Schools opening in the summer holidays!

[Biscuit0110]

GAVIN WILLIAMSON confirmed the Department of Education is looking into the possibility of propping up summer schools to help pupils catch up with their work after the pandemic.

It seems that after ruling out using the summer holidays to allow the children to catch up, it is now firmly back on the table!

What a positive development - will you send your child to school over the summer?

@Ernieshere I will be doing the same. I’ve not heard many mention play schemes this is what a lot of us usually do anyway. I’ve been using play scheme since the Easter holidays. Play scheme would be a fab start to try and move things forward.

My privately educated children are having full time online school, including assemblies, PE, drama, art.

Do secondary state school parents not worry their children will be hugely behind by September? Perhaps summer school is a good idea to try and stop this happening, otherwise the gap between private and state is going to be huge, particularly for GCSE/A level students.

It could be a good opportunity for those that struggle to catch up a bit. My eldest is like this. it is not coronavirus caused, but still an opportunity. The next question will be funding though, and whether attendance is chargable, universally free or means tested.

I suspect there would be teachers, such as supply teachers, who could do with some paid employment. Also other teachers might be up for overtime due to their partners losing earnings as a result of coronavirus.

So I'm in the 'potentially a great idea' camp. I'm not a teacher though!

has anyone actually read the Hansard transcript up above?

GW was responding to Robert Halfon, who ahs been pushing this project.

His answer does not confirm this supposition made by the OP.

But that’s the point of private education isn’t it? To have a big gap from state students? Otherwise, you’d be wasting your money

Mine wouldn't be going fgs they've been homeschooled and put up with enough disruption. They'll be going to their dads for the summer seeing as he hasn't seen them the entire lockdown - he lives near some lovely beaches so that'll be their holiday, considering he actually takes them, which he never does, even when it's 25+ degrees. I'll be having a (UK) camping holiday just me and my dog away from it all - and hoping I meet someone hunky for a bit of fun whilst away ;) that'd be absolutely awesome.

They'll return in September properly for what I hope will be FT so I can start college and life can go on the way I'd planned.

I suspect there would be teachers, such as supply teachers, who could do with some paid employment.

There was no mention of payment. They referred to volunteers.

CarrieBlue not really, but it is very apparent at the moment.

@Bluntness100

Because considering the option of running some kind of summer school for some pupils using volunteers does not equal “Schools opening in the summer holidays!”

ITonyah of course it is, you’re buying advantage

I would be delighted my dcs' non-selective secondary state school has been rubbish - teachers left to do as little or as much as they want. A small minority of teachers setting decent work but no teachers given any feedback or marking any work. Just dumping work online and expecting the children to teach themselves by some miracle. Some teachers have even dumped a whole term of work online at the beginning of terms with the instruction that it is for all years 7, 8 and 9s to do what they can and have then disappeared.

Secondary pupils will not really be able to catch up though as their teachers won't be working. At most it would be them just working through stuff on their own, set by teachers before the holidays,with other staff supervising them. Teachers won't be marking their work either, as they'll be on holiday. Which they're not paid for by the way.

@ITonyah

Just because our state school children are not being given the same teaching opportunities as your privately educated children certainly does not mean they will fall behind.

I am all for schools opening earlier or summer school because for All our children nothing compares to classroom based teaching.

Just because our state school children are not being given the same teaching opportunities as your privately educated children certainly does not mean they will fall behind

So do they not need teaching then?

If all children were required to attend summer school, the entire educational workforce would need to be replicated to staff it. There really aren't that many retired teachers willing to go back into teaching. NQTs need supervision and guidance from senior and experienced staff. TAs, support staff, cartering staff, cleaners, crossing patrol... Have I missed anyone?

Hmm?

I’m just picturing my GCSE class, with a retired teacher they’ve never met. Who doesn’t know the recently updated (and in my case completely changed) specifications and has no idea where the class is, or where they should be progressing to next.

I’ll tell you what will happen. Kids sent in will feel hard-done-by. Volunteers/retired teachers will bare the brunt of their frustrations. The staff will not have the background or knowledge of the schemes of work to pick up the subject, so will teach ‘filler’ which is completely unnecessary and the kids will see right through it. They will know the work they are doing is not valuable and again this will exacerbate poor behaviour.

Basically what happens when a class gets a cover teacher. The likelihood of them learning anything valuable is slim and when we all come back in September to start the proper meaty learning, all the kids will be shattered and unprepared for the 13 weeks ahead.

But you do what you want with your child. My child will not be attending any form of summer school.

My privately educated children are having full time online school, including assemblies, PE, drama, art.

Do secondary state school parents not worry their children will be hugely behind by September?

How very nice of you to spare them a thought. Did you mean to come across in this way?

People seem to assume that those teachers who haven't been doing 'live' lessons or doing a full marking load aren't working.

It's not true.

My workload over the last few weeks:

• teaching and childcare for key worker children. Planning for this also. 2 days per week.
• 14 online courses set by my headteacher. A few were only 30 minutes long. A few were full day courses.
• Ringing families weekly (takes a full day nearly due to a large class).
• responding to parent emails (approx 8-10 per day)
• feeding back to children (no it's not formal feedback at the moment as it's just not appropriate - the children just need to be told well done at the minute).
• SEND paperwork for the summer term.
• RAG rating a lot of curriculum documents so we can work out what still needs teaching.
• Sorting out the new RSE changes for Sept (this was days of work). This including sorting out the PSHE curriculum, writing a new policy etc.
• streamlining the curriculum to fit the new Ofsted Framework for my subject leadership areas x3.
• planning lessons and pastoral care for when our children return.
• sorting out themed days for my curriculum areas for next year.
• Rewriting curriculum longterm plans for the autumn term.
• writing pupil voice questions and staff questionnaires to monitor my subjects.
• marking work from the week we got "shut down" as that week was manic and marking was impossible.
• loading daily work onto Google classroom.
• sorting home working packs for those children who can't access Google Classroom and delivering them.

There's probably loads more but those are the things I can think of right now.

Some staff are also homeschooling their own children while doing all of this.
You never know what is going on behind the scenes. The parents in my class won't know what I've been doing while I'm not with the class but there you go...

Have I missed anyone?

Transport services?

I think 'thousands' of volunteers is an exaggeration, given that many ex-teachers according to mori polls burn out after five years and many who have retired may be in the vulnerable category or have already done their time.
Parents, non-qualified, even supply if they are used to doing day-to-day rather than long term - it's a big ask to expect them to catch the kids up/fill in the gaps/generically 'just teach' for six weeks unless all the work is prepared, lined up and resourced as a national initiative. Unless it's a lip service, throw everything at the wall and see how much sticks, glorified babysitting set-up.
Even teachers who have been teaching for years are going to have a time of it unless there's a proper budget and planning, especially if you end up with a mish-mash of ages. If it is a generic holiday club with sport, arts and crafts, social activities, community-based work etc that's one thing - trying to catch up a term's work when you're not even regular staff, that's another and scapegoatery
Given how many struggle to get helpers/volunteers at brownies, given how pupils usually act up for supply in 'normal' term time, given a DBS check takes up to 3 weeks and that's quick, given how PTAs struggle with volunteers, I am interested where their thousands figure comes from.

I think it would be an excellent idea but definitely not staffed by the current staff members. As someone said it could be marketed as a summer education camp and not run as part of the suspended national curriculum. Perhaps a couple of weeks per year group.

All sorts of people, perhaps furloughed from industry or self employed with no work, university lecturers, tefl teachers, private tutors etc could be considered to add a different perspective along with retired teachers, foreign nationals for language courses, parents etc. Quite how these people would be policed is, however, a major stumbling block and I am not suggesting they have unfettered access to secondary school children.

For safeguarding reasons perhaps it couldn’t get off the ground, but I think it could be something worthwhile. Sadly, however, as has been pointed out, those most in need of help would be those least likely to attend.

I wouldn’t my child taught by volunteers. Why is that beneficial to their education?

of course it is, you’re buying advantage

Yes. It's not been hugely apparent in the past as the local state schools are decent schools with a good chunk of bright kids. But it is now as the state provision locally has been awful.

@Barbie222

Totally agree with you the parent of the privately educated children need to be taught how to have respect for others

Who is going to plan the work, how are they going to work out what each child needs, who is going to do CRB checks and check their ability to teach?