Will schools go back in June and will we get summer holidays?

[overweightcat]

Just wondering really, read that schools might be going back June/July if that's the case does that mean no 6 week holidays this year because we effectively had it already?

DS is in reception so would be moving up to year 1 surely there would be no point in sending them to school for a few weeks to then have another 6 week break?

pfrench I know my DC school has a very high rate of engagement. Much higher than 57%. Whether it is sustainable is another thing.

And its not a posh school. The complete opposite.

We’ve really tried to do home schooling but it’s pretty impossible with both DH and I working. Muddling along is the best we are doing. I don’t think they’ve learnt anything. We’ve tried and they’ve been doing other activities like craft/making/ sport as well.

A teacher assistant on my fb bil infact and his wife has a new baby has said shouldn't be going bk til a vaccine. He just doesnt wanna go bk as cant keep teachers safe. Cant keep asda workers safe but they are working!

Teachers are not strictly paid for summer holidays so no, as confirmed by the government, the holidays will not be cancelled.

Why are people asking these questions? Do you think that we have special insider knowledge that you don’t ? Use. Google.

I'd like someone to pin down why exactly they think the last half term is so key for transition - certainly any that can still reasonably happen.

Many of the 'right of passage' elements just won't be able to happen still.

No end of year show - time will need to be made up from lost learning days.

No leavers' service if you can't get the kids together to prep and the parents certainly can't all pile into our hall or church and still have any distancing at all.

Residential , already cancelled as was due to happen now and travel not an option.

Wind down from SATS - they haven't sat them.
Seeing their friends again while they can - who says if we can have them all in again? And who do you choose to be in with whom if you can't without upsetting some who don't get the friends they would want to be in with? It's been mentioned again and again that proper distancing can't and won't occur with any kids. Mine can't keep their hands off each other at the best of times! And it will be more upsetting to be seeing them yet being anxious about maintaining a distance for some I'd have thought.
Signing shirts? At 2m distance only please.

The really meaningful moving to high school transition that happens is one visit where the High school comes to speak to the kids and to us. We are video meeting with high school staff for that.

We do mindfulness and other PSE activities re change, some of which are being covered a bit by BBC bitesize and have been set for our kids at home.

And the biggie, the 2 day visit to the high school(s) may or may not happen anyway. What's the point of piling the y6s back in the name of transition if they can't visit their high schools in a normal day to see what it is like?
False logic being applied there.

My kids are being kept busy, but I.wouldn't say they have the advantage over kids who aren't at home. They're not learning new stuff. In the holidays, I wouldn't be making them get up early or get dressed much.

And it’s not just Scotland that breaks up at the end of June, NI too.

Everything taught now will have to be retaught

I fucking hope not else all this blood and sweat every single day is for nothing! My son will be so bored if they re-do homeschooling and will waste everybodies time!

Seeing their friends again while they can - who says if we can have them all in again? And who do you choose to be in with whom if you can't without upsetting some who don't get the friends they would want to be in with?

Schools opening in reduced numbers will lead to a barrage of complaints-I can see it now.

Tommy doesn’t want to come in on Monday and Tuesdays because Jimmy does Wednesdays and Thursdays-can you just swap him?

I work Tuesdays, Wednesday afternoons and every other Friday, so can you work Reece’s days round that?

My shifts have all changed-can I swap Maisie’s days this week?

Tilly’s mum is going to be picking up Milly as I’m at work, so can they have the same days?

Tilly and Milly have now fallen out. Can they never be put together, and also...ignore anything Tilly’s mum says about me.

Etc etc

People need to stop talking about transition, people mixing classes and schools will be off the cards, even if schools go back.

Duh duh du du du duuuuuuuh

@Letseatgrandma think we got it after the first one

Letseatgrandma - oh yes. All of the above.

I for one am worried about them going back too soon esp since seeing neighbours kids being allowed to play closely together, what hope is there in keeping everyone safe? And why should the majority accept the rules when others obv think it doesn't apply to them?! ( sorry went off topic there!)

The death rates in the UK are truly shocking. It’s the fault of the government and their advisers - they’ve made one mistake after another and are very obviously making it up as they’re going along.

I own a nursery and it’s in my interests to open again as soon as possible to all children. But I don’t trust that it will be safe for the staff, the children or the parents. I don’t believe a word the government says, actually. They need schools to reopen, that much is clear. The rest is in the hands of God.

Of course we still need summer holidays. Teachers have been flat out working, why on earth would they not deserve and need this time off? Same with the children of course. I can never understand why anyone would think otherwise.

If you don't want your dc to return for a month or to then don't send them, I really don't understand the drama..... (not that I believe schools will actually be open to all kids in June anyway...). I hardly think they will be fining you at the minute.

Everything taught now will have to be retaught

Who has said this? The lessons I'm delivering live to Years 10 and 12 this term will not be retaught - the material will be revised at the end of the course along with everything else they've studied over the two years. DS is continuing with all his A Level courses too and isn't expecting any of what he's covering now to be retaught.

I am absolutely reteaching the content, iron out all of the misconceptions.

What six week break? DP and I both teachers: one primary, one secondary. I've been working, my partner has been working, our classes have on the whole been working, our colleagues have been working, both our schools have been hubs for which we have volunteered, and one of us is in a pastoral role so is engaging very frequently with parents. I would never ever support schools opening over the summer for the sake of staff. But more importantly, all students need their 6 week downtime at a time when hopefully lockdown restrictions have eased and they can see their friends and start to do more normal activities that contribute to wellbeing. No child needs to educationally be in school at a time when they're meant to be on holiday. If there are gaps in knowledge then it is the job of the government to work with schools to work out how to redesign curriculums and testing to account for that.

Do posters like the OP genuinely ignore all the hundreds of posts saying the exact same thing as mine, and repost in the hope that they might have their thoughts validated by someone else?

@TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross worryingly a teacher bottom page 1

I understand that teachers deserve a summer holiday but are there any reasons why this couldn't be brought forward? Presumably the longer we stay in lockdown the safer it will be, so would it not be possible for the summer holiday to be in June/ July and Schools go back July/ August, perhaps with a one week break at the end, before the September term begins?

I second what DrMadeline said and would just add that for some SEN/vulnerable children, they would have extra transition visits to high school. Not going to happen now, surely.

But if schools are opening to enable people to get back to work, having the summer holidays as part of lockdown won't work. Not only that, school.from July- December. Kids would be knackered. They crawl to Xmas as it is.

@Twigletmama

Yes there are reasons why the holidays can’t just be moved.

Teachers may be going away during the holidays, possibly on vacation, possibly to family. Their dates will have been booked and money spent, so you cannot just say ‘we’re swapping your holidays’.

I’ve got fingers crossed for my vacation. I’m away for a month. I won’t know for a while if I can go or not, but I’d be mighty pissed off my working dates were just changed. It would be very unfair.