Will schools open for all dc in September?

[Blockpavingpath]

I know schools are open to key worker dc currently but I’m getting increasingly worried they won’t be back in September. My 15 year old has never suffered from depression but I can see his mood getting lower and lower every day and I’m getting worried. He thrives on structure and we’re trying to implement that but it’s just not the same as being at school.

Unlikely but I think schools will have to improve their online offer if they don’t. The idea of not really educating a generation of kids in the three years plus until it takes on average to get a vaccine seem unsustainable to me.

Should be by September, but not before.

@cantkeepawayforever I genuinely don't know so was asking a very broad question.

Your answer clears that up, thank you.

I was only thinking if there were ways to reduce numbers in classes to protect kids and teachers, and knowing how important transition is for Y6, there was a way to bridge some of that, should schools remain closed until Sept.

I posted this analogy elsewhere today, but it might illustrate the issue:

Imagine a school day as a typical 6 hour InterCity train ride.

Every seat is full, in fact over-full. Some toilets are working, others are not. There is a single buffet. The windows only open marginally. Occasionally, a member of staff wanders through to pick up rubbish, empty bins and perhaps run a cloth over a spillage.

At the start of the train ride, everyone - all kinds of people, from smart businessmen to those whose behaviour might normally give cause for concern (the odd group of football fans, a hen party, some with very dubious hygiene habits etc etc) - join the train from a crowded platform of family members seeing them off.

While on the train, to be like a primary school, every carriage has to stay where they are EXCEPT for a couple of random 'in the middle of the countryside' stops, where groups from every carriage rush around madly, jumping on each other, huddling in groups etc. Quite a few of the rowdier groups do find the sitting in one place quite tricky, and may wander around their carriage.

To be like a secondary school, every hour, every person on the train must find another seat in another carriage, with the usual squash in doorways and along the corridor. Some coaches have specialised equipment, which different groups use all journey.

In every carriage, there is one person who is 'in charge' and has to make certain that every person sitting in the carriage receives and understands a particular message, and can repeat it perfectly. In the carriages replicating 'primary' classrooms, this person in charge has to repeat the message personally to at least half the carriage, by walking through it and speaking directly to them, close to.

At the end of the journey, the whole train disembarks, again to a crowded platform of family members, including those who are ill or frail or medically vulnerable, or who share houses with those in that category.

This journey is repeated daily, for all the same passengers.

For this to be reasonably safe, especially given recent articles on patterns of infection such as this one you really want as few people as possible to be on the platform / joining the train while carrying the virus. This will only come about IF the numbers of people in the community infected is very low, by keeping the R number below 1 for a long period.

There is absolutely no way to educate kids without some group engagement. Nothing schools can do will cut it. Tbh I’m not sure we can last til September (have an only 14 y o who is going up the wall with no peer group)

My DD is at boarding school... how and when will she go back?

They’ll be bank in September OP.

I don't know the answer but I am really glad someone has raised this very important question that noone else on mumsnet has ever asked about.

How do the internet schools work?

These have been up and running for several years now and seem to be very successful. How hard would it be for all schools to replicate something similar?

Schools desperately need to be back. I can’t believe how few people
seem concerned about the impact on teenagers and students. They suffer the most from the lockdown and have more risk of suicide than the virus. And they will be the ones to pay the taxes to pay for their parents’ furlough.

My Dd is supposed to start a level 3 in musical theatre, no idea how you could begin to do such a physical course with social distancing in Place? She's been doing online classes with her theatre school but up till now it's been dry enough to use the garden, we just don't have the space for her dancing etc, especially not with both of us wfh. I won't be going back to the office any time soon due to shielding.

@formerbabe.. I saw that too but they all do different subjects and even in core subjects English class is different mix of kids to the maths class.

I am. Another vote for just get the schools back full time. We are talking about these kids future
But nicola sturgeon is saying part time home schooling is here to stay for the forseesble. I am really stressing about it..

I know nothing about physics for example.. And teachers won't be available for help.ad they will have other years in.

Whether schools are back in September depends entirely on the public response between now and then. If the virus can be controlled, the R number kept down, then some sort of normality can return by then. It doesn't have a will of it's own, it's controllable, but if people get complacent and ignore the social distancing measures (local press this weekend full of people at the beach etc.) then they won't open in September.

Some people moan about schools being off, then in the next breath talk about flouting the guidelines because they haven't seen their mum for weeks, they want to go to work, see friends, etc...they are the ones who should join the dots and see that if they do what they want, and not what they should do, they're pushing the opening date for schools back.

Excellently said, @SophieB100

I'm as keen as the next person for a return to school but it seems an impossibility whilst so many others continue to interpret the lock down rules to suit themselves.

Personally I hope so. Going back on a part time basis would not work for either DS or myself. I have to work and cannot work from home. When furlough pay stops, schools need to reopen.

It's extremely hard on all children and parents.

The logistics around schools opening are very complex for many reasons and mainly impacted by the various rules that the government have in place at the time as well as access to tests etc. Logistics include staffing, cleaning, capacity, layout, numbers of vulnerable, SEN or key worker children.

Individual Schools may be different depending on their own logistical set ups.

School won't be 'normal.'

I would urge any parent with concerns about their child to keep talking to the school. They may not be able to help or give any indication but as a teacher id want to know which pupils were struggling.

Misogynistic??!! What the actual fuck. I should have said “calm down”, then, maybe.