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?

I'm a single mum of 3 trying to WFH well enough not to loose my job and support a year 10 who is worried about exams, a year 7 who is missing her friends and a very hard work year 3. I cant carry on like this for over a year, there is nothing more of me to give.

Also a lone parent lecturer with a crap ex. I'm at a University that looks to be planning socially distanced face to face teaching. If that goes ahead, and the children (primary aged) aren't back full time I can't do my job. Reducing my hours to fit school hours would leave me unable to pay my bills. Redundancy would be my best hope in that situation

I have dc with special needs and they have been in school on a part-time basis for years. I had to give up my teaching career as I just could not work around it. I used various childcare options for a long time but nothing was sustainable. It really was easier to be at home to fit around them even though it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

So yes the logistics of it all are a nightmare.

Ok so it says on the BBC about this -

But the first minister said children will return to a "blended model" where they will do a mix of school and home learning.

Teachers will return to work in June, with transition support being given, where possible, to children going into Primary 1 or moving from primary to secondary schools.

And an increased number of children will have access to critical childcare - which has been provided for the children of key workers during lockdown

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52745643

But that would cost more...how would it be provided...and also school work would be expected to take place during this 'childcare'?

Sorry re-reading that does that just mean talking about nursery care? I thought it meant with regard to schools... sorry if just confused things

Will this not mean grandparents will get used for the other time out of school? Puts families in a very difficult position.

This simply can’t happen - it will fuck over all working parents (or, let’s be honest, working mothers). They must know it’s unworkable for millions of us? Not to mention the fact that kids’ education now seems to be an optional extra rather than a basic right?

We'd manage fine, I work very few hours so a) we could work round it but b) if needed we could afford to lose those few hours wage. DH also has a lot of flexibility around working from home. So on that basis it would be fairly easy.

DS would find it hard going though, he has some SEN and likes a routine. He would hopefully get used to it though

Not to mention the fact that kids’ education now seems to be an optional extra rather than a basic right?

It does feel like the pause button has well and truly been pushed on education and anything that is received over the next 18 months should be considered a bonus. I think this is difficult to take as it is so incongruous with the drive for 100% attendance at all cost that was in effect only 2 months ago!

Think of all the teachers who will lose their jobs if part-time "blended" education becomes the norm (which it will if it carries on into the next academic year).

Automating education like this will be a lot cheaper, for sure.

I imagine private schools will open up for face to face learning, but we'll lose universal free education and kids will be offerend online courses offered by big e-learning companies.

I guess teachers can retrain as technical writers and instructional designers.

Worse pay and conditions, but at least they'll be able to work from home.

One of the things that worries me about the Scottish blended learning plans is that we've been told up to now that we aren't supposed to be homeschooling, it doesn't really matter how much they get done at home, just do your best and don't stress if they spend all their time playing.

But if this is the setup from August and not just a temporary crisis situation then it DOES matter how much they get done, doesn't it? And no matter how fantastic and sparkling they can make the online resources, if we don't have children who are old enough and self-motivated enough and confident enough to work their way through them independently we'll still need to be there. Most of us just couldn't do that alongside working full time even if we work from home. How on earth is it supposed to work?

Why would teachers lose jobs? I thought they'd need more of them to do all the daily face to face teaching plus all the remote learning every day! (Which I would assume would be more robust than what is currently happening?)

Remote learning isn't anywhere near as labour intensive as face to face.

For a short term emergency measure, such a brielf lockdown, you can continue to pay teachers their full salary to teach part time and send online resources.

Once it becomes a medium to long term thing, or an indefinite measure that starts a new acamemic year months after the lockdown, then really you are going to rationalise your online output and employ far fewer teachers.

I mean, we have a Tory government.

They are not going to be slow to reduce the numbers of teachers they have to pay if they have a clear rationale for doing so.

Particularly when the teachers unions have been trying to block the restarting of education for children.

It will be a pretty big row back for the unions to suddenly start insisting that education matters and we must continue to pay for it when their stance to now is that we must continue ot pay for it but it doesn't matter if we don't receive it.

Strongly, strongly considering deregistering and home educating my 5,9 and 12yo dcs until September 2021 (not hysteria, health and sen issues) but I'm worried it will somehow damage their development forever. Been in floods of tears this last week realising that this is going to be a long term issue

Well it is going to be difficult arguing that as a nation we really need more teachers if we've all spent months being told "just plonk them in front of BBC Bitesize and you can watch them while doing your own job, they'll still get educated just as well so you don't need to worry."

It's also going to be difficult to argue that teaching is a difficult and important job worth paying good money for.

Which I believe it is. Which is why I've been so suprised to see the teaching unions respond like they were representing typists in the 1980s.

But Nihiloxica the teachers will still be in school full time. They will just teach half the class one week, and the other half the other? On top of that, they will set and respond to the learning for the half of the children that are at home each week.

It's more work per teacher, not less?

They’ll have to include teachers’ children as key workers for teachers to be able to do their jobs - it’s got to be logical

I'm guessing teachers will be expected to do very minimal setting up and assessing online work, because I don't know how on earth they could manage it alongside teaching in person.

@Nihiloxica I don't agree with your logic. Teachers will be back to normal but it's the children who will do half a week in each.

There will be more demand for key worker spaces as more people wfh need to come 'back'. Quite a few nhs workers I know are able to wfh with children currently while services were suspended / virtual but that is only short term in many areas. By September most are expected back.

But Nihiloxica the teachers will still be in school full time

For as long as tiny class sizes can be justified.

My feeling is that by September it will no longer be needed.

But if the schools have gone all in on "part time learning" as the default, then the danger is that the class sizes will be restored, but the part-time will be kept.

Allowing yourself to be made redundant like this is a very risky stragegy for teachers. If Labour were in government it might be worth it (although I'd hope a Labour government would be more concerned about the welfare for children than to do this).

But it seems suicidal with a Tory government in charge to allow part time school to become all that children are entitled to.

@GoldenOmber I'm sure that's what will happen. The onus will go back on the parent to 'teach' 50% of the time which they can't easily do if wfh. So those children become more disadvantaged too.

For bright motivated kids with parents who have time and ability to help them, it would be fine.

Any barriers, including but not limited to:

• disengaged student
• low ability student
• special educational needs
• busy working parents
• lack of technology

Would make it very very difficult and disadvantaged students would fall even further behind.