Are we expecting schools to be open as normal by September?

[Concerned7777]

So many threads on here about whether to send dc back in June or not....totally not the reason for the post I dont care your thoughts either way about June .
But what about September, many saying they're keeping dc off til September but are we expecting everything to be open and normal as it was before? Do we think all classes will return in September full time?

Schools are having to implement changes to open in June with many saying the changes aren't possible or not safe. Some saying it may be child care only not education, part time only and not even able to accommodate the priority nursery reception yr1 and yr6 classes at this time with the current guidelines. If we cant accommodate them now how can they accommodate the whole school a few months later. I doubt the virus will be eradicated by then although the R rate will be lower there is still going to be risk even then.
It never occurred to me until today that a September full school open may not be possible or safe? Am I the only one who thought this or am I late to the party?

babybythesea

Please feed this back to your school - it really will mean so much to them

I understand they're incredibly busy but surely having the children in would reduce the workload? Or maybe it wouldn't? I'm not a teacher so I don't know

Of course, but the 65 deaths in education are quite enough, don't you think? If you want your child in school, even part of the time, then start asking how it can be made safe for school staff and students and the people living in the homes they come from. And also ask how it's OK for the Government to not sit next to each other in the House of Commons but teachers to be standing in a room for up to 7 hours with 15 people minimum.

@pontypridd
Why do teachers always take this stance? How dare we say what we see! ... it's appalling. We're adults.

Maybe you speak to children in this way - but please don't patronise.

You lost the moral high ground with your previous posts. I really don't think you're in a position to criticise anyone else for their tone.

I'm not taking a moral high ground am I?

Just saying that teachers always try to take one ...

And how did I lose my supposed moral high ground in previous posts? Are you a teacher too?

65 covid deaths in the education system but no one seems to be upset about that

1. more teachers died for other reasons, where is the concern for those
2. that stat on it's own doesn't mean very much
3. as a proportion of the population my understanding was that it is on a par with the general population

yeah, @pontypridd, you're just itching for a fight and pretending you don't understand.

Rather than picking at teachers, maybe read what we're actually saying and then ask sensible questions based on that...rather than your faux outrage at the odd out of context phrase you try to use to illustrate why you're right and teachers are lazy.

My year 5 daughter currently has the crappest teacher I’ve come across in my 17 years as a parent.

Unsurprisingly, she has remained equally as crap during the lockdown period.

I’ve gone to the trouble of screenshotting her never-ending Facebook posts about long walks and opening the gin at midday.

Don’t suppose I will ever do anything with these screen shots. What’s the point? It’s like banging your head against a brick wall

Always nice to see parents who are happy with what their teachers/schools are providing, thank you!

I think ponty and block don't realise that teaching, like many other professions, involves tasks that do not require the "client" to be around.

Like when I go to see my consultant, a few weeks later I get a copy of the letter he/she wrote about my appointment. Was it written in front of me? No! Does that mean that doctor stopped working once they had seen me? No!

Or my relative who's a police officer, writing up a report after an arrest. Is the report written when the arrested person is there? No! Does that mean my relative stopped working once they made the arrest? No!

Or professional musicians. You go and enjoy a concert. The next day, the principal oboe does several hours of practice before heading in for a rehearsal. Am I there? No! Does it mean the musician has stopped working? No!

I guess some people can't possibly imagine that jobs have tasks that are done to allow the "customer facing" part to happen. They probably imagine shops stack their own shelves, fire officer uniforms are self-cleaning and nobody ever graffitis or makes a mess on a train or bus.

@pontypridd Great indignation! Look back at your previous posts.

And no, I'm not a teacher.

The bus driver deaths as a statistic on their own 'don't mean very much' and neither do those of carers or health professionals. And nor do we ask why people aren't upset about bus drivers, carers and health professionals who die of anything other than covid.

So why say it about school staff?

Ah I see you can't even ask a civil question anymore without someone bitching. I said would it be better? Not why isn't it happening? Feedback is important at secondary school and if the teachers can't or won't do it something else needs to be put in place. Or do you think 4 months without feedback is fine?

I guess some people can't possibly imagine that jobs have tasks that are done to allow the "customer facing" part to happen

I think you're over complicating this Sally.

It's as simple as - we're not getting much work set - very little infact - during lockdown. And nothing that we send back is marked or even acknowledged. No teachers have ever contacted us or called. Where are they? Is this what you'd call working?

That's it. Nothing to do with supermarket shelves stacking themselves.

I have children in two different schools.
One child's teacher (School A) is providing online feedback every day for every single photo and upload (and presumably is doing this for 20-30 children, certainly the 15 classmates whose parents I'm in touch with). She is setting activities weekly and sending messages to parents.

The other child's school (School B) provided paper worksheets from twinkl (nothing wrong with twinkl but didn't need much compiling) at the start and an occasional email from the headteacher 5 or 6 days after any government news.

If you are a parent of a child in school B talking to a teacher in school A then you are going to be talking at cross purposes with each other. They is a great deal of variation in both what schools are providing and in what parents and children are engaging with.

The only thing that will have materially changed by September is will we all be thoroughly bored of lockdown and less much less likely to think sticking to it for the whole duration of the pandemic (until a vaccine, hopefully, can be found and rolled out) is a good idea.

I am really pleased with the provision from my children's primary school. We get some nicely thought out work. Every day there is a reading, writing and maths task. We get a grid with additional activities on. There are ideas for music, PE, history, etc. Students have a class stream which the teacher comments on throughout the day. Work is submitted and gets little comments on it. There are regular competitions, which again get lots of lovely positive feedback. We also get a phone call at least once a week. This is in a bog standard "good" academy on a council estate.

To my children's teachers, and teachers like them who are reading, thank you.

No teachers have ever contacted us or called. Where are they? Is this what you'd call working?

I understand your frustration. You need to direct that to your school, the head, and the chair of governors.

But you also have to realise that for everyone moaning about where teachers are, there are others who are moaning that teachers are setting too much work, demanding it is being completed by a deadline so it can be marked. There has been post after post of parents complaining that teachers are phoning them....collectively, we simply can't win.

On the issue of school staff deaths...it is important to compare with the overall death rate because if it is roughly the same (I haven't got any idea if it is or not) then it isn't because schools are such very risky places to be and just as likely from exposure at the supermarket or in the post office. If it is a lot higher then we rightly should be asking why this is and what can be done to reduce it. Just quoting some numbers is meaningless statistically, although horrific for their family and friends.

And if work isn't being set, please, please, please make sure you are clear how and when it is being set. There are plenty of senior school students pretending they are receiving nothing by showing their emails when it is being set on Google Classroom or Teams (and vice versa). And work may not be being marked because it is handed in late. I mark in one go - if you hand in late, you may miss my allocated marking time which means I will mark it when I'm ready, not at your request.

Just quoting some numbers is meaningless statistically, although horrific for their family and friends

And for many of their students. Conveniently forgot the impact a staff death or serious illness has on the children they work with.

And I'll say it again, if school staff deaths numbers are 'meaningless' why are bus driver and health professional death numbers not meaningless?

No teachers have ever contacted us or called. Where are they? Is this what you'd call working?

They should be. It's a safeguarding issue. Our obligation is to speak to everyone at least fortnightly. If we can't, it must be flagged up as a safeguarding concern.

There are clearly issues with your school but it's lazy and unfair to assume everyone is the same.

Yep, ten days with no reply from families when we phone flags as a safeguarding concern at our school, too.

We are literally working flat out. It's why I'm on mn now. Trying to chill out after working 12 hrs at least today. Need some down time. Not very relaxing, though, is it?

Haha same here, Dangling. And no, it's not.

@Whaddyathinkofthis my primary school haven't rang me once! If I have contacted them Ive had a reply but never once has any contact been initiated by them. My eldest in high school his form teacher rings once a week.

Is this true, re: the minimum contact?

We have had nothing since they finished school on the 20th March.

I suspect the current thinking is that by September we'll be 'nearly normal' with a few extra distancing things in place. Whether that's actually the case remains to be seen.

The June 1st is a compromise.....it's really too early but we HAVE to get people back to work and children have to be educated at some point. The government has to balance between those saying it is too soon with those saying get on with it.

There will be another spike but the government are banking on it being smaller, and hoping that it will fall during the school holidays in August (England) so as to avoid another lockdown. Just as they delayed closing schools for as long as possible, hoping that the anticipated 'peak' of virus would fall during the Easter holidays....except it turned out the virus wasn't like that, and was much more contagious and bigger than they'd first thought. In a similar vein, the current opening and back-to-normal in September thinking will also prove to be misguided.

All absolutely my own opinion.....

I don't think there's any kind of rule; schools were given no hard and fast guidelines about closure in almost any area apart from remaining open for vulnerable, EHCP and KW.

Our school, and presumably many others, deem regular contact with all families to be crucial (mainstream secondary).