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?

@rabbitheadlights

My Y10 DD has a BTEC exam on 11th will she be back in? I can only see infor for Y11/13

How can they unless all the kids in Yr10 are keyworker or vulnerable?

@AldiAisleofCrap

They said last time the kids would be back after Easter. That was 2 weeks

They went back 6 months later. I'm planning for a lot more disruption this term between school closures and bubbles burst.

So no, I won't chill out about my kids education. Have you read up on the lasting damage this is doing to kids ability levels? Don't kid yourself it'll be fine without a lot of work.

I don't know but says all exam yrs then Y11/13 but DD IS Y10 the exam is for her final BTEC so counts towards her GCSE essentially I know I'm not explaining it well. But it's not just a school exam it's part of her GCSE's

Rabbit Our school have said Y11 and Y10 if doing sports science only so maybe contact the school but other y10 exams aren't allowed in. In general its just y11 and y13 but maybe school can make exceptions.

I know it’s been said far up thread, but I also couldn’t believe Greenwich isn’t on the list.

The government should have decided this way back when Scotland did. It was predictable. Yes some parents would have made a contingency plan - I could see it coming and bought a new laptop so Ds could learn for instance. Parents can’t be expected to do all the predicting for the government though - we have far fewer resources with which to do so for one thing!

*silky do you think the exam will be rearranged then?

Rabbit Sorry I don't know anything about exams, my DD isn't doing sports science. I would assume exams are going ahead unless told otherwise - would send an e-mail to school.

@ThinkAboutItTomorrow I home educate all but my year 11 child, so I really can’t get on board with the hysteria. It’s completely illogical to think that your child’s GCSE results will be affected.

Ok thanks Silkie was holding off on the email as I'm sure the teachers have enough to do, but as the exam is set by an external body I really need to know if she needs to be there.

I've said many times: kids in mainland europe start to learn to read/write at age 6/7. And they are fine. I would say that anyone who has a smaller child than at least 10 years old should really relax. Especially the smallest ones will be totally fine.

@EveryDayIsADuvetDay

I know things are constantly changing, but it certainly demonstrates what a willywaving arse Gavin Williamson was, ignoring Greenwich council's decision to close schools a week early before Christmas.

This.

@TheSunIsStillShining

I've said many times: kids in mainland europe start to learn to read/write at age 6/7. And they are fine. I would say that anyone who has a smaller child than at least 10 years old should really relax. Especially the smallest ones will be totally fine.

It's not all about academia.

i love people sayng nothing is open anyway

alot of shops in my town are doing click and collect so can stay open along with b and m boots home bargains poundland and other foodie shops

Thank you @yankeedoodledandee! I’m tired of the breezy “kids won’t suffer!”.

My autistic 10 yo will suffer. He fucking well won’t be “fine”. And no, he won’t have a school place anyway, because not all children with SN are covered by “vulnerable children” for a number of reasons.

@CallmeAngelGabriel

Boris ACTUALLY just said that "schools are safe."

Lying FUCKER.

But then he did actually tell the truth and highlight that the problem with schools is all the households mixing. And schools are sage right now (with everyone at home).

Motorways are safe to play on too, it is just the fast - moving traffic that causes the problem.

*safe not sage

Everyone's situation is different. My 14 yr old is sensible enough to be left at home on his own remote learning but the effect that the first lockdown had on him has been very distressing, it made him insular,introverted ,aggressive and almost agorophobic, massively behind with schoolwork as he couldnt concentrate at home for many reasons. He hasnt coped with the aftermath of last time so the thought of going in to that again even for 2 weeks is overwhelmingly worrying as the state of his mental health is not good and he hasnt got back to his old self at all. Families will still be dealing with the mental health side effects long after we've all had a vaccine. Teenagers cant just spring back as they are already going through so many emotional and hormonal changes without this thrown in.

We have middle schools here for years 5-8 which confuses matters. We'd already been told that only the children of key workers would be in on the 5th and all others on the 11th, and they'll be doing home learning for that week - they said that before the holidays. Just waiting to hear from the school.

[quote yankeedoodledandee]@Bourbonic

If you have primary aged kids in one of the delayed areas then fine.

It's not fine though. That's the whole point of the thread. People have a few days to sort this out because their children are not going back as expected. You talked about not understanding the confusion, OP isn't confused. [/quote]
Yes. Fine to feel frustrated.

Even though you'd have to be a bit daft to have not seen it coming given the teachers groups and scientists have been shouting for it since before the schools finished for Xmas.

Even though you'd have to be a bit daft to have not seen it coming given the teachers groups and scientists have been shouting for it since before the schools finished for Xmas.

I think we all saw it coming. Not much point in calling people daft, parents needed confirmation before making firm arrangements.

@EveryDayIsADuvetDay

I know things are constantly changing, but it certainly demonstrates what a willywaving arse Gavin Williamson was, ignoring Greenwich council's decision to close schools a week early before Christmas.

Well he's showed them by excluding them from the list? What the actual fuck? The local hospital ((QE2) have been all over the news this week with an oxygen emergency but the borough doesn't meet the (unpublished) criteria????

If there's a science basis say so, otherwise it's politics and I suspect a way to restrict the Greenwich (labour) councils pandemic funding.

I do not trust Gavin Williamson to make these decisions at all. I do not trust his motivations and he is totally overstepping into decisions that should be made by parents, schools and most importantly, local authorities.

This government's whole response has been reactive and too late. They have failed to learn during this and are still issuing dictats from the top and including personal vendettas (Greenwich) in the decision making.

@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams
I think it is based on where case numbers are still rising rather than targeting Greenwich. It looked yesterday like Greenwich may have already peaked but places like Barnet hadn’t (based on the 7 day rolling average).
I hope that they will adjust if the figures move in the wrong direction.

I am in one of the listed areas and cases are not yet going in the right direction.

[quote ChazsBrilliantAttitude]@TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams
I think it is based on where case numbers are still rising rather than targeting Greenwich. It looked yesterday like Greenwich may have already peaked but places like Barnet hadn’t (based on the 7 day rolling average).
I hope that they will adjust if the figures move in the wrong direction.

I am in one of the listed areas and cases are not yet going in the right direction.[/quote]
Interesting! Islington - where DCs go to school - also tried to close on 15/12 and delay reopening until 11/1, and got smacked down by the government (also very labour council). I must admit I’ve not been following the figures here closely enough (I just know they’ve been bad) but maybe they’ve peaked too?

I’m no fan of Boris, but he and his Government aren’t making up the Guidelines willy nilly to suit themselves. They are acting on the advice given to them by the experts such as those who are in the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)

Sadly this isn’t the case. SAGE advised that secondary schools should be closed throughout January. This government clearly has no problem with ignoring their advice.

www.politico.eu/article/coronavirus-uk-government-scientists-close-schools-january-boris-johnson/amp/?__twitter_impression=true