Schools Reopening?

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

Our head has been told by the LA that we will not be opening before the second half of the summer term (so after the half term before the summer holidays), but it will more likely be September.

They won't cancel summer holidays because these are not paid and teachers are currently working so they will have to give us that time off in lieu to make up for it. For example, I am in school several days for key worker's children over the Easter holidays, so today I am taking one of my days-in-lieu and not logging onto my work laptop at all. It would be too tricky to give an entire workforce days off in lieu and that would mean more childcare disruption for parents. The sooner we can all get back to normal the better.

Hormone
Those figures are frightening. I really hope we won’t have trebled the death rate within the next week.

As for the op. I’d like it to be some time in June preferably. If staggering schools, trying to ensure the ones, which break up earliest are in the first wave(s). This will only apply to state schools as private take their own decisions. But as everyone knows, September is the date - perhaps August for those schools, which start the autumn term earlier.

I think the yr 6/yr 11 comparison is a very personal thing.

As I said up the thread I have both. I have a very resilient yr 11, he's bright, optimistic and I have every hope he will come out fine from all of this. Gutted he's missing his prom etc but parents are hoping to arrange something for another time if need be. DS2 (yr 6) is another kettle of fish - he's anxious, has SEN, will massively struggle to settle if he just has to go straight into secondary school. He has fairly unusual needs, so we need to work with school to make it workable for him. I'm probably more worried about the impact this has on him than I am about DS1.

If DS1 wasn't the way he is - so worried he won't get the grades he needs etc - then I'd be worried, but that's unlikely so for now I'm not ( too much....!)

AND now they are considering weekends.

Your school is considering opening on weekends?

Re no summer holidays. Those staff who are in school with key workers now, those teachers who are diligently setting and marking work every day for students (which I’m hoping is many) would then not get a break and wouldn’t be able to take it another time like police etc can. There’s also the pay issue mentioned earlier and those children and teachers who have holidays booked (assuming they can still take place) of which there will be many. Please don’t assume all teachers are at home barely working their hours.

My daughters school the teachers are working tirelessly to ensure learning continues effectively at home and have been likely working harder and longer than normal to do this. My daughter has been following a timetable every day as if she is at school for a full day. So effectively she wouldn’t get a summer holiday? I know these are desperate times but when the schools were closed the govt had previously said to make it effective to do so they would need to close for 12-16 weeks, which would take us to mid June to mid July.

@Menopauseandteensdontmix100 - I have two nieces in yrs 10 and 12, really worrying about the schooling they are missing . The eldest is working her socks off on work, but the youngest is struggling to get motivated. She really needs the structure of school to give her a kick in the right direction

@Menopauseandteensdontmix100 don't worry about your Y10 child. As long as next academic year isn't interrupted they will be fine. The summer term always feels like half a term anyway. We tend to have internal exams after half term, then feedback on the exams, then find ourselfes with an awkward amount of time because much of what we teach between then and the summer holidays gets forgotten. Everything The combination of home-studying next term and the revision lessons in Y11 will be fine.

@Makeitgoaway I’m support staff in a school and I’ve been told to take holiday for some of this week to make up for the days I’m working over Easter as have the teachers, which is quite a good work round to not pay extra. I’ll be in every week but less, I don’t mind at the moment as I want to do my bit, I would mind about the summer as my salary is seriously scaled down to account for the holiday.

@fedup21 they won't be able to go on their holidays anyway, more than likely

No, I know-that wasn’t really my point.

I was relying to @Tulipstulips who suggested schools go back during the term time but kids could be off if they had a holiday booked.

My point was that if kids can have holidays honoured, then you’d need to do that for teachers and then schools probably couldn’t open due to lack of staff anyway.

I think June - after May half term. They’ll do the full half term and then we’ll be back on lockdown for the summer holidays to dampen spread again.

I am expecting September for a partial opening (as a 'flu jab' asthmatic teacher, I am not sure whether I will be able to work).

However, I can see a scenario in which, if not all critical care beds are full with 3 weeks or so of term to go, schools are partially or fully reopened to deliberately create a new peak in the summer holidays, and thus improve herd immunity for another re-opening in September. However, i don't imagine that September reopening will be 'school as we know it', and I think there may be another shutdown for a longer half term break if we get that far OR a '1 week on / 2 week off' timetable so that students and staff become ill on a rolling basis.

The very earliest would be June. Teachers and staff who are shielding have been told 12 weeks which takes them to beginning to mid June at the earliest. If you take these staff out of our school structure, we wouldn't have enough staff to safely open with a full compliment of children.

I think the whole school year structure will change if it’s safe to go back,they go back.

People saying may are ignoring the government saying school closures need to be 12-16 weeks to be effective.

Which is why they cancelled exams as they start in May.

That means earliest schools will be back is mid June.

Do people really think that in July & August everyone will be flying off on holiday as if nothing has changed?

Your school is considering opening on weekends?

Apparently the LA has asked heads to consider it....

I’m not in school every day so the days I’m not in (although still have to contact SLT every day to show I’m alive) will be considered my time off in lieu of the days i work during holidays. These are extraordinary times and part of me feels aggrieved that I (who usually works part time) am working the same hours as someone who usually works full time. But then I give my head a wobble.... I’m still being paid! Lots of people aren’t.

Opening over summer holidays would cost alot of money on overstretched budgets and I doubt staff can be forced to come in anyway. TAs and other support staff needed to keep schools open are paid for only the 195 days in a normal school year so would need to agree to and be paid properly for the extra days.

Maybe September, but I think it could well be later. It may be that they just open then for half a term and then close again when infection numbers start to rise.

Everyone has their mind set on September, but I'm hoping my child and all the other Year 6 kids in the country get the chance to go back to their primary school if only for a few weeks to officially get the send off they deserve.
Starting high school without properly finishing primary is going to be a real struggle for September's Year 7 intake.

Not even 9am and already a shitty teacher bashing comment

How am I teacher bashing? Teachers will have to suck it up to help the economy. At the moment they are being paid in full for being at home (except when on rota to go into school) and setting some work. People are going to lose their jobs and homes so I'm can sure teachers can lose a few weeks holiday. You'd be feeling differently if you weren't on full pay. Trust me.

It's still only March, September is 6 months away. Our governments stay at home package is for 3 months. They won't be able to continue to fund people to stay at home for another 3 months and businesses will need to open back up in stages. I think the schools will go back this academic year, even if just for the remainder of term after May half term. Probably schools and businesses open first, restaurants and leisure industries will be the last to open. Travel will be off for much longer.

Working from what the government and chief medical officers have been saying about how long lockdown needs to last, it sounds like Sept or Oct.

I suspect the goal is to get the kids back for at least a few weeks before the end of the school year, but it's too early to tell if that will be possible. I also agree that significantly shifting the school year is impractical, but I can see minor shifts being proposed eg bringing the kids back a bit earlier etc which would have a knock on effect on the extended school year - ie I think it's possible they'll rejig the entire school year's dates to work with teachers contractual obligations and need to possibly add some school. How they accomplish this though, I have no idea.

Even if things are settled in June then it would be utterly pointless to put children back in school for a few weeks in July.

I 100% disagree with this statement. I think even just 4 weeks back before school holidays would be extremely helpful. Not least because it means that children aren't off for 6 months. It allows, more than anything, for transition planning for the following year and will help teachers to assess students and begin planning for September which will be different from any other years as what children have achieved will vary far more widely than in a normal year.

At the moment they are being paid in full for being at home (except when on rota to go into school) and setting some work.

‘Setting some work*?

That shows just how little some people know.

A lot of people saying September. What is that based on, given no one knows and schools found out on the news?

It was in response to what Nichola S and Arlene F said about kids being off for a very long time.

Also the 12 week for the vulnerable. Our school struggled the day this was brought in so would struggle until that was over.

I personally thing kids deserve some summer playing out and having fun.

Something should be put in place for year 6 though. Even if it is an August visit or something like that.