Schools 3 day a week?

[Sunflowerkeep]

Is this for real or just media again? Is it seriously being considered?

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/vale-view-school-closing-friday-15831639

Already has happened.

The figures of spending per pupil for 2021-22 come from ifs.org.uk/publications/15764
School spending per pupil is consistently highest in Scotland and generally lower in Northern Ireland. In 2021–22, spending per pupil is expected to total £7,600 per pupil in Scotland and £6,400 in Northern Ireland. In between, spending per pupil is expected to total about £6,700 in England and £6,600 in Wales.

(note that the figure for Scotland includes "extra" Covid19 funding which is excluded for the other countries. This is estimated to be worth around £125/pupil)

Regional variances in England (2021 prices):

To be fair, it was a shit school before it did that!

Can't STAND posts on MN which say flatly "we're fucked". You see it time and again. Saw it throughout the pandemic and it was never true

If everyone truly thought "we're fucked" no one would get out of bed.

It might be true for those posters personally.

I haven't seen it said when a poster is talking about their personal circumstances. I see it often when a poster wants to spread doom.

And yes I do know how serious this situation is. But constantly saying "we're fucked" doesn't help anything. It's a bit like these constant "danger to life" warnings we're getting from the Met Office for heat, cold, rain, wind and lightning in the last day or so. Makes me switch off.

But people frequently say we are fucked, when they mean I am fucked.

If parents were asked to contribute to heating bills, supplies etc where possible, we'd just end up with a 3 tier system:

Tier A - private schools coping due to parents paying fees
Tier B - semi private schools coping due to parents giving donations
Tier C - state schools not coping because the govt have passed on their obligation to parents who can't meet it.

If all state schools had the same number of pupils from each demographic, donations might work. But they don't of course. Some schools would have all parents paying quite and some would have hardly any able to contribute at all.

I wouldn’t know! I live in Gtr Manchester and remember the article so it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that other schools may do the same.

There is a teacher retention crisis. How many teachers would be happy to suddenly have their pay cut by 40%? I'm sure I wouldn't! Of course they will be doing less work (although probably not 40% less) but they still need to pay the bills!

My kids do a half day on Friday anyway I can’t see losing that 4 hours would make such a big difference .

Schools in England told not to cut days over energy price rises

The Department for Education said it expected all schools "to be open morning and afternoon, five days a week," adding that regular attendance was "vital for children's education, development, and wellbeing".

A spokesperson said around 70% of schools were already delivering a 32.5-hour week from within existing budgets.

"Schools should be planning their budgets in line with this minimum expectation," they added.

Seems to be well we think 70% will manage so rest should too approach.

This is the papers whipping up a storm. There has been absolutely no talk of this. The unions don’t know anything about it. Schools can run on a deficit budget.

This - whipped up by the Daily Mail on a slow news day.
After all it's the silly season isn't it 🙄

It bothers me too. I'm not a particularly anxious person but there are a lot of people around who are and stuff like that - which is just an ill informed statement is not helpful imo.

They can’t use the excuse of teacher pay rises to then cut teacher hours and therefore teachers will actually get a pay cut!! Doesn’t make sense.

covid is still impacting staffing in some schools - especially sen where higher staff ratios are needed - and any attempt to increase home learning and decrease school contact for students is hugely criticised by ofsted, and parents also wouldn’t be happy, they’ve had enough.

Would we end up with another key worker situation?? Parents couldn’t afford the drop in school hours as many organise their work around their childrens’ education. Parents appreciate school is not child care however my does give parents a chance to go to work.

Why do people start these threads and never post again !

Well if it is, it's a far cry from us teachers having to do sat morn and after school revision clubs, which was of course just too much. Can't see it happening, scare mongering, society would likely collapse as parents wouldn't be able to sustain ot with own jobs.

It is a legal requirement that children get 32.5hrs a week of school. It’s designed to make teachers look work shy ahead of possible strike action planned over the next few months. Media propaganda at its finest!

Sensationalist bullshit. It’ll never happen.

I actually think a 3 or 4 day week with less holidays would be a great idea.
5 days in a row is a lot for kids, they are not adults. Many regress and struggle after the summer break. They should obviously still have the summer holidays but possibly shortened to accommodate the shorter week. I think it would be great for kids mental health.
What was the government online school they created in lockdown? Oak something I think. Is that still going? That could potentially be something children can access. Though if they want to implement a hybrid system that comes with issues such as supplying school tablets and in some cases ensuring there is unlimited data on them in case families don't have WIFI. I suppose we'll see what happens

Nope. Just tabloids cooking up a storm.

I taught secondary for 26 years. I never noticed any regression after the 6 week holiday. They just came in and were fine.

However I expect no school budget has had to stretch to the extent the heating bills will add to them this year. Ive heard that church halls are closing down all their courses because they cant afford the heating, ditto with churches...no heating asking people in the winter to wear extra layers. Businesses closing because there is no cap for them on energy prices. Frankly this sounds to me like the Poll Tax was to Thatcher...the beginning of the end of the government....hopefully.

Learning loss and holidays. This is the USA, which has long holidays, but at least it's research:

www.washingtonpost.com/health/do-kids-really-lose-their-school-learning-during-summer-break-a-researcher-finds-mostly-not/2019/08/02/207bf9d2-ac8c-11e9-8e77-03b30bc29f64_story.html