Finally some news about schools

[pontypridd]

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/03/revealed-year-six-primary-school-pupils-may-return-on-1-june

Teachers need to gain the respect of the population, and not think of them as childminders with a bit of education thrown in for good value.

I am not a teacher but I honestly think they deserve lots of kudos and all that for looking after our kids and exposing themselves and their families to infection.

But I would not agree with this return to school ever. It is more for the parents, and to hell with the teachers. That is unreal.

Guesswork

@onemouseplace Year 6 have SATS, unless this has been officially cancelled?

I'm well aware of how pointless many people feel SATs are and when my DC took them I felt similarly. However, all of their streaming was based on this along with their expected grades for GCSE which in turn fed into the choices they've been given and the subjects that they have had access to.

The amount of media speculation and false information is horrendous but the Guardian would not claim they had Downing Street confirmation without truth behind it.

The amount of media speculation and false information is horrendous but the Guardian would not claim they had Downing Street confirmation without truth behind it.
Agree with this.

@peoplepleaser1 are you sure about that as every school I’ve worked in has set based on Cat scores that the children sit near enough as soon as they go to secondary.

Also just in case this is testing public opinion, I’m not for it. Children cannot social distance even those that can point out when it’s being done badly.

@peoplepleaser1 SATs were cancelled, along with phonics, baseline assessments and GCSE and A levels right at the very beginning. They should have been taking them next week.

Well if it is to gauge public opinion, as a teacher - and a parent of a toddler trying to WFH - here is my humble opinion.

Social distancing won’t happen in schools. We’ve measured and can fit 4 children in each classroom (old Victorian building) and 8 down the corridor. Our playground is tiny. Even the Year 6s just can’t maintain it. We don’t have enough resources for children not to have to share.

Send us back, that’s fine, but don’t do it under any pretence of social distancing being in place to protect children and staff. Admit that it’s risky, but provide each school with numerous thermometers to check temps on entry, and put in place a robust system of testing every child or adult who shows symptoms and closing schools as necessary once a case is identified.

Going forward, I think this crisis really has revealed a need for more detail in the national curriculum. We’re in a situation where a centralised online teaching programme would be of enormous help to shielding and vulnerable children when their peers return to school, but impossible to implement due to for example the Romans being taught in Year 3 in one school and Year 6 in another. The same issue as with topics also exists with English texts, though maths is not so much an issue.

The number of news outlets reporting this makes me think that at the very least we are being either probed for our reaction or prepared for a possible phased return from that date.

MAY is the key word.

But if I had to put money on it, I would say year 6 will return from June 1st and the speculation is right.

Purely from the point of view that its becoming increasingly untenable to keep primary school kids off and year 6 is such a crucial year.There is growing evidence to suggest that 10 and 11 year olds don't catch the disease and spread it as easily as adults and older children.

I don't think it can be earlier than that because the schools won't be ready for it and I don't think it can be later than that as otherwise we are running into the school holidays. (And my suspicion is that they want to keep the option of being open over the summer, on the table too).

They will want to have some distancing at least initially to see if the R rate increases and they can't do that if all the kids are in, so staggered restart with year 6 in first makes most sense. They will be guinea pigs for other years.

The reason it isn't year 10 and 11 is because they are more concerned about older children spreading the disease.

The alternative is no school til September which will hurt parents who are juggling childcare and work even further.

Yes its speculation, but the reasoning about the timing being around a week either side of 1st June is sensible and difficult to argue with.

I don't believe any media or otherwise and what they say unless government officials make an announcement.

Everything else I take with a pinch of salt

👍

I reckon it’s about right.

I suspect DD’s uniform might not fit. Nor the new shoes I bought just before lockdown.

It would be nice for year six to do a few weeks before the six week hols.
If it's only them in most schools could SD easier and rota the staff.
At least a 10 or 11 year old would understand.
It's on the Guardian website

Downing Street confirmed that 1 June after the half-term holiday was its target – subject to the latest data on the spread of Covid-19

Note the wording. Target.

It might not be 1st June. But looks like thats what they are working towards.

Send us back, that’s fine, but don’t do it under any pretence of social distancing being in place to protect children and staff.
Agree that the idea that children or teenagers who are in the same classroom/playground/corridor will socially distance should be called out for the nonsense it is. Once it's accepted that children in the same place at the same time will not socially distance from one another, we can then have a sensible discussion on what the school reopening policy should be.

I don’t understand why y10 would go non at the same time.

They are in different schools.

Because they think 10 year olds are less likely to catch covid-19 / have a serious case of covid-19 than 15 and 16 year olds.

But they think they’ll be safe the following week?

Makes very little sense doesn’t it

Yes I’m all for schools reopening however that’s when social distancing ends. Don’t pretend you can socially distance children. You can’t even do it with a handful of keyworker children. So as long as they are honest and explain that whilst we are in the middle of a pandemic, we cannot guarantee social distancing and therefore safety. That’s before you include poor hygiene from children or their sore hands. As long as they are truly honest that’s fine, but don’t then tell parents and staff they can’t socialise ‘indoors’ with friends and family when children will be doing exactly that. Schools open = social distancing ends. It’s that simple.

@SoVeryLost yes I'm absolutely positive. I confirmed this with DC's school and was told it's the same across the entire academy trust. All their progress and targets etc still reference back to their SATs scores. I'm not saying for a mane g I think it's a good method, but it's been used for my DC.

Apologies though, I didn't realise SATs has been officially cancelled along with GCSEs etc.

Yes it will be the date they are aiming for but that’s a clear sign. We have a month until that date and a lot can happen in a month.

Would make sense to send Yr5 and Yr6 back. No attempt at social distancing but maybe just play time in small groups. Lunch in their classrooms etc. Then you have 6 weeks to see what effect this has on the R date before they are all off again for the summer.

I wouldn't be surprised that there's planted users on Mumsnet involved in some of the more ridiculous school threads at the moment,

That's going to be a full time job at the moment then. It'll take hours to just to sift out the batshit and teaching bashing.

Let's put it this into the reality - even using government messages.
Announcement recently - 'vulnerable pupils will be provided with a laptop and internet access'.
Reality - not enough laptops, not all vulnerable children - only very slim categories and not yet - due to start until the end of May and rationed throughout June.
Reality doesn't match even government announcements, never mind those made by the press.

Schools may start to take more children than currently - that is happening anyway as we support the vulnerable. Perhaps the 'key worker' criteria will be widened.
Fully open to all and full time - How? - Social distancing? (staff, children, parents) Staffing? ( vulnerable and shielding staff all missing, including the HT, teachers, TA's, cleaning/catering/transport staff).Not a chance.
There is a need for schools to ensure children are safe with tight regulations around safeguarding & health and safety.

Schools open = social distancing ends. It’s that simple.
Yes, it will be quite difficult for the government to sell the message, "It's fine for your Year 6 child to sit in a classroom with 30 children, but completely wrong and irresponsible for your Year 4 child to meet up with a couple of friends."

I guess we have a month to watch how other countries are doing it and how it goes for them.