Government backs down on primary school opening 1 June

[peridito]

Just heard headline on Radio 4 .

Daily Mail seem to be only News agency reporting .

The 1st of June schools can take more kids in, they aren't taking them all at once though.
I've applied for uni in September and the little one goes off to secondary school, I hope we are clear to return by then

@RoryGillmoresEvilTwin I've asked my uni for a year out of study under exceptional circumstances. I was meant to be doing a course specific placement year so wasn't going to be there anyway, I cannot do another semester online let alone my whole final year

@Applepieco

Quite right. Reporting is SO sloppy. Lectures are only a small part of the teaching at Cambridge - the bit where it’s hardest to socially distance and matters least whether you are there in person or not. They have not said that labs or supervisions will not happen until Oct 2021, or that students won’t be allowed back in colleges, or that libraries will be closed.

Exactly. My Dd is going into 2nd year of Adult Nursing. Her Uni have confirmed that from Sept all her seminars/tutorials & Hospital placements will continue as planned. Large lectures online. TBF, they have always been online!

I think a number of teachers will not feel 100% safe until the virus has gone and that could be the summer of 2021

It is impossible to guarntee their safety so there is nothing else to do but carry on with distant learning

Sorry if this has already been said but I’m sad that people are saying there will be a backlash against teachers. We have been working so hard to fit to the governments outlined requirements for June 1st. Even with the initial year groups potentially coming back - including more key worker children - we cannot fit everyone in whilst following the government guidance. Please don’t believe everything you read in the daily mail. It’s all made up as schools are working tirelessly to follow the guidelines set out. We are doing our best.

Also, to the person who said ‘stop their pay’ - I’ve been working throughout the whole lockdown in school (with keyworker kids) and at home remotely. I have also been home schooling my own two kids like lots of working parents on here. I am really worried about the gaps that will have been created by missing so much school but it’s the coronavirus that has caused this issue. Not teachers.

Mine definately won't be going back anyway had a call from asthma clinic they've told me not to send the kids back, they sorting out my shielding status as it still not sorted and still not had any help and sending me a letter as proof that I must shield. Been waiting 2 months but at least finally seems to be getting sorted.

@florencematell You do realise teachers have been working all the way through lockdown too, right? Schools have been OPEN and STAFFED for the children of key workers and vulnerable kids the whole time! Plus the work they are setting for children at home, contact with children at home, report writing etc.

They are and have been working, and School/teachers are not a babysitting service so you can go to work!

It would be best to make hay while the sun shines. Kids should start next school year August 1st, and we should plan for a 6 week Xmas break starting mid-November. That way, we’ll have some progress for the children banked if there is a second wave.

1. if both parents can’t work at home then early dialogue is needed with unions and employers as to what can be done including furlough, changing work, moving to shift office working. Some of that such as shifts may seem undesirable but it’s a case of us all doing our best and not sitting pretending nothing has changed.
2. if one parent can work from home as we were.
3. if both parents can work from home no change. If like us one parent was a senior teacher in an outstanding school teaching kids the same age as ours now (8-11) but gave up work to be the full time parent and the other one took that opportunity to do very well in a job they can mostly do from home for months then grand.

Not everyone has employers that are understanding, not everyone has a union to back them up. Many employers are getting impatient with the situation and it's now a fight for the survival of their business and want all hands on deck by 1st of June. We are facing serious economic recession possibly depression which is now a far greater risk to all of us than this virus.

I have read the various links. Thank you. The Katrina one was behind a paywall but I think this is the report the article was referencing <a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=educationresearchalliancenola.org/files/publications/The-Effects-of-the-New-Orleans-Post-Katrina-School-Reforms-on-Student-Academic-Outcomes.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiNxYjmycXpAhUsQhUIHcvtC0EQFjABegQIDRAH&usg=AOvVaw1pS7AW51BYMqLzaJ87ri8v" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">link

It basically found the affected schools were massively disadvantaged and 'the only way was up'. The rise in attainment resulted from all the changes implemented post Katrina.

The other links were an article referencing the previous NZ study and an account of how different head teachers handled the NZ earthquakes.

Interesting reading. I take from it that mental health post this sort of event is a big deal. That it is likely that grade adjustment will be required to maintain grades. That significant centralised management may well result. That kids are hugely resilient and people move mountains to help.

Cambridge are not intending to deliver all learning online, only lectures. The intention is to deliver tutorials and seminars face to face if safe and possible to do so.

I think that is what most universities will end up doing . Practicals,.seminars etc will.be on campus but large lectures will be online at minimum for one semester/ term and likely all year

It is possible that the first semester might also be completely online except for practical modules which might be moved to later in the year

It sounds like some schools are going back and others have decided it's not safe.
Is it going to be different in September though? Is it suddenly going to be safe? Or are we just expected to keep children home forever?
The economy is already screwed, stopping parents going to work won't help it'll just mean more job losses. We are all risking our lives going to work.
I have no issue with schools staying off until September but they can't stay off much longer. Practically every parent is struggling now, unless you are a teacher it's hard to motivate your child week after week, especially as they have nothing to look forward to
How many years of GCSEs and A levels are we willing to ruin?

Thank goodness my council have the sense to get the schools back open. It must be awful to be within a council where the children can't go back. One of mine is a year 6 anyway but got a call from school today to say that they can accommodate my year 3 - bonus! Just my year 8 to keep happy now.

I'm really looking forward to going back to work at school. I'm in a different role which will be a challenge and I was in today and saw all the equipment that had sourced and had an online staff meeting which explained how it is hoped our school will run. I'm excited and ready to get stuck in.

School/teachers are not a babysitting service so you can go to work!

To be fair, that's how the DWP sees schools when setting work related requirements for benefits claimants.

Some teachers have not been working all through. I know of a number of secondary schools locally where no online learning has been provided and minimal tasks set.

The world is never going to be 100% safe. Flu kills people, traffic accidents, falling down the stairs. The risks have to be managed and weighed up against the benefits. Teachers who refuse to return to work in September for example (assuming of course that the current trajectory is maintained) will not be applying common sense (unless shielding requirements etc.).

Thank goodness my council have the sense to get the schools back open
They absolutely can’t say that yet. All decisions are pending government advice on the 28th.

It must be awful to be within a council where the children can't go back

You’d rather children went back when risk assessment suggests they cannot be kept safe?

One of mine is a year 6 anyway but got a call from school today to say that they can accommodate my year 3

Are you a KW or is your Y3 vulnerable?

For all of those referencing NZ - how much do you know about their education system? not much by the sounds of it however it suits yoru narrative!

Surely the best thing to do would be to give explicit instructions as to what schools need to deliver to their pupils. What a shame that SOME individual schools and heads have chosen to do the minimum and what a shame teachers are defending any teacher, whatever they are doing, to the hilt (well on here anyway)

Quite a bit. Not sure why you ask. The NZ research is in the public domain and is highly relevant to any discussion about disruption to schooling.

I ask because in my view it's very different to ours and it would be easier to children to catchup. I'm not sure the research would show this but I havent read it so can't comment it.

Talk of a backlash against teaches is misguided. It is the unions the papers will go after. The media know teachers are nothing more than useful idiots in all of this.

The working one is a practicing accountant so know business inside out and back to front. TBF either businesses are back already or are working online. Those that are neither include airlines that don’t want all their staff off furlough for a long long time and same for hotels as demand for both will be running at about 20%. All the public sector are pretty much working at their normal place of work or remotely as is all construction. Manufacturing and engineering have significantly reduced demand and are staffing as far as necessary from home or in factories but either way they are set as is.Non essential stores face a battle for survival but having staff off furlough is not the critical factor for them. Exceptions exceptions there are always exceptions but that is the luck of the draw. We can dictate entire health and economic policy for the minority of exceptions.

@brakethree i know absolutely nothing about US or NZ schooling. I was interested in statements suggesting educational attainment was unaffected by Katrina or the NZ earthquakes.

I was kindly provided with a couple of references.

It looked to me that the important point was the educational response to the disruption. How that was managed and addressed going forward.

The US attainment post Katrina resulted from management changes. In NZ they could adjust grades, but no log of how many were adjusted.

Plus the timeframe of disruption was much shorter than we are looking at.

No way for a direct comparison, but interesting reading.

If schools are not returning in September, we will need serious planning.