Schools in Wales to reopen for all year groups 29thJune.

[LittleRen]

By 29th June all year groups will be back in school but only a third in at any one time. Term extended to 27th July.

Sounds good... I wonder if England will follow.

@Wtfdoipick

of course you don't need 3 times the staff if the children are only in for a third of the time. Can I move to Wales now please my daughter desperatly needs to be around other children.

FFS The point of bubbles is to prevent crossover! To start adding the same teacher to every group then there is no point doing the bubbles!

Boris' plan is for all Primary year groups to go back for a month before the Summer holiday. Can't see it happening, though.

^^
Meant to add plan for England.

Wow. I remember being informed that extending term time into the holidays “cannot and will not happen” by a teacher on a thread a while ago...

To start adding the same teacher to every group then there is no point doing the bubbles!

It depends on how it is done.

At one extreme, having 3 bubbles who come in from 9-11,11-1 and 1-3 in the same classroom, with the same teacher - yes, of course, massive crossover between bubbles.

On the other hand, children who come in for a week at a time, followed by a 2-3 day break before the next group - much less crossover.

Bubbles aren't, and can't be, perfect - just think of siblings of different ages, and you can see exactly what I mean. They are meant to reduce contact , not remove it entirely.

Yes I also remember the insistence that children won’t be back to school until September the magical month. I have a very happy Yr6 back. Truth is none of us know.

Does this include Secondary Schools too?

I cant realistically see kids being back even come September. My eldest should be starting his a levels. There is no way on earth he will be sitting his exams in two years and getting good grades.

The other two are in private so I'm not so worried as they are being taught. But my reception dd in state? God knows what she will be doing in September. I might have more chance of going on holiday abroad with them than them being educated.

Most schools can’t do this whilst also providing key worker childcare. It’s a non starter.

Oh @Wishforanishwishdiash, I feel for you 😵

The keyworker children group is getting bigger every week at my school. So we already have 1/3 of staff who can work in school covering those bubbles. Even if you do as someone suggested above and split a class into 3 (10 per bubble) you would probably run out of staff pretty quickly if you had all year groups back in. Giving them a week each bubble would effectively mean in Wales they’d have about 4 days of schooling each. Nice for kids to catch up but possibly not worth the risk to staff health. Not to mention the organisation that is involved in that scenario. The large, 3 form entry primary I work in had already said it can’t accommodate any further year groups back now than R, 1 and 6 as there is not the space or manpower. Btw it’s also quite a big undertaking to expect a TA to teach a class.

@Delatron

Yes I also remember the insistence that children won’t be back to school until September the magical month. I have a very happy Yr6 back. Truth is none of us know.

Yes, that too! I have a reception aged child who will really benefit from going back before September, so I’m glad. What his school is doing is having half the class in for two days with one teacher then Wednesday for deep cleaning, then the other half in with another teacher (especially doable as his class previously had two teachers with a job share). As a lot of parents have said they won’t send their children in, there will be no more than 7 or 8 per group, and we have a wonderful headteacher who I absolutely trust to do her best to support and look after pupils and staff.

We are in Wales and our local schools have already said this can't happen. They are at capacity with key worker children. So either key worker children have to also be part time or they cannot take any more children

Sounds good?? Are you joking??
What an absolute shit show.
A third of all pupils in for check ups, which in all reality in a school my size will be once a week, if that!!

On average there is at least 60 to a year group (2 form entry) . Tas have been cut.
There are two teachers. Are you saying the teachers need to see thirty children a week?? Kirsty Williams said there'll be cohorts of children so they won't cross (I'm imagining) but how on earth can it be done with not enough staff or room? We have 8 KS2 classes.

"Class of 30, 3 groups of 10, one in each week, same teacher each week. If teacher is shielding, TA may have to take the group instead."
You seem to be only thinking about junior schools. High schools are a whole different matter, especially when they have chosen gcse subjects. No longer just one teacher, they could be in contact with 6 teachers per day.

What is the point of years 11 and 13 going in?

"Does this include Secondary Schools too?"
Yes

I've just had a email from my daughters primary school asking if I would be sending her back. She is in year 5. Replied yes.

Yes I also remember the insistence that children won’t be back to school until September the magical month

Well, they weren’t all wrong, were they?

It doesn’t look like Y7/8/9 will be back at all this side of the holidays. In most primaries, Y2-5 won’t be back either as they simply won’t have the room.

I doubt before September in England.

I'm struggling to see how this would work in a primary school. But surely it would be impossible for a secondary school.

"I've just had a email from my daughters primary school asking if I would be sending her back. She is in year 5. Replied yes."
Blimey, they didnt give you much time to think about it. I dont want to decide until I see what the covid numbers are like nearer the time. If numbers go up again, it might be a no from me. Got to weigh up if it is really worth going back for 3 weeks of potentially half days or one day a week as opposed to bringing covid home?

Over the moon with this news. I've been mentally struggling with schooling and working from home. Our children will be back for our sanity.

You do realise nursery staff cannot stick to the same bubble of children & are not expected too? My nursery is open fully now & you could have your regular days. Children are in groups of no more than 10 in their regular rooms. Over the course of a week, my daughters room have 50 different children but not all on the same days. Not all are back, they recon more like 25-30 will be over the course of June. So my daughters key worker who is working all week solidly in that room will see up to 30 different children as they rotate in & out over various days..

I’d imagine teachers can do the same?!