WTAF schools...

[SoberCurious]

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

[RaspberryIsMyJam]

@Sedlescombe

Tony Prestedge says otherwise. He’s the COO and says It’s being rolled out and will be fully operational September October time ((his estimate)

Are you saying I'm imagining my job then?

[Jkslays]

@SarahMused

If this happens private schools are going to gain a lot of pupils. People that are unable to afford the fees will have to get together and informally school their friends children in a rota system of some kind so they can work. Pupils would be safer and better off in non socially distanced schools than what will happen if they don’t open fully in September. The consequences of being the only European country in this situation have not been thought through at all. Personally, I would consider all options including emigrating or using British schools abroad if this happened.

My Dds are in private school and they are strictly adhering to government guidelines which has pissed me off tbh as there is only ten per class so they all could have gone back.

It was pretty much touch and go if they would open to the three years as a questionnaire was sent out asking parents would they send their kids in and it was basically 50/50!

Bloody nightmare. I’m hoping that our school will be at 100% capacity by September as parents won’t keep paying fees for keeping their kids at home

[SaharaSarah]

I am so fucked off about this.
Dp and I work ft have 2 under tens and have to cut massive corners both in parenting our kids and for work.

I am angry and fed up.

Children need to be back at school. The situation has become ridiculous.

Other countries have managed much better in terms of managing the virus and getting children back to learning at school.

I am a conscientious person, mother and employee and I just feel like bloody crying about it all.

Bring the kids back to school stupid government!

[Sedlescombe]

No I am saying it’s being rolled out. Were you on the webinar? Just because your working doesn’t mean it is working in full

[sleepydragons]

@FrippEnos

My friends, BiL's Cousin's, boy friend's, mother's brother says that he is his own grandpa.

In other news, I'm my daughter's mother - or so I'm told.

[pennylane83]

The UK has reached 602 deaths per million.
NZ has had 4 deaths per million.
Of course the situation is not the same.

Your right, our situations are different, it doesn't mean we are never going to come through this and that the way we live our lives will be changed forever.

[OldLace]

'Track and trace is up and running right now'

I don't know if it's working very well yet though?

[RaspberryIsMyJam]

@Sedlescombe

No I am saying it’s being rolled out. Were you on the webinar? Just because your working doesn’t mean it is working in full

You said it was just testing and this isn't true at all. Don't post fake news as lots of people will believe it

[Drivingdownthe101]

So many other countries are close to getting back to normal. Even Italy. So why would we be the one country still hiding in our houses and children still not in school for the next 2 years? It makes so sense.

[RaspberryIsMyJam]

@OldLace

'Track and trace is up and running right now'

I don't know if it's working very well yet though?

Working fine

[Sonotech]

What the fuck are working parents going to do? Is this really going to be the year thousands of women had to give their jobs up?

[ComDummings]

My DD is staring reception in September and my DS will be going into yr2. If staffing is an issue I’d be more than willing to volunteer in their school during school hours. I’m a SAHM, I have a degree, I’m not a teacher but I’m willing to help out in some way so more children can access education. I know phonics back to front so I could at least do reading, some cleaning even? Helping at lunch time. This whole thing is a mess.

[ravenmum]

The countries that have managed to get the most children back into school are the ones that started to deal with Corona at a very early stage, so had fewer cases, less frightened parents and teachers and are thus able to get children back in faster. I'm afraid that the UK would have to go back in time and deal with Corona earlier if it wanted to be in the same position as the countries where lots of children are going back.

[MarshaBradyo]

It is so depressing to be one of the last countries to sort out schooling.

Starmer was right today when he said it was a shambles. Bloody Johnson.

[Sedlescombe]

You said it was just testing and this isn't true at all. Don't post fake news as lots of people will believe it

I said it wouldn't be fully operational and it wont. What I said was factually correct. Are you being encouraged to lie about the scheme?

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/04/nhs-track-and-trace-system-not-expected-to-be-operating-fully-until-september-coronavirus

[Drivingdownthe101]

@ravenmum

The countries that have managed to get the most children back into school are the ones that started to deal with Corona at a very early stage, so had fewer cases, less frightened parents and teachers and are thus able to get children back in faster. I'm afraid that the UK would have to go back in time and deal with Corona earlier if it wanted to be in the same position as the countries where lots of children are going back.

I’m not saying that we can do it on exactly the same timescales as other countries (although our school is managing it pretty well). People upthread are saying we aren’t going to go back to anything like normal ‘for years’. Can you see a world in which everyone else is back to normal and we’re still stuck as we are now for 1-2 years? Do you think the government would allow it? It won’t happen.

[TooManyDaves250]

Senior commissioner for Education at a Local Authority here... we literally have no more of a clue than you and are taking it briefing by briefing! This is complete speculation

[ravenmum]

It's also due to the summer holidays, though, isn't it? Even if the UK opened school in 2 weeks' time, who wants to send their children back for 2 weeks? So a relatively short delay of (say) 1 month compared to other countries would mean that children didn't start until September.

[ravenmum]

I don't see people saying that it will take years? Just people saying that it won't?

[Drivingdownthe101]

Well mine are back (Yr R and 1) but yes I’d send them for 2 weeks. Why not? Any time in school before the summer holidays would be a bonus for me.
Besides which, people here are talking about it not being back to normal for years. That’s what I’m objecting to.

[FlamingoAndJohn]

I’m just going to remind everyone of all the threads before where people swore black and blue that they knew someone who was a head/teacher/government staff who said that the schools wouldn’t be back at all before September.
I’ll also remind everyone that the teachers found out about the schools closing and the recent opening at the same time as everyone else.

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

This is designed to wind up parents even further!

[Blackbear19]

How many SAHP are there who don't have preschool children / elderly parents who need looking after / or some other responsibilities animals, charity work etc.

I don't know of any SAHP who don't have other responsibilities.

But yes some serious looks need to be made a education and the class sizes. And teacher retention rates.

[SoberCurious]

Just sharing what I have been told. By three different people now. One from DfE, another is a teacher & one high up in a London council. 🤷‍♀️

[pennylane83]

build nightingale hospitals in 2 weeks

The government didn't build hospitals in 2 weeks, they repurposed the space inside fully functioning buildings that were not currently being used so that they could serve an alternative purpose on a temporary basis. There are currently 32,770 schools in the country, all of which are too small to accommodate double the number of classes made of less pupils. You honestly expect the government to fund and build 32,770 new schools in 10 weeks?? Or do you think the sensible approach would be to work with what we have, bring back the children into their current school in a phased approach whereby with each easing of lockdown measures and the potential reduction in social distancing over the next 2/3 months, more and more children could return until, hey presto, all children are back full time.