If blended learning was the thing for all of next academic year?

[porktangle]

www.thenational.scot/news/18454764.blended-learning-become-new-normal-schools-return/

This is obviously just an article and anything could actually change in the next year but I read this and suddenly the possible next academic year just hit me like a ton of bricks. I don't know why it's taken until now tbh. I think I've just been thinking about June 1st mostly!

I could still work (I'm full time main earner) but husband couldn't so we'd have significant money problems after a few months. My son is autistic and wouldn't have his EHCP fulfilled. He's done reduced timetables before and they were a disaster, he ended up out of education for over a year.

If blended learning (half in school with social distancing, half at home remote learning) is for the next academic year.....how would you manage?

@MagisCapulai I really hope so

* I can’t help thinking we need to get to a more granular level and have schools in red zones with more restrictions than schools where the virus is well controlled. It’s split along devolved lines but really it could be managed catchment by catchment.*

If not, then this makes much more sense.

National Parent Forum Scotland represents parents on Scottish government's education recovery group. So I tried to find out anything they've said about how working parents would manage this 'blended learning' but there is nothing. Just a chirpy press release saying "we are well placed in Scotland to embrace this new learning pattern and reflect on all the interesting and innovative home learning that has gone on in recent weeks."

I don't feel particularly well placed to embrace this new learning pattern, National Parent Forum Scotland. I feel pretty terribly placed. What with having a job that is not going to be thrilled about paying me to sit supporting home learning for 15-20 hours a week during working hours. Seriously is this just INVISIBLE to people? Do they think we're all independently wealthy SAHPs having a lovely lockdown time with nature walks and craft projects? Fuck's sake.

I was a bit surprised when the National parent forum for Scotland posted saying the survey said people were happy with the return in August or some such - I wonder now the part time stuff is out how many are still happy.

I'm going to get in touch with them to say I am extremely unhappy. It's ridiculous.

I don't know any families where both parents don't work. Any. I can't see workplaces being happy about wfh until summer 2021 (or forever?) So where does that leave people? It leaves WOMEN and it will be women facing being sacked or made redundant or having to leave their jobs. There will not be a sudden abundance of flexible part time work to make up for these mad hours.

It's insanity. They're going to punish families.

It is complete insanity. But why aren't people more outraged?

I’m totally outraged, I’m just so stressed trying to manage currently so have no mental capacity to even begin to think about how to tackle this!

I'm bloody outraged and I don't live in Scotland!

I'm outraged. But I keep getting shouted down by people who want schools closed forever seemingly.

I'm not in Scotland either but I'm outraged @TrustTheGeneGenie

To me it seems counter productive anyway.

Say your child goes to school Monday Tuesday every week. You both work outside the home and neither of you can or want to give up your jobs.

So what do you do?

You find childcare. That might be a childminder. Or it might be swapping with a friend or more than one friend. It might be a family member. Several different family members or the teenager next door.

That's not compatible with "bubbles" is it?

So what is the point?

Or will all these other methods of childcare remain banned and a parent HAS to be at home?

We rely on out of school care normally for around 10.5 hours a week so that’s a HUGE consideration for us. Will they operate? If so can they increase their hours?
Normally they have up to 50 kids with a staff ratio of no more than 8:1 so could operate in play “bubbles” of 8 kids.

I am terrible at teaching my child. He needs more than this. It's messing up his future. He's starting high school.

Or will all these other methods of childcare remain banned and a parent HAS to be at home?

"a parent" = mother 9 times out of 10.

Welcome to Gilead

You're right. A mother.

We may as well give up our right to vote as well.

I must admit not sure why we don't abandon going back 1st June for most and just get all efforts in for how we can manage in sept
Maybe a few days for year 6 in old school and new school and year 10 /12 some face to face time to see how they are coping , (even a phone call from subject teachers could suffice where they are at )
My feeling is if year 10/12 end up missing too much ,let just do teachers assessments again and we can scrap sats for a year
By July we may know more about virus and plans can start to be made going forward for sept but my feeling is at sometime we will just almost go back to normal a part time education can't work longtime and neither can social distancing in uk schools

I also think half the issue is the big disparity between how schools are setting work , some keeping on top and others getting minimal

@strugglingwithdeciding this thread isn't talking about 1st June. It's talking about Scottish school returning part time on 11th August with blended learning. There's no Sats in Scotland either.

What Magic Thing is happening in August/September?

@Invisimamma I don't believe all people replying are Scottish and they are thinking of Scotland do it likely Rest of Uk do as well

Well as about Scotland then it's a few weeks away so you may be looking g at better figures come August do all could change at least you know that's the earliest they will go back
And hopefully by then family friends could possibly used as childcare as impossible for working parent of young children otherwise

The article in the op is from a Scottish newspaper talking about the Scottish government approach to reopening schools.

Yes, you're right, by phase 3 of the lifting lockdown plan grandparents will be able to have children visit inside their homes (provided they are not shielding) . Although not everyone has grandparents to help. By August we should be in a much better position but SG are being clear it will still likely be part time school with blended learning.

Technically phase 3 says we can have grandparents visit indoors but still observing social distancing. Maybe they can stand at the other end of the kitchen and supervise home learning from there?

Aaargh this is just such a mess. I am baffled as to why they don’t have any better answers for parents than asking employers to ‘be flexible’ and talk about giving parents resources. The resource I need is a state education system, not some more patronising guff on ParentClub.

Blended learning would work really well both for us and DD. She's Yr8 and has been working really well at home. To have that supplemented by half a week in school being taught would be ideal. Smaller classes, less children crammed into a school that's a bit too small already for its intake.
Schools generally don't organise themselves in a way to suit parents and this situation will be that with knobs on.