Which year groups should return to school first?

[twosoups1972]

I read somewhere a few weeks ago that they would prioritise Years 10 and 12 to return to school first which seems sensible.

But then I heard later that Year 6 would be the first to return to school. Why?? I know it's sad that they haven't had their end of primary school rituals but surely older children studying for public exams next year should have priority?

Boris’s announcement is that it will be Reception, years 1 and 6 and those in senior school in exam years. Everyone else back September but everything still depends on the R figure and there being no further spike.

Didn't he say children having exams next year hopefully will have some contact with teachers before the summer - that might mean each year 10 and 12 child getting a day in school to touch base not necessarily returning.

No mention of children with EHCPs or SEN schools.

From Sky News - We may be in a position to begin phased reopening of shops & to get primary pupils back into schools, in stages, beg with reception, Yr 1 & Yr 6
Wants sec pupils facing exams next year will get at some time with teachers b4 hols. Rest of kids not back til after summer

BBC news had it as Secondary not going back until after Summer. Primary is clearly a phased return starting with those years. The remaining 4 years will be dependent on how it goes. If we hit Step 3 by July 1st I would imagine more would start Primary then

When lockdown first happened and the exams were cancelled I mentioned that year 10 and 12 were the real educational casualties. I was torn apart by year 11 and 13 parents. The truth is even if they go back in June year 10 and 12 will have had the most disruption to learning and for most of them this will impact grades for next year. Unless leniency is applied and teacher assessment is allowed. I just hope the exam boards don't feel that them going back in June means no allowances should be made. The whole home learning experience for state school kids where I live has been a monumental shit show.

The thing to remember is that it's everyone. So next year, pretty much every single child sitting their GCSE's or A levels will have missed a term of work. They'll be no option but to make some adjustments, maybe to the exams themselves or to grade boundries. Same with SATs etc.

*boundaries!

Kingscoatestaff

That doesn't work for infants only though.

We have 9 classrooms and 180 year r and 1. We'd only be missing our year 2s.

And how we manage drop off and pick up with 180 parents on our fairly small yard is anyone's guess.

But how many would come back? I’ve got 28 in my Year 6 class and at least 7 of them headed off to their own countries to lockdown in houses with gardens. 2 are immuno suppressed and at least 2 more have parents who have major health problems. Maybe the numbers will be much lower than we expect?

Otherwise, it’s gazebos in the playground...

Yr 6 isn't a transition year in many areas where we have the 3 tier system.

Yr 4 and yr 8 are the transition years. Yr 6 is bloody pointless here.

The thing to remember is that it's everyone. So next year, pretty much every single child sitting their GCSE's or A levels will have missed a term of work. It's not though. Some children will have parents at home able to make sure they stay on top of the work with revision books and other resources. Some parents will have university qualifications relevant to the subjects their children are studying. Other children will have been home alone 40+ hours a week through this or have parents unable to help them with schoolwork.

When lockdown first happened and the exams were cancelled I mentioned that year 10 and 12 were the real educational casualtie

Completely agree with you. Unless concessions are made next year for GCSEs and A Levels, the current Yr 10 and 12 will be the ones to really bear the brunt of this. There is no way they are getting as much education as they would under normal circumstances.

Year 6 may transition into secondary school whilst it's empty. Also to get back into education solidly before the long holidays

'Some children will have parents at home able to make sure they stay on top of the work with revision books and other resources. Some parents will have university qualifications relevant to the subjects their children are studying'

Of course it's not going to be even for everyone, but it never was. It's always been the case that some children go to fantastic schools and some go to shit ones, some have really supportive parents, some don't, some have easy, happy lives, some don't.

But it is true that they will all have been off school in extraordinary circumstances and there must be some national adjustment to the exams/grade boundaries to make up for this.

Of course it's not going to be even for everyone, but it never was. It's always been the case that some children go to fantastic schools and some go to shit ones, some have really supportive parents, some don't, some have easy, happy lives, some don't.

But there's so much variation from school to school, even from teacher to teacher of the same subject in the same school, as to how much support YR 10 & 12 are getting. There is no national guidance on how children should be taught at the moment, it's all very ad hoc and a bit of a lucky dip.

Its not even, no.

But I think this situation widens the inequality much further. Previously all kids had the potential to attend full time school, attend lessons, learn something. Now many are not engaging in any learning at all for a whole variety of reasons.

Sure, listen I'm not arguing that the current situation is a good one.

It's terrible. Of course it's deepening inequalities.

I'm simply saying I believe that next year either the exams themselves or the grade boundaries will be changed to reflect the fact that the entire school system has been/will be shut for a term or more.

I'm simply saying I believe that next year either the exams themselves or the grade boundaries will be changed to reflect the fact that the entire school system has been/will be shut for a term or more

They managed to do this in three weeks in Victoria where content and contribution to the final score was adjusted But then there's only one exam board.

The difficulty for the UK would be in ensuring equity across the boards so I imagine it would be grade boundaries.

That makes sense, it will be much easier to adjust the boundaries I would imagine.

Of course it's not going to be even for everyone, but it never was. It's always been the case that some children go to fantastic schools and some go to shit ones, some have really supportive parents, some don't, some have easy, happy lives, some don't.

The advantage for those in private schools/ active parents/ live lessons etc will increase massively and the disadvantage for those at the bottom will increase too. Changing grade boundaries will only help the advantaged EVEN more than any other year. Most, if not all, private schools and good state schools have been offering a full day of live lessons.

Gcse and a level exams next year can only be balanced with teacher assessment for part of the grades. Yes, private schools kids will benefit from this but at least it means those at the bottom of the advantage scale will not have their disadvantage increased even further.

Tbh, the current year 11 and 13 had already finished most of their learning by March 20. The schools could have facilitated exams by using the empty space in schools from not having kids in, exams could have taken place with social distancing in place.
It made no sense to cancel them, and creates problems for those kids who really put in effort near exams and will not get good predicted grades from teachers . Year 10 and 12 are the ones who will need a big intervention/ allowance of some sort next year.

Most, if not all, private schools and good state schools have been offering a full day of live lessons.

My DS is Yr 12 at one of the top Sixth Forms nationally (state school) and he gets very little live tuition. I've queried this with the Head and been told that most teachers don't have the technology to do live lessons or have caring responsibilities that are incompatible with live lessons. He's pretty much left to his own devices to study 3 hard A Levels.

Friend's DS in the same year at a private Sixth Form is getting 100% live lessons and a full calendar.

I echo @NotABeliever - my DS is at one of the top grammar schools in the country and he’s getting no online live teaching. He is set work but in effect the pupils are teaching themselves the GCSE course. He is very bright and incredibly motivated (was on course for straight A*/A) but I honestly don’t know how this will affect him. He’s still working very hard, but he’s finished the work the school sets him by a Wednesday each week and is then just self studying. His motivation and work ethic is wonderful but he’s getting no feedback on his work and so has no idea how well he’s actually doing and teaching yourself when you’re 15 is a very poor substitute for an actual teacher teaching you! (Not saying live teaching should be done btw - I think the school is doing a good job and to be honest, in our squashes house with 3 other DC also learning from home and DH working from home - one DC needing to be on the computer for online classes all day would be a nightmare and would be to the severe detriment of the other three.)

I get that it’s important for year 6 to say goodbye to their friends and teachers, but surely they could do that in a week at the end of July? I don’t understand at all why they need to go back at the beginning of June. It makes far more sense to get year 5 back.

Thinking about it though they are the 3 years for whom the fact that based on polls between 25-40% of pupils won’t be going.

That amount of year 5 missing could create issues particularly with how to handle curriculum

My DS is Yr 12 at one of the top Sixth Forms nationally (state school) and he gets very little live tuition. I've queried this with the Head and been told that most teachers don't have the technology to do live lessons or have caring responsibilities that are incompatible with live lessons. He's pretty much left to his own devices to study 3 hard A Levels

Similar here. My dd is in Year 12 at a girls state grammar and there has been no virtual tuition. School have stated reasons why including safeguarding and not all girls having their own devices. Both of these can be got around, at other schools they are loaning out laptops to those who don't have.