What would you actually like the government to do on schools.

[StatisticalSense]

The demands on this site with regards to schooling are simply incompatible. Schools physically do not have the room or staff to reopen to their normal numbers of pupils with any form of social distancing in place, so it clearly isn't possible to get all kids back to school full time with social distancing in place.
What exactly would you like the government to be doing on schools that is actually feasible?

Part time, even if that can only be managed for a very small amount of time such as one day a week. It would be a boost to relieve some of the boredom of being at home, allow them to see friends, and enable to have teachers keep an eye on how they are managing.

I’d like them to go back in some kind of capacity. The lock down was to not overwhelm health services, surely we’ve done that now.

@PineappleUpsideDownCake

But little kids don't spread it much and older kids can wear masks and probably still don't spread it that much.

Wait til August as Scottish cases are already very low and should stay that way/fall further. But then open as normal.

(People do know we have one of the highest death rates and other countries witg lower death rates havent fully opened schools righy?)

Yes in care homes and hospitals. Not in schools.

Open the doors let them in! Teachers do have PPE (gloves/aprons) already for any personal or medical care they may need to give. I'm not sure how masks would work in terms of teaching though it is very dis engaging not being able to watch people as they speak, and in terms of young ones learning sounds and phonics its about how the mouth makes sounds.

Okay, schools can't expand, kids might be be part time all next year.

Facilitate socially distant childcare. Lots of it. Use museums, leisure centres, gyms. Start sorting staff now for Sept.

Get to grips with blended learning. The offerings have been adequate for a crisis, but now we've got to be serious.

Reopen without social distancing.

And Y10s and 12s should have been back in secondaries after May half term, why on earth are they are not there when they would have been 1/5 or 2/7 of their school populations?

Guernsey have all school years back now/very soon and Jersey has Y10s and 12s back. Not sure about the Isle of Man which has a roadmap but no dates on it I could see:covid19.gov.im/general-information/roadmap-for-the-gradual-expansion-of-school-provision-to-specific-groups/

Open as normal, no social distancing.

Send them all back please!

PineappleUpsideDownCake
You do realise that the number of kids in the U.K. that have died due to lockdown domestic violence exceeds the number of kids in the U.K. that have died Corona?!
Under 10s don’t even spread it!

All primary children back full time. Now. If particular teachers are shielding then pull in heads and non teaching SLT (dropping whatever else they’re doing), ofsted inspectors, those that have left the profession, skilled TAs, university students, parent volunteers or frankly any other adult human. Massively thin out the curriculum, announce a several year suspension of SATs, tables tests, phonic screenings, Ofsted inspections, book looks, and all paperwork and record keeping not directly related to safeguarding. Concentrate on children being happy and secure in school, able to appropriately socialise with their peers (even if they have to scrap eg whole school assembly or playtime for now) and learning the absolutely core curriculum.

If that means shutting every other non essential service or shop to keep the R rate down or banning all other socialising so be it. Ditto, if staff really want PPE they should have it. Weekly testing of everyone in school if they have to. If it results in a small number of extra deaths, I’d accept that too.

Time travel back 10 years and stop gutting all the schools funding.

But in the real world, wait until September and then implement some sort of part time or rotating schedule.

To pp we also have one of the highest populations in a much smaller country

Italy Spain and france all bigger size wise but smaller populations so of course our death rate is highet

Send them back!!

Schools back as normal with no social distancing, now. But most of all to treat All DC the same, so implement rotas.

It's so wrong that some children are back purely based on their date of birth or what their parents do for a living. Nearly half one of my DCs class (not R, 1 or 6) are back as they're keyworker children or have other reasons they argued for a place. They're being taught as normal by a qualified teacher whilst the rest of the class struggle at home with fairly generic worksheets sent out, no feedback or progression. How is this fair??

Wish - I think childcare is the key thing isnt it. If school is to be part time then there needs to be a huge increase in available childcare.

I would be happy for part time for all. I would be happy for schools to use marquees in the summer months, or local sports hall as a temporary classroom. Teachers in PPE. Extra unqualified helpers who are not vulnerable to be brought in. I would be happy for children to wear masks, or teachers PPE.

My children would benefit from school and I'm struggling to work from home. I just think we need to try harder.

I think getting all children back part time would be a good idea. I like the surnames split suggestion because that would mean that siblings would go on the same day.

I think the government needs to get its act together on track and trace, and supply teachers with ppe if they want it.

The government also needs to properly fund schools - in the short term this means paying enough teachers / TAs to look after the children in small groups. If space is an issue, is there a reason why schools can't hire empty buildings eg church halls, university buildings, leisure centres etc?

To be supporting distance learning with an actual online school for primary and secondary. If children can’t go back to school yet, the government should be bringing school to them and alleviating the pressure on schools so that they can prepare efficiently for a proper return ASAP.

I'm not sure how masks would work in terms of teaching though it is very dis engaging not being able to watch people as they speak, and in terms of young ones learning sounds and phonics its about how the mouth makes sounds

Sure but it's better than nothing. I guess teachers could stand back and remove back to speak to whole class or make use of video of people speaking. Masks would be more to anticipate the inevitable complaints of the unions than anything else.

Funding from the government for a recruitment drive to hire more teachers, from the many who have left because of the hours/class sizes, on the basis that they will only be required to teach 15 kids.

Funding for portacabins for schools with outdoor space (my kids' primary could accommodate at least 2 portacabins depending on how much playing field you wanted to leave).

Discussions with councils about use of empty/near empty offices or community buildings as extra school space for schools with no outside space.

Discussions with councils about rationalising the offices that are open with a view to reducing cleaning of many near-empty offices in favour of cleaning schools more - this should be cost-neutral.

And at first while all this is set up, organise part-time schooling so that each child is getting some time there.

Open as normal, anyone with any symptom of cv19 stays at home until rested, windows open, no assemblies, stay in class groups, extra handwashing.

I would be willing to accept no return until September if things can be normal for September.

Properly invest in track and trace. If they invested in this then we wouldn’t have to shut down quite so much.

Rotas for schools.

And yes as a pp said, I'd rather schools were priotised. So to keep the R rates low keep non essential shops closed until schools break up for summer. I can currently browse a garden centre or IKEA, and could go to friggin primark from next week, but schools aren't open to most pupils. Weird priorities.