Non-returning primary year groups

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The government has stopped mentioning the idea of all primary year groups returning for a month before summer, so I'm guessing this is now highly unlikely (and logistically impossible for many schools given the social distancing rules). Has anyone had any communication from their primary school about this?

Funny you should say that, I’ve been saying maybe I should try and get a job, so my kids can go to school 😆
However I have a 2 year old at home so it would cause childcare issues.
I would definitely go back if I only had TB e big 2.

*the big 2

Our area has said they (PH of the county council) have advised no groups including seniors to go back before 22nd of June as our R is above 1 and we as an area do not meet the 5 criterion.

All the papers reporting that plans have been dropped for remaining classes to return before September.

Gavin Williamson due to confirm this today.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52969679

Yes, and it says thry are putting it onto schools so it's their fault and not the government's.

schools will be given "flexibility" over whether or not to admit more pupils

This has made me very sad. My children are desperate to go back and are missing their friends terribly. I worry for their mental health, all this time isolated.

Private school and as there's 'flexibility' I think they are aiming to get them all back as soon as they can. But we have more space than most, and class sizes are already smaller.

I so want my class of year2s back. I miss them all. I have my bubble of 15 and we have y6, y1 and yR back in as of today. We have one spare room at the moment so couldn't even bring back in another class. The only way we can fit more is to ignore the 2m and social distancing completely which goes against the government directives. We could go to a rota but am not sure how parents would respond to days in and out or weeks in and out and how that could be worked with employment.

Putting it onto schools puts the stress and blame on Headteachers who are already at capacity.

It should have been all or nothing as this partial reopening is helping no one.

What a fucking shambles. The government refused to consider alternative proposals for school reopenings, e.g. part-time attendance, which would have been beneficial for the well-being of children. Instead they went for a sociopathic all-or-nothing approach which has backfired.

They’re better have a plan for September.

@stayingaliveisawayoflife

I so want my class of year2s back. I miss them all. I have my bubble of 15 and we have y6, y1 and yR back in as of today. We have one spare room at the moment so couldn't even bring back in another class. The only way we can fit more is to ignore the 2m and social distancing completely which goes against the government directives. We could go to a rota but am not sure how parents would respond to days in and out or weeks in and out and how that could be worked with employment.

Putting it onto schools puts the stress and blame on Headteachers who are already at capacity.

It should have been all or nothing as this partial reopening is helping no one.

The issue of how parents respond to part-time attendance, drops off etc, is a logistical one that can be overcome. I worry for the mental health of those children who will have gone half a year without interacting in their usual social environment.

@Redolent

What a fucking shambles. The government refused to consider alternative proposals for school reopenings, e.g. part-time attendance, which would have been beneficial for the well-being of children. Instead they went for a sociopathic all-or-nothing approach which has backfired.

They’re better have a plan for September.

I could not agree more! We were planning part time for all children at my school but the government guidance is really clear - no part time, no rotas, only specific year groups.

And the reason shielding teachers make a difference is that we do not have any spare staff. Schools have no give in the system as budgets have been slashed so much. Many can not afford supply teachers. We are lucky to have no shielding teachers but we usually cope with staff absence by covering with TAs or splitting classes- these things aren’t possible at the moment as all TAs are allocated to bubbles and bubbles can’t be mixed.

There wont be a plan for September. My year 4 and year 7 children are desperate to see their peers. The secondary school have said it is very likely to be part time in school from September. This in my view, is due to huge underinvestment in schools so they have a lack of staff, lack of space, all over subscribed. As a year 7 her friendships were all very new so very hard to maintain those and my son in year 4 just misses everything about school. he's bored and fed up.

This is dreadful, both my kids need to be back at school imo. My youngest is desperate to be back, it is definitely negatively affecting her well being. My eldest is autistic and change is impossible for them. It has honestly taken 9 weeks to settle and be calm enough to cope with the current situation. He needs to be back to school, he is getting so stressed about going back that I think waiting until September (at the earliest...) is going to be so detrimental to him

All the classrooms are in use and majority of teachers are teaching at my DCs school. The only ways to get more children back would be a) go back to full size classes or b) go part time with teachers doing two bubbles.

Yrs2-5 were just forgotten about in the original plan.

I mean the original plan by the government, not my DCs school.

I have one in reception who went back yesterday and one in year 3 who it now seems unlikely will be going back. I’d be happy if it was even for a week! This will mean 6 MONTHS out of school for him. He is missing school and his friends terribly and will no doubt feel even worse now he doesn’t have his brother for company and has to go on the school run every day.
My personal view is keep the bubble concept, not require distancing within that bubble and increase it to full class size. I am so sad for al these children.

@Rosie2000

One issue is that teachers returning to school are now using up keyworker places for their own children, that they previously either didn’t need to use or used only when in school on a rota. My younger children are back in school now as I’m back in from next week (secondary). Previously they were normally at home with me. It is a huge undertaking to get even limited numbers back. The work going on ‘behind the scenes’ is immense and please know that we want all our classes back in school . However, I think the likelihood is that this will be the reality for a while. It is very hard for the children, of all ages, parents, teachers, premises etc.

Yes, our school can’t take Yr R back yet and one of the reasons is the uptake by key workers has quadrupled in the last couple of weeks and is rising every week.

At some point the key worker provision is going to have to stop. We can’t plan or cater for a wider opening until this is the case. I’m guessing this will be September but who knows what the DFE will decide and when they will let us know?

My Y6 DC went back yesterday and out of 60 children I reckon 45 turned up. They were made to queue on the pavement outside 2m apart before being allowed into the playground – and the line snaked down the street. Multiply that by seven other year groups (including nursery) and you've got gridlock even before they've stepped inside the school. There simply isn't enough space. So while I understand parents' frustration at their year groups, please take it out on the Govt and not the schools and teachers who are doing their best. Three times the unions asked for meeting with the Govt in April/May to discuss the phased returning and three times they were ignored - then the Govt just arbitrarily announced nursery, R, 1 and 6 would go back, when schools knew it was going to be so difficult. It wasn't even one of the NINE plans the Govt's own SAGE advisors came up with for a sensible return (part-time, rotating years being among their plans). The Govt has royally screwed this up and I don't blame parents for being so angry. I know we're one of the lucky ones to have our DC go back.

DS's headteacher has said he can only take the planned yR/1/6 under the current guidelines (10 kids per classroom etc) because there's not enough space in the school to take other year groups

And yet the headteacher interviewed on Radio 4 said it was 15 in a classroom. Either way it doesn't matter, he said, it wasn't the 2m rule that was the problem, it was the class sizes.

Maybe the "flexibility" the government is referring is will allow rotas. Not that will help working parents but better than nothing.

@Namechange3007

There wont be a plan for September. My year 4 and year 7 children are desperate to see their peers. The secondary school have said it is very likely to be part time in school from September. This in my view, is due to huge underinvestment in schools so they have a lack of staff, lack of space, all over subscribed. As a year 7 her friendships were all very new so very hard to maintain those and my son in year 4 just misses everything about school. he's bored and fed up.

I bumped into a friend yesterday whose nephew is at one of our local secondaries and apparently the school has already warned parents that it could be DECEMBER before all years go back as normal. For September they are looking at returning Y7, because the transition from primary is so important, and the two crucial exam years, so 11 and 13.

The government's plan was never viable and all the teaching unions said so. Even if you had a school with no vulnerable or shielding teachers (extremely unlikely) or forced them all to work (more likely) you cannot just conjure up an extra 7 classrooms to accommodate groups of 15 instead of 30.
You also can't conjure up double the number of teachers to teach smaller groups, and TAs have been cut until schools have only a couple for the whole school now.
The maths just never worked - unless schools were allowed to have pupils in on a rota basis, which the government also ruled out. How did they ever think this was going to happen??

The secondary school I work in is already working on the basis that we won't have all students back in September. Hancock hinted at secondaries opening later than September yesterday at the briefing: "September at the earliest".

We've got over 300 new year 7s starting, and we're thinking about having them in first for a few weeks. But even with a site our size, we'd struggle with having them all in at the same time. So that will probably be part time.

We're struggling with meeting the guidelines for the 100 or so year 10s who are returning next week.

If social distancing is the same, and the students still have to be in small bubbles, I doubt many schools will be able to cope in September - not enough staff, space, classrooms.

It's a nightmare.

I really don't understand this approach of having three year groups in as much as possible and the others not at all. Surely a part-time rota would have been best for all children's educational needs and mental health. What an utter mess.

Yes I agree. Why year 1 but not year 2 who would all be going up to juniors in September so a big change for them? Like you said having all children in on a rota basis would have worked much better.