WTAF schools...

[SoberCurious]

My friend who works for the DfE says they are planning for kids to go back to school in December 😭😭😭

There will be millions unemployed, some will be very well educated, some may have teacher training qualifications, i’m Sure they will happily step forward for teacher roles.

We'll see. It didn't really happen in 2009-11, because the govt (who run teacher training) was so distracted by the state of the economy that they did mad things like delete all the teaching bursaries. I know. I was there. There was some marginal effect I think on people with business/Econ/Maths degrees entering teaching rather than the City.

@LolaSmiles of course people leave teaching - as I said, it's a high turnover profession (sadly) and I've seen people do it very successfully. What isn't true is that teachers can easily move into higher paid jobs (I think every single example you have would have been a significant pay cut at least in the short term, apart from going back to a previous career which is only an option if you have one) and I just don't see huge numbers doing this in the middle of a recession. There's a big difference between declaring that you will quit on social media and actually giving up a secure job.

LisaSimpsonsbff
I see what you mean. Yes, it would be a pay cut for many of those people, but not by as much per hourly rate for some of them as it would initially seem.
I think I was just surprised by your suggestion about needing to be independently wealthy to leave.

@Xenia

One thing couples might do is make sure the men stay home and women return to work as only then when lots of men are not in work as they are caring for children full time might the state start to take action.

Stats - "In April to June 2019, 3 in 4 mothers with dependent children (75.1%) were in work in the UK. This compared with 92.6% of fathers with dependent children. " (ONS) I am not sure what percentage of the workplace has children however - it may be quite small in which case men staying off would not have an impact.

I am not sure if you know this but the DfE is majority female in the senior grades, so it is unlikely that their planning will be based on concerns about men in the workplace.

There are still many hysterical parents who are not prepared to risk sending their children back to school. The media just keeps reminding them that their child will drop down dead if they go within a 100m of school. It’s far too risky! So we have leaks from the DofE suggesting they will have another 6 months of 24/7 childcare. It’s ok in the summer, you can lock them in the back garden on a trampoline and let the teenagers roam wild with their friends because that’s not risky. But when autumn and winter arrives it may just be too much to cope with. I suspect the psychologists have been redeployed to convince parents that it’s ok for children to go back to school using the usual rumours and misinformation.

I think you do need to be either independently wealthy or very brave to leave with nothing immediate to go to - I only know one person who left teaching without either a job to go to or a business that they thought was capable of growing to support them (I also know an ex-teacher who became a yoga teacher!). The one person I know who did quit with nowhere to go was having a massive mental health crisis, which obviously affected their ability to get a new job, but they were out of work, and living with their parents, for quite some time. There's a big difference between planning your exit route and quitting with immediate effect which is what people are saying teachers will do in droves.

Saying it's not much of an hourly pay cut might be true but if you now make £16,000 rather than £28,000 it doesn't help that much that it's the same hourly rate if the £28,000 covered your mortgage and the £16,000 doesn't.

I’m so cross with the media for doing this, the amount of threads on mumsnet saying i’m not risking my child, was so ridiculous, now look at the mess we’re in, mostly women hung out to dry with their income seriously cut, millions of children receiving the most basic education. I could see this coming a mile off but no one would listen.

Saying it's not much of an hourly pay cut might be true but if you now make £16,000 rather than £28,000 it doesn't help that much that it's the same hourly rate if the £28,000 covered your mortgage and the £16,000 doesn't.
True, I'm fortunate to be in an area where it's reasonably affordable to buy a house on one salary and mortgage payments are often less than rent on an equivalent property. It probably made it easier for my friends/former colleagues to walk if they have savings or a partner to cover overheads in the short term.

I'm sure that makes a huge difference - and I'm probably biased by always having lived in expensive areas of the south east. Lots of the teachers I know went part-time after kids (as has DH, actually) but I only know a couple who could afford to live off their partner's salary entirely.

I'm not sure we could afford our house if we moved to the South East. It must make a huge difference.

This!!! As a teacher I'm tired of having to defend myself as though I were single handedly responsible for this virus and our kids lack of education.

Sorry that meant to be in response to @Barbie222 comment about who the marches would be against exactly. The universe... The virus?

I think the attitudes shown towards teachers are appalling

So do I. I feel so sorry for them. My middle dd is in Year 12. She is self learning much of her A Level courses but her teachers have been fantastic - marking essays and sending feedback, emailing students regularly with support, resources or just to keep in touch and doing the very best they can in the situation. I have nothing but admiration for them.

This!!! As a teacher I'm tired of having to defend myself as though I were single handedly responsible for this virus and our kids lack of education

I bet you are. Teachers are doing a fantastic job, they need a bloody pay rise!

The government, to be listened to, not just the forgotten group in the corner. I don’t blame teachers, I have nothing but praise for my daughters school, I blame the government for being wishy washy on the guide lines. I blame the media for all the scare stories about children.

There are still many hysterical parents who are not prepared to risk sending their children back to school

So open schools to those who want it

Yes! More room for everyone else. They keep saying there’s not enough room. Well if 50% don’t want to send back then it will be possible to get others in.

Schools need to get this information and ask parents.

The thing is, when our school sent the survey out to Reception, year 1 and year 6 parents, only 56% said they’d send their children back. Actual numbers? 96%. People get FOMO.

* There are still many hysterical parents who are not prepared to risk sending their children back to school*

Yes, let them get more hysterical with home schooling and anxiety.

Meanwhile others do send their children back and get to start working again properly and watch their children love being back at school.

* People get FOMO.*

Exactly
Those parents who don’t want to atm will see happy children skipping off the school and they will start to think “shit”

As a primary school, we are planning for ‘normal’ reopening in September but working with bubbles of 30 rather than 15.

This might be wishful thinking!

@Drivingdownthe101 exactly same here. Parents who pulled children out a week or 2 before lockdown now saying they are keyworkers and children need to be back in.

One Mum sent a long message on the class whats app groups about how her child would not be in. They lasted a week before he was back in, but apparently she’s keeping the situation under review.

People get FOMO
They do.
When key worker provision was announced there were dozens of threads on here about people trying to justify they could be kind of considered key workers because it wouldn't be fair for the children of health staff and emergency services to get a head start/extra tutoring/additional time with their teachers.
Then when it came out that key worker provision was just supervision, people suddenly decided their DC was better at home.

Waiting to hear if Ds (Y10, ASD, SEN) can go back next week or not.
The week before Schools 'shut to most' he was sent home as he was displaying quite severe seizure like activity. I was told that School could not keep him safe and to see my GP who was reluctant to refer him as he believes it's 'just anxiety'. Ds Psychiatrist intervened (he has one as still on sleep meds, so needs one to prescribe as under 16) and said he thought not and more specialist assessment needed. I had a letter from one of the nearest big-city hospitals yesterday to say GP had referred to wrong place so referral would start from scratch.
During lockdown his 'episodes' have basically stopped so it is clear to me that they are mostly due to the stress of his SN/SEN not being supported and the appalling bullying. During lockdown he has had NO differentiated work sent home, no format to hand in work / get it assessed, no calls home (except for one) emails unanswered and refusal to allow me to collect his work books.

School now 'not sure' if they can keep him safe given SD and 'was I happy to let him go in?'. I asked what sort of hours they were talking about (as rural, I'd have to drive him, and have a younger child too, so, eg once a week for a morning is fine, every day is not practical right now) and they 'don't know yet' when they are supposed to be back next week! Also 'don't know' if he can see his usual teachers, what he'd be doing, where his books are.
It's a buggers muddle alright!