Just been told dd’s school is only opening for year six

[gingajewel]

Just having a rant! Just had communication from the school that only year six will be in on 1st June and it has really annoyed me! How can things ever go back to how they need to be when schools are ignoring government guidelines! And yes I’m prepared to be flamed but it has annoyed me that I now need to tell my place of work that I still can’t go back to work!

I think the problem is that the government have suggested something that is not as workable as they have made it out to be.

We can manage to open for N, R, 1 and 6 because we are a huge school - we will be using the classrooms of the year groups that are closed to facilitate this. We will have problems if the government then expect us to open for the other 4 years. There is literally no space to put these children in yet the government have not given any advice to help troubleshoot this.

What the hell do we do then? We will have parents complaining from years 2,3,4,5 because we are then telling them we can't have their children in and will then be forced to prioritise some year groups over others.

It is rubbish - I would suggest you formally asking the school why they have chosen only year 6 but I think the issue is that some employers think the guidance is statutory and going to be put in place but it isn't.

We have advised all parents not to inform their employers of plans until we have them officially in place and have sent these out to combat this problem.

@SleepingStandingUp I’m a secondary English teacher and I have no idea how to teach synthetic phonics systematically. I don’t want my daughter’s reading delayed or worse screwed up - I’ve spent enough years trying to repair the damage for kids who’ve not been properly taught to read.

I'm in Liverpool and our council have sent letters saying they are not opening schools to anyone other than key workers currently.
I'm in the 'my kids aren't going back now' camp anyway (and I realise I'm lucky to be able to make this decision - and yes we're both struggling to wfm with a 1,5& 9 year old)
I have a friend who is a teacher at a primary. 1 teacher and 1 TA in her school have tested positive for COVID this past week. Any teachers who were in the same day will also be tested. But none of the kids. There is not test, track and trace system in place. So the TA who has it could have brought it into the school- or a kid with a key worker parent- who knows? But it's going to spread now and the gov have nothing in place to stop that.
She doesn't have any ppe, they can't physically fit more than half the pupils in the school socially distancing. What a complete mess.

They probably can't stick to government guidelines if they let rec and year one back too.

It's all depends on staffing most likely. There might be staff that are self isolating, or in quarantining and if there is not enough staff then it's not safe! Which would you prefer?! All schools are putting together their own risk assessment. Also it depends on how big the school is. It is only advisory that reception, yr1 and yr6 go back but there is also a lot of facts that people aren't taking into account. They still have to have key workers children in school as well.

BertNErnie A return of Elliott huts is what I foresee unfortunately

I've a friend who has the opposite and y6 are not going back but yr and y1 are - haunt year 6 makes much more sense and they need the transition and they can be trusted to at least try to distance

The reality in my department (EYFS & Y1) is that of 6 teachers, based on both Gov’t guidance & our MAT, 1 can come back on-site. Plus 4 assistants of 7. Because our assistants are highly qualified, competent & committed, we will manage, but the staffing situation around Y6 is one hell of a lot easier ... there is only so much I can do as HoD with numbers of staff shielding or with shielding family members.

@cantkeepawayforever
Yes, I understand but the question is that you can put older children in bigger group and you need less staff to supervise them in the classroom, outside, while washing hands. I don’t think all primaries will be able to accommodate R, Y1 and Y6 in smaller groups so easily, some teachers and TAs might be isolating for health reasons. So it’s not simple situation for schools either.

Heads are doing what is best for their school community. The guidance says they can do that.

What if only year 6 staff are available to work. Do you want them covering R classes?

They might plan to bring R and 1 back two weeks later once they are sure of logistics.

@JellyBabiesSaveLives

the guidance doesn't actually say that, it says to prioritise the younger year groups of you can't accommodate them all and have exhausted all other options:

We trust headteachers to make the best decisions they can. If you still cannot get enough cover in place and an arrangement which enables eligible children to attend consistently at another local school is not manageable, schools should focus first on continuing to provide places for priority groups of all year groups (children of critical workers and vulnerable children). Then, to support children’s early learning, you should prioritise groups of children as follows:

early years settings - 3 and 4 year olds followed by younger age groups
infant schools - nursery (where applicable) and reception
primary schools - nursery (where applicable), reception and year 1

They will have had some really really detailed discussion and decided that this is the safest way in which to implement the government’s guidance. There was a massive document for schools that closely followed Sunday’s announcement. The Headteacher and Governors have to make decisions about how the school will reopen with the specific circumstances of that school in mind and with safeguarding, health & safety of pupils and staff at the forefront. Ours is also bringing Y6 back first, as they are much more understanding of social distancing and their learning methods are more desk based. Y1 will follow based on the learning from that and if it can be staffed - as our EYFS is very low on staff not shielding.

Technically, the OPs school should be prioritising EYFS and Year 1 pupils if they can't accommodate all classes are following the guidance but not many schools are for a myriad of reasons.

@CornishTiger I can see that too...

What if only year 6 staff are available to work. Do you want them covering R classes?

This isnt really relevant. Teachers often switch year groups every couple of years or so at the Head's discretion - teachers have no say in it.

A couple of years ago, a friend mine who'd been in Reception for years was sent into year 6. That was a shock to the system!

I I'm not sending my child who's in nursery not worth the risk. As someone said you can get childcare, what would you do during school holidays?

I certainly wouldn't put any of my year 6 team in a Reception class - I can't see that ending well for anyone! lol

Good on the school for actually doing the most sensible thing and having in the year group that may stand a cat in hells chance of social distancing.

This thread, in my opinion, states the real issue as to why schools are going back.

Us teachers are being hung out to dry with no PPE to effectively babysit in what will be really horrible, soul-destroying classrooms so that the economy can recover enough to line the pockets of the rich before we go into lockdown again.

Sod the fact we as adults could get it and die - we need to look after them so that everyone else can return to their probably far far safer work environments.

The guidance has stated schools can reopen potentially FROM the 1st of June.

Why aren't parents actually waiting until they are told by their schools before making plans at work?
Also - wait as the teaching unions and the British Medical association are not happy at all and state this is far too early.

We'd like to go back to work in a safe and managed environment.
We want PPE to protect us from the little snotty germ-factories that are children (I'm a parent so I'm allowed to say that! Children can be lovely but so damn disgusting with their sharing...)
We have no desire to be 'heroes'
We aren't potential cannon fodder for a relentless virus.

Sorry if this upsets any childcare issues...

Hung out to dry?

Glorified babysitters?

I mean you could get it and die but what are the actual chances of that happening?

And since you've got "little snotty germ factories" of your own you'd never even know where you got it from in the first place.

For some people it's nothing to do with being "upset about childcare issues" it's that their children have been locked up for 7 weeks and it's not good for them.

Government guidelines clearly state that we are meant to social distance/wear masks where possible/avoid more than one other household.

How does that work in a school 'bubble' where teachers are exposed immediately to 15 other household with no idea how well those children and their families are social distancing.

My children will not be returning to school right now.

It will surely depend where the staff are, teachers tend to specialise with a year group. Educationally a yr 6 teacher might be less experienced with teaching reading than a parent with a few dc who has been sufficiently tortured by Biff, Chip and Kipper in recent years. I get that it is a childcare nightmare but educationally and emotionally I am not sure that all schools will be back to the full on reception experience too soon. If you work in a school or education are you a key worker? Can you get your child in on that basis or ask your employer to talk to the school?

Because we can't stay in lockdown forever?

What's your solution?

Very sensible of the school. Safety first. Teachers, TAs lives count.

FFS. Our local council has put out a statement saying that given the advice and all measures they've looked into, they do not expect the kids in those three year groups to be sent in. No school or parent will be penalised. These are unprecedented times, what the fuck more do you want, a crystal ball? Nothing is going to click nicely into place for a while regardless of government advice.

@TrustTheGeneGenie my suggestions is to follow the lead of schools in France.