We need to rise up about the lack of education for our children

[Speeding201700]

Please do this. Please join the Twitter movement #usforthem
Please write to your MPs
Please talk about this.

Our children are missing out on their fundamental human right of an education.

The children of regular families are suffering (all 5 of mine are suffering desperately), but those in vulnerable families are suffering even further. The gap between these children will be HUGE

I am a teacher and a mother. I am ready to go back to work full time and with the 'old normal'. I am also type 1 diabetic.

Please help us rise up to get our children educated. Our children have been totally forgotten about. Throughout my career I've had it rammed down my throat about how school is a safe place for so many children. They don't care about these children now.

I am amazed so many people have just accepted this. It has gone on for too long now.

Hear hear. DD is really suffering, and she's a privileged child with one parent able to focus on her and support her school work. She's demotivated, lonely and unhappy. She desperately needs to get back to school. Children have been thrown under the bus by the Government.

I am also glad to see this being talked about more now. I have been so angry about it for so long but felt I was the only one. I am also surprised how all of this has been so quietly accepted by everyone. Which brings me back to my favourite quote from the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Attwood (which I have shared before:)

“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed at home at night, watching television.”

The longer this goes on, the more scarily apt that quote becomes.

Just wait until the children do eventually get back to school full time. The government will make huge demands on teachers to 'catch them up' and 'close the gap', further damaging their mental health through piling on the pressure.

It's a good opportunity for a shake up of a curriculum that is totally unfit for purpose, especially ks2. But that won't happen. Teachers will bear the brunt of it and nobody will thank them for working in even more stressful and difficult conditions than normal.

If they send secondary schools back fully, they need to admit that social distancing bubbles in those schools will be totally impossible.

Why have the old normal though? Why not reduce risk of second wave? Shielding adults and children will be at higher risk if infections go up.

I am in a country that is managing the epidemic well and kids as a default wear face masks to school - though in cases where they are under 12 and it is difficult (or have special circumstances) they may be able to wear face shields. Sounds very sensible.

@Weepinggreenwillow
That sent shivers through my spine. So true and so terrifying

I think the stance should be all the schools should shut their doors and close, not even be open for key worker children. UNTIL they allow AL the children who ALL deserve a proper education to be back at school in a NORMAL school setting.

But that's never going to happen.

@Namenic

I think it would be good to invest in the online Oak academy platform because of shielding children and in case we get another pandemic sometime.

Also giving access to kids without appropriate tech, SEN, vulnerable - eg loaning equipment, libraries, school places.

Back to normal quickly seems a big risk - 2nd wave, further lockdown.

If they could invest in it and make it fit for purpose then it'd be a start. There is nothing on there suitable for my year 10.

Normal can't happen in schools without a reduction in social distancing/ bubbles.

The cost-benefits of the hazards to children for the virus means far, far more children are being harmed by being denied access to school compared to the virus.
Children getting no respite from abusive situations.
Bored teenagers having accidents.
Children getting no SEN support/ diagnosis / respite falling further behind their peers.
Children with social and communication difficulties having regressing skills, having to learn "new normals" and eventually relearn them.
Unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles.
Parents facing redundancy because they are having to prioritise childcare over productivity.

This week has seen a significant number of posters reporting that their children have gone back and are much happier for it.

This is close to 2x summer holidays with no end in sight and none of the support mechanisms that are in place.

I'm hoping that between an ambiguous comment about primaries returning before the end of July and masks coming in in certain situations that there will be a revision of social distancing guidelines (particularly if pubs/ cafes are to be financially viable for July opening) and that will make increasing school provision more viable.

Schools need a fresh, whole school start in September. Some concessions on larger gatherings within in schools, and temporary closures in the event of outbreaks may well persist, but young people need the education, support, social contact and relatively even playing field of school and are being harmed by patchy, inconsistent access, within schools and across the country.

Schools need to have notice to consider timetabling, particularly at secondary if it is advisable to do more form based teaching and reduce mixing across sets.

I will happily resume volunteering in school as soon as it is viable. While I found the demands of teaching incompatible with my family's needs, I do what I can to support thei school.

I’ll back this once the test and trace is running properly and fully and proven to work, and once the r rate goes back under one in my area.

I agree that the longer this goes on (in terms of not enabling all children you access some education), the more divisive this is going to get. The number of children with critical worker parents in our area seems to have magically increased a lot since half term. (many of whom I know are still working from home and have partners who are also wfh). They are now sending their children to school (and benefiting from all the social benefits that offers). This can work in the short term, but it is unfair in the long term. I think it should be quite strict that you only fall into this category if either both parents are key workers (working away from the home), or you are a single parent in a similar situation. The uptake for returning to school is very high in my area .... and the emerging key workers have prevented year 1 and 6 being offered a place. There are many people who are struggling with wfh and looking after children, and I don’t see why if there is just one key worker in the family they (Both parent and child) should benefit from sending their children to school when so many others are getting nothing.

Agreed.

Complete farce now.

100% agree. I'm becoming more and more gobsmacked by the day how children are being utterly forgotten in all of this. Just seen this from The Sunday Times. It's mind-blowing how people are accepting this as necessary.

Agreed. Tomorrow starts week 12. Business's are adapting to fit the current climate, our school at least appear to be adopting the do nothing attitude of 'oh its a pandemic, out of our hands, nothing we can do.'

No communication, no plan (I have a friend who works at school who confirms there really isn't one) no nothing, not good enough.

caused by lack of exercise. Habits formed as children tend to stay with you into adult hood-lack of sports

That's your issue to fix for your child. They've been able to go out to exercise all along.

I totally agree. Children are currently not being given an education. I know there are differences between schools (which I also think is a problem) but at our school there have been no video lessons, half an hour a day that teachers are available to talk to and going over the same work for weeks. In maths dd10 has been on the same topic since the start if lockdown. She understood it weeks and weeks ago and isn't interested in doing any more. If she was at school.her teacher would be stretching her.

We can not carry on as we are for the whole next school year.

Agreed.

I'm so sick of the lack of creativity from DoE and the unions here. It is not doing anyone any good to dig in heels and say 'it is safe for everyone to go back' 'it isn't safe for anyone to go back' what good is that doing our children? How will we ever get anything done from that starting point?

What about Teach First? They have the infrastructure in place to train new grads over the summer and place them in schools with experienced teachers who can mentor and support them. This year's graduates are entering the worst job market in years. Why not say that anyone who does teacher training over the summer and teaches for two years will have their student loan forgiven? Financially it'd be a drop in the ocean.

I also want to go back to school (teacher), but at the moment we have no idea whether being in school has an impact from a virus point of view. It's been one week. I think millions of parents will still keep children home unless we actually know the impact of being in school. Problem the government have there, is that they have lost trust through telling so many lies. I don't believe my child is safe in school - she might be, she probably is, but I have no one telling me that for sure. And certainly no one I can trust. She's gone back because two key workers in my house, and we can't work around it anymore.

Also, I don't want to go back to the old normal, it sucked for lots and lots of children (especially those with SEND), it sucked for lots and lots of teachers too. Should be an opportunity to try and lower class sizes on a more permanent basis.

I'd also like to see proper support for mental health and vulnerable families. That means never having a Tory government again.

Agreed

Hmm an hour a day isn’t exactly a great amount of exercise particularly for those with limited outside space.

As a teacher and a mother, I agree. The govt need to plan and to me, that plan should be for schools to return as normal in September (if it isn't possible before the Summer holidays).

As you say, schools have remained open during many crises over the years -through wars, flu epidemics and other illnesses. Cases of coronavirus are falling, people in hospital with it has decreased, NHS capacity is there and the number of deaths is falling. Yet the nations children are missing out on education, socialising with their friends, support for their SEN needs and for some, having adults who they see regularly who care about more than their parents do (obviously doesn't apply to all children but it absolutely bloody applies to some!).

When I have popped out shopping, I have seen groups of secondary aged children meeting up and I don't blame them at all but they need to be back in school.

what good is that doing our children?

I'm going with not...

What about Teach First?

Right what do we do? Letters to MPs. How does one even go about organising these things?!?

Hmm an hour a day isn’t exactly a great amount of exercise particularly for those with limited outside space.

There was no time limit in England. Very few parks were closed.

I agree.

Not only are we throwing our children under the bus, but women too.

Who will lose their jobs if there's no school or childcare? Women.