Why only primary school going back?

[Mummypig2020]

Just that really, why do they only want to get primary school back?

@MsMendz teachers are key worker so they would be entitled to send there children into school if they are in , as they are now . Many teachers are still working maybe not everyday as I know some schools are doing shifts but schools are open for key workers and have been all the way through

@PickUpAPickUpAPenguin secondary schools near me are open for key worker children still
And who's to say they might not do their transition days as numbers in secondary schools are lower as obviously a lot are old enough to not need the childcare
So the year 6 could potentially go and visit in small numbers

2 outbreaks in schools in 1 week

TorysSuckRevokeArticle50 the stats around low numbers of children getting CV or having hospital issues is worldwide though, so shouldn't be affected by our useless testing regime. The new Kawasaki complication is concerning but also involves very very small numbers, again worldwide and not just in the UK.

Teachers will not have PPE.

We will be at risk.

And many teachers are still at school now teaching keyworker children. I'm not on the rota today.

For those concerned about transition.
It won't happen this year.
Our high school has 13 primary feeder schools.
Regardless of whether we have year 10s/12s in late June or July, we aren't doing transition for the year 6s. Our head has made it clear that there will be no visits to our school, no taster day, none of our staff will be going into the feeder schools.
But, honestly, this is going to be fine. All the new year 7s, when they start hopefully September (but as said last night, subject to conditions at the time being ok), will be in exactly the same boat. The high schools will be ready, and it won't be a normal year 7 Autumn term approach, it will be adapted over the summer and it will be fine.

Please try and see it from the kids point of view - they can't miss what they've never had. What I mean is, I know what normal transition is, because I've been involved in it for 12 years, so I will know it's different this year. But crucially those kids affected, won't know any different. To them, this year is the year they move up to high school, and they will all do it together, and the high schools will be ready, and honestly it will be fine.

We must be careful to reassure worried year 6s, and not project our concerns onto them.

Year 6 going back, hopefully in June (remember Boris said "after the 1st of June" and "if, only if, it is safe to do so"), will be good because they can get closure from primary, say goodbye and hopefully have a bit of fun. It will end that chapter. But there will be no crossover, and that's fine too. Because after the summer holiday, a new chapter starts, and it'll be different to us, the staff, and parents who have had older siblings transition in their minds, but most importantly, normal for the kids - because they know no different.

Years 7 upwards can normally be left home alone so they will be last back as can work from home even if parents back at work

but not those with complex needs. I have a child with severe learning difficulties in secondary. She does have an EHCP but school is refusing to have her. so parents with older kids with SN who need to return to work are shafted again because we cannot leave out DC alone and because the government is not sticking to its promise to let those with an EHCP attend. Great.

@Keepdistance do you have a link or more info on those outbreaks?

Most key workers I know aren't sending their kids In . Take up has been very low. Also primary schools aren't back. If things don't start to get worse ( doubtful after the shambolic scenes fro. This morning) then they might open to reception year 1 and year 6 in June. So far all reception and year 1 parents I know and on school WhatsApp etc are not sending their kids in, and there's a petition going around. I would be very surprised if they're forced to go back, and given the choice uptake will probably be low.

We have 5/6 children in school on the days I'm in. Most keyworker aren't sending their children in if they can help it (eg another parent at home). They are also vigilant about keeping their children at home if they, or anyone else in the household, shows any signs of symptoms whatsoever. I suppose my concern, if any, is that parents will send their children in if they're only showing one symptom and are "ok in themselves" so that they can still go into work. After all, that is primarily why schools are germ factories in the first place!

I've read on a number of threads where people have aggressively asked how many teachers are dead because of this. I can't help but wonder what the acceptable number of dead teachers would be..? No teacher deaths in my school but 4 of the 12 teaching staff have had it and I don't know about TAs or other staff but we had to close the school to even keyworker children for 2 weeks because we had so many staff absences inc support staff and the school cook.

Most of the cleaners stopped coming in during the last week before lockdown and teachers were cleaning the classrooms, toilets, corridors etc before we went home.

Well from my experience in our school (large High school) we could have had around 80 kids in from the start of lockdown - that covers EHCP, Sen, vulnerable and key worker.
The most we have had in on a day are 15.
Most days we average around 8.
We have had odd days when we've had 3 or 4.
Very few SEN students at all. Also, they are not doing much home learning at all, despite a lot of support and phone calls home, and the work is differentiated by SEN team to accommodate individual barriers to learning.

It is a concern, we are doing our best, but there is no easy solution to any of this.

Quite a few of the students we should have in now, are also school refusers/poor attendance. If they didn't come in when 'normal' school existed, they aren't going to come in now.

Regarding the questions about why Reception/Year & 6 etc., it was always going to be phased. Gavin Williamson said this over a month ago - there were always going to be parents impacted by the phased return, but it hasn't come out of the blue.

And all our students were provided with lap tops before they left if they didn't have any - and packs of work are dropped off/picked up regularly by the school for those who don't use computers.

Yes @Whaddyathinkofthis, same in our school, we had so many staff off and couldn't get supply in, we were doubling classes, covering other subjects and cleaning our rooms too. It was awful.

Easilyanxious, it is inevitable that we'll get back to a normality of sorts at some point. In the meantime, I will continue not to trust this government whilst people unnecessarily lose their lives to this virus. To reiterate, this government only cares about money; people's lives are not and never have been any importance to them. I'll trust my own instinct on this one.

Here's a question: I know lots of families have spent a lot of time explaining and re-explaining why children need to stay at home, stay away from their friends on walks/bike rides/runs, no they can't sit and chat with their friends in the park, etc. No, they can't go to the park.

But parents are also demanding that schools re-open, and it looks like their shouting is going to get some of them their wish from the youngest, preschools, Reception, Year 1 ...

How are these parents going to keep justifying separation from their friends out of school hours? Especially teenagers! How are they going to keep them away from their friends before and after school, at weekends, over the summer holidays which will also be spent under fairly similar conditions to now?

How? When children and teenagers will have seen that the separation rules meant absolutely NOTHING when it suited the adults in their lives to send them into schools with their friends and school staff, even when it wasn't safe to do so for school staffs frankly, so they could work more comfortably at home. How will they justify that?

How? When children and teenagers will have seen that the separation rules meant absolutely NOTHING when it suited the adults in their lives to send them into schools with their friends and school staff, even when it wasn't safe to do so for school staffs frankly, so they could work more comfortably at home. How will they justify that?

Because what you're saying isn't true. Because they were sent back - as they are already being in other countries - based on risk profile of catching the virus and risk of vulnerable children at home, neglected and out of sight. Because it's not about 'working more comfortably at home' for many of these parents, it's about 'keeping a job and a roof over their heads' in the midst of a massive recession.
Meanwhile older teens are at a slightly but measurably higher risk than younger children, and also have riskier setups at school, with many requiring bus trips, rotating classes and with much larger schools. Meanwhile older children and teens are much more able to access and focus for home learning while their parents work.

I don't love the way lockdown has been handled, but also think that there's some utter hysteria here.

'working more comfortably at home'

Boris has said that those who can't WFH should now go to work if their business is open

If school is open, most employers will expect workers to use this .... or they'll be replaced from the large pool of unemployed

MN has a large % of mc who still don't seem to realise that millions of jobs cannot be done from home.

56% of jobs can't be done from home in Britain

I am angry that they have prioritised little oneswho have years to catch up and arguably don't even need formal education, while years 10 and 12 will have missed 1/3 of a crucial academic year with very little time to catch up
.

Every step.of the way the generation who are currently teenagers and young adults have been ignored and disregarded. This will impact on them in a significant way, make no bones about it. Don't get me wrong if it's not safe it's not safe but how can it be safe for 5 year olds who aren't even expected to attempt to practise social distancing but not safe for 17 year olds who could.fairly easily sit 2m apart to learn and can be trusted to go to work if they are working.

@Frozenfan2019 I dont think it has to do with safety at all.

I think its partly the economy and getting the workforce back (to at least being productive at home) therefore the younger children are prioritised.
Coupled with travel - secondary school children rely often on public transport

At no stage have they prioritised children based on age

@quartz2208 it's just so wrong to put small children and teachers at risk with no PPE because their risk is slightly lower than the average population (in the children's cases anyway) while still saying we can't see our parents!

If it's safe it's safe if it's not it's not, it should have bigger all to do with whether or not mum and dad can work.

I think it is two-fold.

Firstly, they need to get the economy moving. They can't have all the primary kids back at once because that would be too risky, so they are having some of them back, some of the time. This was talked about at the briefing last night. Boris said all primary to have a month before the end of term, providing the figures keep going in the right way. So the years they initially mentioned, then if the figures are ok, the rest late June. This won't be full time though - I certainly got that impression - because of social distancing. So I foresee part time. This won't do much for the economy because it will still cause childcare issues. But, it will give the scientists an opportunity to see what impact the return makes to the figures. When the schools break up for summer, they have time to assess the 'damage' caused by this slow phased return and whether they can send all primary back in September. So, some parents will be able to work before September, but not many. Slow and cautious, as they keep saying. And why primary? Because most high school kids can be left at home.

Secondly, I understand the frustration about year 10 and 12 going back later and why some of you think they should be prioritised, but Whitty made it very clear that they have modelled all the information around schools and they less certain about the risk to teenagers, whilst more certain about the very slight risk to younger kids. So, the government is led by the science which has shown the safest group to return.

Boris once again reiterated in the Commons yesterday that the health of the nation comes before the economy. Some of you might not agree with that, but that is where we are at.

I think we have to accept that this is going to take months and months. Schooling won't be the same whenever they go back this year at least. Our school is waiting for detailed guidance about social distancing, how many students we can take and how often.

Please don't for one minute assume that after June 1, if your child returns they will be in all week, in their normal class size. They won't be, that's been made crystal clear. And all they hope is that 10s and 12s get 'some face time with their teachers before the end of term.' And that will be dependant on what happens in the primary schools in the weeks preceding. If safe it could be a reduced timetable, in small groups, of a few hours a week, from July.

It's horrible, and unsettling, but this is our new reality now, and we all have to adapt to it. Luckily, young people are generally resilient and adapt well.

The ones I worry most about are SEN students, who I work with most of the time - but we are already gearing up to supporting them when they arrive back, and we are actively encouraging all those who should be in school now to come in.

The government have no published that they hope all primary school children will return. So I think we will see the return of all years before the end of term.

Secondary school children Y10 and Y12 as well should be able to return to school in some capacity.

I wish they would open all schools for a few weeks to give the children a sense of normality, and to check on the children that are struggling at home etc, but understand the logistics are difficult. Lets see what happens.

*now