Did anyone else see the really positive news about primary schools reopening on BBC this morning? at 9am

[bigbananafeet12]

They were asking advice from a lovely primary school teacher in Denmark on how the'd approached it. She was so positive and encouraging it gave me hope for our dc for the first time in ages. Worth a watch if you can.

Maybe the way forward is for the many Pollyanna's on this thread to volunteer to source all of the extra equipment, facilities, consumables and staff that the schools in the UK will need? Let's see how much they can accomplish in two weeks with their can do attitude.

All the children sat alone at desks my poor heart breaks for the F2 and Yr 1 children if this is what people want for them.

My daughter sat like this for two years, from age 4 and now sits in a room of paired desks facing the front. It's fine. I believe that most research on classroom layout finds that behavioral issues decrease with these setups, and that they are actually much better for children with ADHD and similar. I remember preferring it when we transitioned to rows of desks at my own school. It was better than being annoyed by other kids and getting a crick in my neck trying to see the teacher and read what was written on the board.

The kids won't be able to do pair or group work and I do think that this is a shame for them, but I have no easy solutions for that.

My daughter sat like this for two years, from age 4 and now sits in a room of paired desks facing the front. It's fine.

I presume you are not in the UK and that it is the norm for children where you live?

In the UK that's considered simply terrible practice. Our 4 year olds learn through play in classrooms where they are free to choose any activity. To go from that to potentially sitting at desks as some have suggested would be anything but fine for them.

My daughter sat like this for two years, from age 4 and now sits in a room of paired desks facing the front. It's fine.

I agree it often isn't a problem in countries where this is the norm. However, it would be a huge change to what the children in England are used to, and there are already going to be so many changes.

People moan constantly about schools as it is without all this added stress.
Ours has a great volunteer group who raise thousands each year , but the teachers are not that heavily involved, so it's not a PTA.

I'm sure many would offer their services to help out but under these conditions and a virus with the capacity to kill you on the loose, I think the uptake wouldn't be the same somehow and who could blame them really? .. Many feel undervalued as it is at times and many people can't volunteer as they have to go to work.

@Kokeshi123 that is what your child is used to, most children in England aren’t.

Yes they are not expected to keep strict social distancing rules but I assume they will try and minimise children being completely grouped together. I personally think 15 in a group is too large, but the logistics would be even worse for schools with smaller groups.

It is interesting even with the stricter social distancing rules in Danish schools many parents are still voting with their feet and not sending their children in. I actually think that many parents in England will do the same so it maybe that schools will end up with smaller groups anyway.

I think desks are a great idea and R classes would just adapt as they wouldn't know any different. The older children might be more stressed , but if it's explained to them they might be ok or even prefer it.
The classes shown in Europe looked bigger though: most English classes are cramped so space would be a challenge to overcome.
Building more schools? Would take years!
All boils down to money as well.
There won't be much around for all these nice things either!

bigbananafeet12 - which bit of Danish schools not having children as young as 4 in them do you not understand? 4-year olds are developmentally a very different kettle of fish to 6-year olds. They also have a considerably greater number of toiletting accidents than older children, particularly when upset. Don’t compare Danish primary schools to UK ones when talking about Reception and Year 1 children, it’s a bit daft. Look at what they are doing with their younger children, instead, so that you are closer to comparing like with like.

It looks like Danish nurseries are splitting their youngest children into groups of 3, slightly different to 15.

famly.co/blog/covid-19/denmark-reopening-child-care-corona/

Presumably the current early years and year 1 curriculum is based on play. If posters are advocating these children now sit at desks and have much more formal learning then that will involve, devising, planning and resourcing these lessons. In two weeks???

Oh just realised you’re not expected to socially isolate the children from each other according to the guidelines so desks etc are irrelevant. Surely then it’s just taking sensible precautions to protect yourselves and minimise dcs contact with each other as much as is feasible.

But what works here in rural Finland just can't work in town and city schools in England, they don't have the space
I live in an English town, all the schools have playgrounds and playing fields, my kids have always had lessons outdoors in the summer, and played out at break and dinner time.

ineedaholidaynow

Thank you for sharing, that was a really interesting article. Especially hearing how much time they are spending outdoors, despite being in much smaller groups.

This also stood out to me. As in my school we have 4 toilets for each class of 30 pupils.

Toilets should be cleaned twice daily using standard cleaning products, and sprayed with disinfectant after each use.

@GrimmsFairytales If you have to clean a toilet you clean a toilet! It’s annoying but hardly difficult. Surely you can work out a simple system for that.

But who will be cleaning them, the same person who is supervising the 15 children? And actually when does the adult who is supervising the 15 children actually get the time to use an adult toilet themselves!

If you have to clean a toilet you clean a toilet! It’s annoying but hardly difficult

I didn't say it was difficult. I was just noting a difference. As even with the children we currently have (key worker / vulnerable), a maximum of 22 in the whole school, ours get cleaned once a day, with no disinfectant between use

Also interesting that you ignore the points about the much smaller groups, and a huge amount of time spent outside. The article said no more than 6 children, and most of their time was spent outside.

Surely then it’s just taking sensible precautions to protect yourselves and minimise dcs contact with each other as much as is feasible.

Yes it's about the size of the group. They're like your family, you don't isolate from your family.

@ineedaholidaynow a TA, a cleaner, an extra staff member ‘floater‘ who’s job it is doing things like this all day. There’s loads of solutions surely.

There are loads of solutions, but they all require funding.

Who is going to pay for all this?
We have seven working days in school before 1st June. If the gov is putting money up for this and hiring these extra TAs and full time cleaners, it needs to happen fast.

It’s about minimising risks, slowing the spread not stopping everyone catching it. Unless you want to stay at home until there’s a vaccination?

Well the cost to the economy will be greater than extra funding for schools if people can’t get back to work because schools are shut to the majority. Put forward a proposal for the extra funds you need.

a TA, a cleaner, an extra staff member ‘floater‘ who’s job it is doing things like this all day. There’s loads of solutions surelt

How many staff members and cleaners do you think schools have? Some schools don't even have TAs. Any extra members of staff will surely be supervising a group.

And actually when does the adult who is supervising the 15 children actually get the time to use an adult toilet themselves!

God knows. I'm also wondering what happens to the rest of the children when one needs changing. Do you just leave them all to fend for themselves, or do you change the child in full view of the rest of them so you can maintain adequate supervision?

Any spare TAs will be used to supervise groups of children as there won’t be enough teachers, and most TAs are now 1 to 1s, there are very few general TAs in many schools now because of funding cuts.

There didn’t seem to be anything in the guidance to say the Government will help fund any changes, additional staff required etc.