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Original poster

School NOT going back after Easter

200 replies

Saladfingers95 · 02/04/2020 12:16

The headteacher has just phoned me to say my children's school will definitely not be back until after Easter. It will be after May half term at the earliest. I'm in the North East. Has anyone else been told the same?

OP posts:
Eaudeunaturale · 02/04/2020 14:44

Dds SEN school has confirmed they won’t be back until September

Bflatmajorsharp · 02/04/2020 14:57

cornish why don't you DO THE MATHS?

Schools need staff who are well and able to go into them in order to operate. Many schools didn't have this quota before 20th March, and were closing or providing shortened hours.

People in the 'shielded' group ie those who are asthmatic, diabetic, pregnant etc etc have been advised not to have contact with even close family for 12 weeks and most definitely not to leave their homes.

Plus people who are symptomatic and their rest of their household are being asked to self-isolate for 14 days. There is no sense that this advice will change during the pandemic.

Even if schools did manage to open with a skeleton staff, staff and pupils would be off self-isolating or unwell within a few days, so unlikely to be able to remain open.

No-one but no-one is hoping that schools stay shut until September, but there's a very real possibility, based on the current situation and how the pandemic is being managed that they may be.

Barbie222 · 02/04/2020 15:11

Let's hope for a few weeks before mid July, in some parts of the country at least. My guess is the government will treat the summer holidays as a semi lockdown time with some restrictions relaxed, to generate a controlled second wave before winter.

fireflower998 · 02/04/2020 15:13

I'm thinking this may continue into the Autumn term and students may be learning remotely until Christmas.

kilisibird · 02/04/2020 15:29

People in the 'shielded' group ie those who are asthmatic, diabetic, pregnant etc etc have been advised not to have contact with even close family for 12 weeks and most definitely not to leave their homes.

These people are not in the shielded group on those conditions alone.

OnTheMoors · 02/04/2020 15:35

The headteacher rang you ? 🤔

HaudYerWheeshtYaWeeBellend · 02/04/2020 15:40

Children are not going to go back to school at/during the peak the f the epidemic....

Educated guess they will go back in Sept and even then I believe it will be phased.

Needtobepositive · 02/04/2020 15:45

I naively thought (before schools were closed down and it was just being rumoured that they might) that we’d have these two weeks off and then Easter hols and after those 4 weeks the virus threat would be much smaller and they’d be back after Easter. Now I laugh at myself! I think it will be September but I’m really hoping for at least a couple of weeks in July for my year 6 to be able to finish off primary school with some sort of ending.

Stellamboscha · 02/04/2020 15:52

I teach in an independent school and we will be delivering all lessons via Zoom after Easter and the re-opening at the very earliest we are allowed to. We normally break for summer at the end of June, so I wouldn't be surprised is we we break up early for summer - say end of May and the come back beginning of August. I think parents would support that.

Mintjulia · 02/04/2020 15:52

My ds's school has just emailed me with details of fees for the summer term, and the curriculum they intend to follow.

They are assuming the school will not go back until June at the earliest and probably September.

SansaSnark · 02/04/2020 15:55

Schools and unis are very different- most unis don't do any real teaching after summer exams. Schools clearly do for Y 7-10 and 12. Being at uni also often requires students to do a long distance move. So it makes a lot of sense for unis to say "shut until September"- but for schools to go back even for a few weeks June/July would be useful.

However, it's worth bearing in mind that private schools also have an agenda- they don't want to lose fees or have parents pushing for fees discounts. So they may be sharing information that implies schools will go back sooner rather than later, even if they're not sure.

Arlene Foster said, not long before schools closed, that she expected the closure to last about 16 weeks. This would take us up to mid- June.

However, schools can only really reopen if they have enough staff available to run the school properly. Nearly ever school I'm aware of was doing partial closures in the week before the schools shut because of staff off on the 7/14 day quarantine. This will also be a consideration to bear in mind when announcing that schools will reopen.

Bflatmajorsharp · 02/04/2020 19:38

kilisibird some are and some of those will be working in schools.

The point is that with the best will in the world, schools are unlikely to be fully staffed for some time yet.

Bflatmajorsharp · 02/04/2020 19:40

SansaSnark yes and even those that were open were advising parents/carers to check their website/texts each morning as it was possible that they wouldn't be able to open that day.

Unless the mass testing regime that we've heard so much about reveals that a huge proportion of the population has had C19, this will be the situation when things 'start to get back to normal' as well.

Nanalisa60 · 02/04/2020 19:46

Wise up, they will be going back after the summer holidays!!

kilisibird · 02/04/2020 19:48

some are and some of those will be working in schools.

No. That list was not of people in the shielded group. People who are pregnant/diabetic/asthmatic are NOT in the shielded group. Unless the asthma is under the SEVERE category and for the others if they have other conditions. Being pregnant doesn't mean you need to be shielded. Neither does being diabetic.

Namelesswonder · 02/04/2020 19:55

In Scotland when the school shut down was announced we were told schools would not reopen till the start of the next school year - mid-August.

DrMadelineMaxwell · 02/04/2020 20:19

And yet....
Pregnant people were told to not come to work by our HR dept for the county, due to only being on the 'at risk' list.

I'm on the 'at risk' list due to my asthma. I've narrowly missed the criteria for the shielding list, but Asthma uk's advice in conjuntion with the NHS is that I shield anyway - but without the letter. Which is fine as we aren't open at the moment fully and there are plenty of not at-risk staff to be on the rota for the hub. And I wouldn't want to qualify for the help needed.

But where would it leave any other staff members like me, who are still advised to be away from 30 kids who may or may not have had the virus yet (or even be incubating it as we won't wait until it's completely gone to open up again, because we can't) with a boss who would want us at work because of no letter, but medical advice to shield anyway?

Original poster
Saladfingers95 · 02/04/2020 20:36

@OnTheMoors yes, why is this so difficult to believe for some people? 🤔

It's a very small, tight knit school, and I ( and other parents) often speak to the childrens teachers via phone if they need to talk to me, or vice versa.

OP posts:
BertNErnie · 02/04/2020 20:40

We've been asked to consider becoming a field hospital or an NHS hub so no idea when we will open again!

SabrinaTheTeenageBitch · 02/04/2020 20:50

Where in North East OP? Im in Sunderland and honestly not expecting kids to be back until September at earliest

TheDrsDocMartens · 02/04/2020 20:55

@BertNErnie that’s what’s happened to one school here.
Army been in setting up this week

cologne4711 · 02/04/2020 20:55

The most prevalent rumour is they will go back into the next Academic year at some point during August

That will not happen unless you are in Scotland. Peopel have holidays booked and even if they cant go, they'll still be entitled to the leave and teachers are working.

These threads are really unhelpful. Nobody knows, and that's nobody. I don't know how the OP's headteacher in the NE knows more than everyone else in the country.

cologne4711 · 02/04/2020 20:57

I meant teachers are working now and during normal term-time so they will be entitled to their normal leave in the summer.

FlamingoAndJohn · 02/04/2020 21:08

If you are in England then no one really knows. Not the woman over the road who is a teacher, not your friends who’s son is a head teacher.
I don’t know if headteachers get to know more than the rest of us but I can’t imagine they know much more than prepare to be shut for the next few weeks.

We have been told to assume we aren’t back after Easter but no idea how long for.

BertNErnie · 02/04/2020 21:10

@TheDrsDocMartens I am hoping we hold off and say no as we teach a lot of vulnerable children and I really want them back in school where we at least know they are safe for 6hrs of the day.

Issue is though that we are a 6 form entry primary with 4 forms on one school site which is 944 pupils and over 100 staff. Not sure how we can practice social distancing with that many people on site...