Welsh schools - extension to summer term not going ahead!

[LockdownLoppy]

I don't know if it's just my local authority but I have just been informed that the summer term extension has not been agreed between the unions and local authority so the term will end on 17th July. Why make announcements and let schools spend all that time planning how to use the time when it hadn't been agreed!!!!

I'm furious too. Our school have spent weeks planning. For nothing. 🙄

I'm in Neath Port Talbot - where are you?

same here in Caerphilly

I wonder if any areas have agreed to the extension. I'm not too cross about my kids missing one short school session in the last week - they will probably get more schooling done in the first week of November anyway but I am very angry that teachers have had to waste so much time planning for that extra week of term as it is a total waste of their time!

Newport. Yes it's the planning and the working out rotas etc etc.

Monmouthshire too.

Also Wrexham according to BBC Wales.

Anglesey schools not reopening at all due to chicken factory the outbreak.

Not sure what happened there - Outbreak in the chicken factory!

Ours aren't opening for it either, we're a county in the south. A lot of teachers already had holidays booked and even though travel abroad is almost certainly not going to be allowed in a month, UK breaks will be.

The logistics of them opening at all are a joke to be honest. The classrooms look depressing.

Honest to god I though the Welsh gov were better organised than Boris et Al. What an absolute farce. Piss up in a brewery comes to mind. And now no 2 weeks in Oct, where lots of people have gone ahead and booked hols. I know it wasn't set ins tone but KW did say on twitter she'd be pushing for it to be the week before half term.

Not going ahead in Cardiff either. Quelle surprise.

Torfaen are going ahead with it. But then it's only one day a week so I'm not too bothered and DD 7 won't be going back anyway.

Where did you hear that about Cardiff @tempnamechange98765 ? The letter we had from our school today says term runs an extra week.

My kids have only got 3 and 2 days each for the whole time before the hols. None are in the last week, so not sure if Powys are doing last week or not.

Cardiff council have announced schools will close for summer on the 17th of July.

I saw a FB post earlier from my DS's HT. They've spent a long time planning pupils into groups (looking at boy/girl balance, friendship groups, siblings, ability levels etc) and split the whole school into 4 groups. My son was in a lovely group of 5 pupils but now the school has to do all the work all over again. Feel really sorry for the staff there.

🤦🏻‍♀️

Why do schools have to do the work all over again? Don’t the children stay in the same groups and close a week earlier?

We’re on Anglesey, not opening at all here so schools have spent weeks putting things in place and now not opening.

I think the extension to term is cancelled because not every county is opening? Because then children here would miss even more?

I wasn’t actually sending mine back but feel sorry for schools and teachers.

@TheHarryFormerlyKnownAsPrince

Why do schools have to do the work all over again? Don’t the children stay in the same groups and close a week earlier?

We’re on Anglesey, not opening at all here so schools have spent weeks putting things in place and now not opening.

I think the extension to term is cancelled because not every county is opening? Because then children here would miss even more?

I wasn’t actually sending mine back but feel sorry for schools and teachers.

The school had organised the pupils onto a fortnightly rota. It would mean my son would have 2 days in school when half the school had 4 days in school.

Oh I see, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining. It is fairly crap to have to do all that again.

IYes, Wrexham here in North Wales won't be staying open longer either.

It's been a bit rubbish from the start to be honest.

You'll have 3 weeks to prepare, we were told.
Then they announced we were opening in 3 and a half weeks time - but we'll give you the guidelines in another week.
Oh and that's when we'll tell you you are staying open longer.

You can have it back the next term with an additional week in October (not in itself a problem).

But...
Any staff who have holidays booked that they find they are in a position to take can, of course, still take them.
And we won't change contracts to bring this into effect.
Or use our emergency powers to force the extra week.
Or consider that some people won't be a position to get the extra week back if they are moving to another authority or retiring etc.

Probably all quite petty in some people's eyes, but an indication of how they have made a grand plan without communicating it properly.

Sort of how a lot of school headteachers found we were shutting on the Friday on twitter on the Wednesday lunchtime as it wasn't published that the announcement was going to be made and they didn't inform authorities before telling the press.