was making was that many schools failed to even send worksheets home. Teachers use paper resources in class, right? As far as I'm aware students don't all sit in classrooms plugged into computers. So how hard would it have been to make a few packs up of good-ish resources and deliver them to the students? No one expected a great standard in the circumstances but a reasonable level of engagement with the class over several months was expected, yes.

I really don't think it is for the DfE to spoon feed schools in the way that you're describing. It's basic common sense that if students had access to the internet teachers could have signposted them to Oak Academy resources and if not, to send them a few general educational packs so that parents working from home aren't left scratching their heads and downloading maths and English worksheets off twinkle etc abs trying to make up projects for their kids to research themselves. The DfE's role is to organise and manage educational policy - the big issues, not spoonfeeding headteachers- and I think they were justified in expecting teachers to provide a bare minimum level of engagement.

Sadly we will end up having to do what works for the greater good.

Some kids and families will end up very disadvantaged and the long term impact on them is massive.

However getting to the point where not much choice but to close schools in a large number of areas. Probably for a extended amount of time.

@Raspberry681
Yes, I agree in principal in normal circumstances.
But when the guidance is that:

1. summer term curriculum is suspended
2. everything will be back to normal from sept

there is little incentive for schools to do anything. If the policy was that you have to do this/that as a min level and be prepared by doing x/y/z for more disruption then I would fully agree with you.

Also, I would have expected dfe to organise and fund skills upgrading for teachers to be able to rise to the occasion.

I'm not debating the "send out paper worksheets" as a blanket statement, I think it is very nuanced and not my expertise by a long shot. Just by logic, yes. But if you start thinking logistics, marking, feedback it becomes complex. And again: if the strategy was that to set it up and make it work potentially for a prolonged period and schools didn't do it: then you are fully correct. But it was first for a few weeks, then another few weeks....
Nobody in their right mind will put 100 hrs into a short term stop gap solution.