Calls for schools to open in summer after the lockdown - Thoughts?

[CakeAndPastries]

Hi All,
See the link to the article below....

What are your thoughts on opening schools over summer IF the virus allows for us to be ' back to somewhat normal life' by then?

I would be for is as my children are in really important senior school years and I worry that they will be impacted by 'learning online' for this last term of the year.

The Guardian Article

Much like your opinion.

I think some are missing the point.... The article said

• SOME of the summer, not ALL of the summer. It also mentioned in SOME FORM not necessarily a traditional format. This could be a summer school format for key subjects it could be managed a whole lot of ways.

-DID NOT mention "NOT PAYING" teachers (of course it would be paid! How could anyone expect otherwise)

Additionally:

• SOME parents are now spending time they would be commuting providing a holiday type experience i.e. more games, fun activities and laughter etc

-SOME parents are CONCERNED about children missing important aspects of their education.

For instance, my son in year 10 first year of GCSE will be very disadvantaged for having a term online learning, school is not easy for him and it will be that much harder online.

It is up to the exam boards and Ofqual to resolve the latter though OP : for example, some streamlining of content would be a sensible approach. What you are asking is for teachers to teach things twice.

More fun activities will not happen if we are still social distancing.

More fun activities could equally happen at home.

Children need a break from learning. All that screen time for weeks and weeks on end followed by a return to (very hot and stuffy)classrooms concerns me and doesn't seem to bother others. surprisingly. I can't actually think of a more unhealthy place to be than a poorly ventilated school building in hot weather.

DID NOT mention "NOT PAYING" teachers (of course it would be paid! How could anyone expect otherwise)

There is more chance of hell freezing over than teachers getting paid to do this. Absolutely without a doubt. It is an unpaid 6 week break. Teachers are often expected to go in and do summer school type sessions. To register for year 12. To hand out results. To data analyse. To prepare their classrooms under the instruction of SLT. Ive never, ever known anyone get paid.

But I’m happy to be proven wrong if someone can link to a creditable source that says payment will of course be given

Not with reference to whether schools are open but just generally, I think the idea that lockdown is lifted and suddenly we can see friends and family or go on UK based holidays is possibly over optimistic. I think it will be gradually lifted and things like UK holidays may well not happen this year.

I agree with that, along with the fanciful notion that there will be a load of street parties. I actually think the return to school will be quite repressive, no fun at all and stressful for children and teachers (and parents when their DCs complain)

CalleighDoodle Totally agree last year I worked 3 out of my five and a bit weeks of the summer holiday. I didn’t get paid one bit extra for any of those days.

Oh but school staff get amazing holidays! Why wouldn’t we give that bit extra? Erm because we already do in spades!

@toryandproud - why do you think the teachers should be working over the summer holidays? I can’t see what is has to with unions. The teachers need their holidays particularly after such a difficult term.

Here in Japan, it looks as though the summer vacation will be reduced in length by about 2.5 weeks. I don't know how transferable this is to the UK though, as systems for paying teachers may be different here.

Children may have missed a term of formal education but perhaps gained in other ways.

A lot of them will basically have played Fortnite for weeks on end. I am not saying that school should be in throughout all of summer but can we be honest about the fact that social inequalities are being entrenched by school cancelations?

Perhaps we need a compromise, such as a somewhat shorter summer break. I know it's hard on teachers, but EVERYONE is having a really hard time at the moment and is doing a lot of extra stuff.

We could add to the winter vacation to make up the time, so teachers would not actually lose any annual leave.

Say---a four week vacation over the summer, and an extra two weeks at the start of winter. Especially as there is likely to be a second spike around flu season.

Perhaps we need a compromise, such as a somewhat shorter summer break.
Who is doing the compromising here, with that suggestion?

I know it's hard on teachers, but EVERYONE is having a really hard time at the moment and is doing a lot of extra stuff. As are teachers. But you think they should do even more?

The DfE is disorganised, quite badly led , and doesn't like change (except to curriculums, which they are rather obsessed with). I cannot see them investing any energy at all into thinking through any structural changes to the school year. It is easy to blame teachers and the unions but we are not the decision makers.

Tbh I wouldn't mind two more weeks over Xmas but the stretch up to that with no appreciable break would be horrendous. And it's not really a holiday of we shut down again because everyone is locked away and fearful.

I have no solutions of my own!

@Pomegranatepompom
I wished I had it together. I feel I'm drowning most days.

Perhaps we need a compromise, such as a somewhat shorter summer break

What do you understand by the word ‘compromise’?

I agree the summer break needs to be shorter- the compromise for all of us will be the money to cover the cost of staffing this will have to come from some where - as does the extra money put into the nhs and other frontline services.
The compromise is a societal one we’ll all be paying for this pandemic- financially for the rest of our lifetimes.
Many people myself included have had to cancel AL but we’re in the middle of a pandemic we all have to do things we wouldn’t normally do.

I’m still waiting for selfless non-teachers to do their bit and take up my offer of giving up their own annual leave to work unpaid as childcare staff in my school over summer. I will provide fully qualified teachers (also working unpaid during their unpaid annual leave) to supervise and can get DBS checks done for all volunteers. Selfless people that some of the posters on this site are! All in this together!

Many people myself included have had to cancel AL but we’re in the middle of a pandemic we all have to do things we wouldn’t normally do.
And for the billionth time, you will be able to have that cancelled AL at a later date. You all going to be happy for any of your children's teachers to bugger off on holiday part-way through the first term they're back in "proper" school?

I think I shall hop form one thread to the other to point out that there is no scientific evidence that the CV will be less virulent in summer (it being summer right now in Australia..) and that one of the very reasons that viruses do seem less prevalent in warm months is that transmissions are reduced because - guess what?- schools are closed.

I’m still waiting for selfless non-teachers to do their bit and take up my offer of giving up their own annual leave to work unpaid as childcare staff in my school over summer. I will provide fully qualified teachers (also working unpaid during their unpaid annual leave) to supervise and can get DBS checks done for all volunteers. Selfless people that some of the posters on this site are! All in this together!

😂 these lazy sods won’t volunteer

I don’t think their lazy. I just think they value their own annual leave and value being paid for working. Funny that.

Wrong autocorrect on they’re!

teaandajammydodger
I was being ironic, since that’s what they accuse teachers of

@Iateallthecookies000

I work in a non teaching role in a high school.My pay is pro rata (different to teaching staff) I was working flat out the weeks up-to Easter alongside homeschooling my own dds. My Dh is a teacher and we have had to do alternating ‘shifts’ to get it all done. I have been off totally for a little over a week and my DH has been WFH but only planning my dds have been off as well and we are on ‘holiday’ together they found homeschooling hard and they miss their friends and activities so we are having a break.
I am also studying for a masters and work specifically term time only to allow myself research time in the holidays so if I had to work through all the holidays I couldn’t study.
My school opens every summer for 2 weeks for ‘summer school’ 1 week for new year 7s and one week for new year 11. This is voluntary and paid and we always have more than enough staff volunteer usually doing 3 days each (I always do) I think something like this set up might work and would be beneficial to those years groups. However we are a large school in a small town with lots of staff. I don’t think this would necessarily work for primary schools or all secondary schools.