September

[Lemons1571]

I’m trying not to panic as I know I’m getting way ahead of myself. But what if all the kids are still not really back at school? I read on another thread that OFSTED are working on that basis, and are planning for inspections based on remote learning. I’ve got a (current) year 10, 7 and 4 - could it be January or maybe even next Easter before they’re full time again? Goodness knows what will happen with next years GCSEs. Is anyone else concerned that September is not going to be the golden egg that everyone seems to assume it will be?

I agree with chippity , it really is a disgrace. My colleague has just been told their son's secondary school of over 1,000 pupils will only accept 40 yr10 pupils at a time this term, half a day week. Nobody else. In what universe is that acceptable? They are using 3 classrooms and 4 teachers, in a secondary school. Think about that for a moment.

DD's primary school are 'phasing in' 9 key worker children at the moment, 1 member of staff. Gosh, I hope they're taking that slowly. Imagine if all 9 came at once. As a yr4, DD has no hope of returning this year. She loves her school, the teachers are great. What is being provided online however is unacceptable.

The response I had from our LEA when I expressed my concerns amounted to 'better to fail all children than try and do better for some'. I don't find that reassuring.

My child's infant school is at full capacity with around half reception children and Key worker children. They will not be able to return to normal in September. They couldn't even take year 1.

I have a child due to start reception Sept 2021. That school year will also not be normal as I think many parents who can will delay entry to school until that year meaning over subscribed year below. I would consider it with a summer born child.

So what is supposed to happen when parents who can't work from home have to return to work, but there is no school for the kids and no furlough pay?

That is the million dollar question isnt it....

It does feel that everyone is fighting their own battle with this and not looking at the bigger picture doesn't it? Many countries have operated on 1m or 1.5m distancing. That would certainly help. I agree with other posters that we are damaging a lot of children and their future prospects. Their mental health has suffered too. We are going to need to accept some risk or risk serious damage in other ways. People will lose jobs if they can't work because of no school.

@Mrhodgeymaheg yep, that's my situation. And I'm a single parent so I don't even have a partner that I could try and work around.

It is possible, but not certain, they won't be back in September. I'm really worried about my dc, they're losing motivation with learning at home & tbh so am I.

Disruption to schools could continue to November, MPs told www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52895640

I suspect that all children will be in but with some kind of blended learning ( part time in school, part time at home) to allow for some degree of social distancing.
In my opinion, the pressure needs to be put on the government to publish proper data and to get their test track and trace running more efficiently and to review whether they have made the most sensible decisions regarding starting to lift lockdown. This is the key to getting children back at school. If the number of cases an R number can continue to reduce ( by effective track and trace, not opening things up too soon etc) then schools will be able to have more students in at one time because less social distancing will be needed.
I also think parents need to be helping their older DC ( secondary) to develop their independent study skills in view of the fact that things are unlikely to go back to normal that quickly. This may mean open conversations about taking responsibility for their own learning, help to develop good study skills, ways of managing motivation etc. It won't be ideal but it will help them make the best of the situation.

In Scotland they're going back in August but with 'blended learning' with maybe 2 or 3 days a week in school and the rest at home. In my house that's going to be a 'blend' between learning and not-learning because while we can both WFH, we can't teach at the same time as working.

My only glimmer of hope at the moment is that schools have been told in the official guidance not to put any long-term arrangements in place for part-time opening.

@Char2015 news flash children have been catching and spreading viruses since forever not just now!
Theres a reason that educating your children is a legal requirement yet that somehow doesn't seem to matter any more. Our children have been massively let down in all this their emotional and social wellbeing is the very bottom of the list.

[quote Uhoh2020]@Char2015 news flash children have been catching and spreading viruses since forever not just now!
Theres a reason that educating your children is a legal requirement yet that somehow doesn't seem to matter any more. Our children have been massively let down in all this their emotional and social wellbeing is the very bottom of the list.[/quote]
Yes, it's a fact that children catch and spread viruses all the time. But right now we are facing a global pandemic with a very deadly virus in which significant numbers are dying from. We are in different times. This isn't just a simple cold virus that our youngsters spread from one person to another. This virus is sadly much bigger than that.

I 100% agree that children deserve an education, and they are entitled to one. Just at present that doesn't involve in-school education. I'm sure the majority of schools are providing education in other sorts of way. I know a lot of schools are using Zoom to teach some lessons and for children to engage with other children from their class. I therefore don't think their emotional and social well being is bottom of the list. If it was, then there would be none of these types of activities happening. Sadly, this type of learning will not replicate the in-school education our children normally get. But it's something. I would be very concerned if all schools didn't engage with providing any work or any contact. I'm not a big fan of gov at the moment, but they have done something positive in implementing a national series of online classes for primary school children. We have to take away what we have got at the moment and what is available to us.

This isn't just a simple cold virus that our youngsters spread from one person to another.

We have dealt with much nastier viruses than this one, and viruses which were also much more dangerous to children. Polio for example. We closed schools for short periods to deal with polio outbreaks, but we didn’t keep them shut until we had a vaccine.

Yes it is bad; yes we need to take drastic short-term measures to reduce its spread. Should those measures include saying “eh sod education, they’ll be fine with a few Twinkl worksheets and some BBC Bitesize” for the next few years? No, I don't think it should.

I hope that the plan is, if there are not a significant number of outbreaks in groups of up to 15, there won't be any reason not to increase the maximum group size to 30. If there are a significant number of outbreaks in schools, its bad news all round isn't it - but as there werent many in March when the virus was in the community at much higher levels, I doubt there will be an issue now. Bound to be the odd outbreak though.

At least starting up now gives some scope for research and hope for a more normal return.

My DSC's remote learning is an absolute shit show. Their primary care giver and their school have let them down massively in regards to their education.
I feel sad and disappointed for them. The sooner they can go back to school the better.

@GoldenOmber

This isn't just a simple cold virus that our youngsters spread from one person to another.

We have dealt with much nastier viruses than this one, and viruses which were also much more dangerous to children. Polio for example. We closed schools for short periods to deal with polio outbreaks, but we didn’t keep them shut until we had a vaccine.

Yes it is bad; yes we need to take drastic short-term measures to reduce its spread. Should those measures include saying “eh sod education, they’ll be fine with a few Twinkl worksheets and some BBC Bitesize” for the next few years? No, I don't think it should.

I'm not sure if anyone has said schools will be shut until a vaccine has been found and that worksheets will be given out for the next few years. We have to adjust to the new ways schools will work in the future, whether that be blended learning, or temporary school closures where necessary. Unfortunately, that is the reality now that we are faced with. Someday things will return to normal and I'm very much looking forward to the day when schools and life can return back to normal.

I think we are fortunate that we have accessible online resources and other live teaching methods. We are definite more fortunate that we have these. Think of those children who were off school in the polio outbreaks that didn't have these resources. As I said before, none of these resources will make up for the in-school teaching our children receive, but I have to be grateful for the resources that have been available to keep our children actively engaged in some sort of education.

@Char2015 how am I supposed to "adjust" to part time schooling when I need to work and cannot do my job from home?

I can’t do ‘blended learning’ because I have a job (ironically, working on covid response so all hands on deck and I can’t really duck out of my hours). I have school-age DC too young to work independently. Right now what they are getting is Twinkl worksheets and BBC Bitesize, and that’s mostly not getting done.

[quote Waxonwaxoff0]@Char2015 how am I supposed to "adjust" to part time schooling when I need to work and cannot do my job from home?[/quote]
Everyone's situation is understandably different. I've taken a 6 month career break from September. Financially it will be tough. Very tough. But that's the only way I could adjust to what may be the new norm. I know a lot of families will not be a similar position where they can take a break.

I'm hoping for those that can't work from home, or afford to take time off work unpaid, that the Government may help to support these families in one way or another. There is not going to be an easy way to adjust for any family during this time and sacrifices are going to have to be made for a lot of parents.

@GoldenOmber

I can’t do ‘blended learning’ because I have a job (ironically, working on covid response so all hands on deck and I can’t really duck out of my hours). I have school-age DC too young to work independently. Right now what they are getting is Twinkl worksheets and BBC Bitesize, and that’s mostly not getting done.

I have a job (within the NHS). I've just decided to focus on my children as a priority over my job for now.

If you are working on covid response are your children not getting keyworker school places?

No, they can’t get keyworker places because I can work from home, so the rules here is that they’re not entitled to places.

I'm a single parent, I can't take a career break as I'm the only one bringing in the money.

That's tough. I really wish there would be more support for those keyworkers working from home to help with getting children into school so parents can work on covid-response. A few schools round here have made similar rules.

@Waxonwaxoff0

I'm a single parent, I can't take a career break as I'm the only one bringing in the money.

Single parent here too so only one bringing in the money. I will only be entitled to child benefit, child tax credit, and housing benefit. I can't get any other benefits as technically I am still employed. It will be a struggle. But knowing I have a job the other side of it makes things seem better to be able to pick back up my finances.

I have just decided to focus on my children as a priority over my job for now

Good for you! I'm sure we all prioritise our children ahead of our jobs but for the vast majority choosing 1 over the other isn't an option. My priority is my children getting an education in school because I can not provide that for them as well as working to put food in their belly and a roof over their head at the same time. Having my children baby sat by a screen most of the day and not having any social interaction with children with people their own age is funnily enough not a priority for me.