Schools Reopening?

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When do you honestly think it will happen? And when do you want it to happen?!

I would like schools to open before September - if it is safe to do so, of course.

My DC are Year 3, Year 2 and Reception. Y3 DD is happy to whizz through all her work at breakneck speed and spend the rest of the day reading and "doing experiments" DS Reception has been fine to do the little bits he has been set and is generally quite self-directed and likes drawing. They could probably both do with a bit more challenge tbh, but I will look into finding additional stuff for them to do.

Y2 DD is the youngest in her year (30 August birthday!) and finds her school work difficult. Once she has learned a new skill or concept she can do it well, but she always needs help and extra explaining to get to grips with something new. So there has been a lot of tears and "I can't do it, it's too hard".

We are not in a bad situation. DH is a primary teacher and is good at helping them, but is tied up with virtual learning, SLT meetings on Zoom, etc. etc. I usually help the DC with homework in normal circs, so we should have a good set up. But at the moment I'm in the middle of being assessed/diagnosed possible leukaemia and, until I'm told otherwise, I have to do strict self isolation. DH is being run ragged and struggling to find time to supervise and help.

They aren't vulnerable kids. They aren't in a horrific family set-up or suffering from neglect. But, from a purely selfish perspective, I worry about the impact that many months off school would have on their wellbeing and education. And I know that there are many children in worse situations, who will suffer much more badly.

Not sure what the point of this post is, having got to the end of it!

For the schools not planning to open until September, I wonder on what basis they have made this plan? They can’t possibly know whether the government may turn around in a couple of weeks and instruct all of them back in May? As I school I would prepare for all eventualities rather than ‘planning to be back in September’.

Remember how quickly we closed the schools? That’s how quickly they could open again whether you’ve planned for that or not.

once unless you can be tested for CV and/or have had an antibody test. Then you can be confident a single cough will not be cause to have several days off (again)

@cornishdreams1 My head has been incredibly good at keeping us update about any new developments with regards to all of this. Even though it is the holidays, he sent out a staff briefing yesterday with various updates relevant to the schools. If schools were due to reopen in 7 weeks, I strongly believe I would have heard something. Instead, what we have heard about today is plans to support vulnerable students next term.

I am in touch with lots of teachers I trained with at lots of different schools, and I think one of them would have shared something if they had heard anything as well. You said in your previous post the school said they would "aim" to reopen- not will, you're already changing your words, and possibly lying completely to suit your own agenda.

The Government is currently not able to plan 7 weeks ahead, there is no way they'd announce schools reopening now when they know they might have to backtrack on that.

The situation the week before we closed was very different to a normal winter. I'm not aware of any schools that had to do partial openings this winter- but most schools did the week before we closed- and we were doubling up classes.

I am not saying that some kind of limited opening will not be possible or desirable, but we have to weigh parents desire to get back to work against everyone's safety.

I can’t teach a class of 45. Our rooms aren’t big enough. I teach a practical subject anyway, so relocating say to the hall wouldn’t work.

My school never runs in the winter with half the staff sick. Most are there all the time.

If teachers are ill there will be insufficient numbers to open a school.

BUT what is really getting me here is this: Everyone is going on about doubling up/ using supply/ bigger classes. The quality of teaching in these situations will be crap. As will the learning.

And LEARNING is the key thing. That is what schools are for. What is the point of opening a school when the learning is going to be severely affected? Students will learn more from online lessons.

As soon as possible. I have an only teenager who needs a social world and most of all needs teacher support. School sending work home is about as useful as homework - not much. I could home educate if I wasn't working, had groups etc , and had a free curriculum - I can't administer school discipline, support lessons, and do a FT job all with a child deprived of social contact.

There seems to be a real resistance to getting our schools back up and running which is very worrying, and one can only imagine it is because some of us have convinced ourselves we are shut now for seven months until the autumn come what may. There is no basis for this assumption.

Who even suggested September as a date of return? It is irresponsible in the extreme.

I know. I’d love to know where this constant ‘September’ comes from.
It’s like Chinese whispers.

The death rate in China for 11-19yos was 0.2%- that's about 2 children in your average large secondary school.

Except that China does not count asymptomatic cases and only people with fairly severe symptoms were getting testing at this time, and it appears that most children are asymptomatic. Plus, I would be astonished if our CFR was as high as it was in China.

our school based in the south west, is aiming to reopen in seven weeks time.

Can you share that letter, @cornishdreams1 -obviously with any identifying details scribbled out! I’m interested to know exactly what it says as this isn’t gov advice. Is it a private school?

Nurseries June and schools September.

And the resistance is because staff are scared of being put in the most unhygienic, infectious situation imaginable.

And it's yanking the kids' chains back and forth again for no practical gain.

You severely underestimate the affect on children's mental health of not being among their peers and having some social stimulation. That would be the practical gain of bringing them back for a couple of weeks at the end of term.

7 weeks from now is still well within the 12 weeks of isolation so we we would not actually be able to staff our school. We tried with supply teachers when the initial vulnerable groups were told to stay at home but the agencies had no more supplies left.

I don’t think anything nationwide will happen in 7 weeks.

@Delatron I think it's much easier for departments/teachers to plan for remote working until September and then return to business as usual than to plan for, say, an extended Easter holiday and then be off all summer term.

So although we are being told to plan remote work for the whole summer term, that doesn't mean we wouldn't be ready to go back earlier. It just means that we can plan a scheme of work that is easy for students to do at home. In science, this does mean we have changed the order of teaching to do different topics, as some topics are more suited to home learning than others. We might not have done this if we were only going to be off for a few extra weeks.

For lots of reasons, I would love it if we got to go back as soon as possible. I want to say goodbye to my Y11s. I want them to get Prom and leavers assembly and a yearbook. I want to support my Y10s in their GCSE prep as much as possible. I want to support my Y12s so that they can get the best grades possible next year and get into the unis of their choice. I am worried about lots of the children I teach (whether they are formally classed as vulnerable or not) being at home, possibly alone, for long periods. I am worried about the ones who are struggling to complete their home learning. I am worried about the "disadvantage gap" becoming even bigger. From a selfish point of view, my contract finishes at the end of August, and if schools close beyond that, I think I would be out of a job.

Primary teacher here and I can't wait to get back to my class! I'm hoping June but think prob September... who knows! In terms of a summer holiday opening ... I'd be open to working if the kids have been off as long as anyone with holidays booked have them honoured (we have a week away booked but expect it will be cancelled). The kids will need time to readjust so a couple of weeks of just being together having fun would be good before getting back to academic work on September.

sansa why would you imagine the school is closed until the autumn? Who has confirmed that with you?As far as I am aware the working assumption is for us to reopen school as soon as possible, and you can expect as much notice about reopening as you did about closure: ie very little.

This is not about you readying yourself for your return, you should already be completely prepared to return at the first opportunity.

Some are clearly using this situation for an extended paid holiday, without a care for the children that are being impacted severely from closure.

I would urge you to check with your head about the autumn date you are fixated on, because most of us are working on the basis our schools will be reopening as soon as possible. In our case, in seven weeks.

Where are all these vulnerable teachers? My children go to three separate schools. Between them I knew of three teachers who were self-isolating because someone in their home had a cold. Not because they were vulnerable

Are you serious? You think you know the medical situation, health status and underlying condition status of each and everyone of the staff at the school your children attend?

Teachers are not some kind of all the same robot. We experience things like asthma, diabetes, pregnancy, cancer, being older....just like anyone else. We also often work for as long as we can because not working, for reasons I wont' go into, is harder than actually going to work. To suggest that all schools would somehow be just fine from a staffing perspective if schools opened in a few weeks is beyond ridiculous.

Cornish,

I am PREPARED to go back to work tomorrow.

It doesn't mean I am EXPECTING to.

(As in, I have all the resources ready, and I know exactly what i would teach - in that parallel universe in which we are all in school as normal)

Agree with others that a month or so of school during the summer (perhaps June) would help---better to push the infections up a bit (and therefore build some more immunity in the population) well BEFORE we hit flu season.

Just for one year, parents may have to accept that reopening schools too early could affect teaching staff ( and schools will have to close if this happens as not enough staff), students and the wider community
If that's the case, schools will have to deal with it the same way as every other organisation will have to deal with it. If it is impossible across the board, the government or local authorities will take a view on what's possible.

But to suggest they shouldn't open because it impacts on teachers' holidays and pay is bloody ridiculous. None of us are in an ideal situation now and we are all expected to do what is necessary for the good of the nation. Your two week trip to Dubai in August is not important.

I'd like schools to be open as soon as possible so we can all get back to normal and I can get back to work. However, my DS is much better off doing home schooling with me giving 1:1 (and I am not a teacher) than he would be in a group of 40+children if schools go back before there are enough members of staff to provide normal support. I am not a teacher and not someone who would normally favour homeschooling. However, packing them in like sardines and teachers not knowing individual pupils, being unable to answer questions, or differentiate work etc is not the best thing for children.

@cornishdreams1 My head of department and my headteacher have both said that we need to plan as if schools will be shut until September. They are not saying this will be the case, but as I've explained, it does affect what work we plan and how we plan. My head of department has put a very sensible plan in place to ensure that all children get the best education they can if schools are shut for that long.

They are not saying that will definitely be the case, but this is what they have told us to plan for- not plan for as in "this is the plan" but plan in the teacher sense of "we need lessons that will work for students at home for this period".

You're swinging between your school giving you 7 weeks notice of reopening, to me not getting anyway. Obviously I am ready to return at any time- I can use the existing scheme of work. But this won't work for home learning in science, so we have to "plan" new lessons.

Planning everything from scratch is pretty time consuming, so even ignoring the days I am going into school this Easter, I am working harder this Easter than I normally would. But sure- it's a "paid holiday".

According to the Times today Italy is looking at a possible reopening of schools on May 4 IF the current downward rate of new infections continues - that would be eight weeks after they were closed.

So I guess if that happened then UK should monitor the effects in Italy.