Are the unions going to kick off about back to school in September?

[Flippetydip]

Is there going to be a big hoo ha from the unions about the "everyone back to school at full capacity" announcement from the PM today?

Any teachers on here care to give a view?

I know many outbreaks are not being openly publicised. A recent outbreak in our local primary has been kept very quiet. Not sure why, I’m sure people expect outbreaks to occur.

@kittyMcKitty - I think most teachers were expecting yr10/12 to be prioritised in Govt plans about wider re-opening of schools and so were a little about where the focus was revealed to be...

I have a DD in yr12 - I'd like clarification at the earliest possibility about how A-levels will be examined this year. I don't think its fair on teachers to say in March 2021 - we're switching to teacher assessments. It wasn't great for 2020 but I could understand it. I'd rather the exam boards/ofqual/govt/ said in September 2020 - this is how we intend to measure our yr13's (and yr11s) because we just don't know how the next few months will pan out - so we're trying to put in place some stability.

At my school we have not thrown our Y12s under the bus! We are teaching them to the very best of our ability.

It’s not the same as being in school with them, of course, and I really do feel for them. We’ll do everything we can to help them and I can’t believe that those who are making an effort now and next year will be seriously disadvantaged when it comes to exams and university places.

My children’s generation are going to spend most of their working lives paying off the debt the country has incurred

No they won't, though it won't stop the rancid Tories from saying it and continuing the austerity measures, also not needed, in order to keep the populace at each other's throats.

Ignore the Australian context in terms of dollars, look at the general principles:

www.tai.org.au/content/fear-over-government-debt-misplaced

Though the context of Brexit adds a layer of fuckedness for the UK.

nobel thank you for your reply - I am sure you’ve been doing an excellent job as to be fair have my sons teachers. But it’s not the same and things like the Geography NEA (30% of a level) which should have been done in March - compulsory fieldwork- have been pushed to maybe October.

My son has had live lessons etc etc and their school is trialing blended learning next week with year 10.

Do you genuinely feel that these young people have any hope in achieving their potential. He’s trying so hard but the feeling of disconnect is huge

HipTight I haven’t said teachers have thrown year 12 under a bus! I do believe they have been though by the government and now just loads of arguing about why things can’t happen.

I don’t get why primary is a priority - yes I get it’s easier but that doesn’t make it a priority- in many countries these children wouldn’t even have started school yet!

In real terms if you could only have one year group in school it should be year 12. She many young people are putting on a brave face but they have had everything they were working towards taken from them.

Y10 is as important as y12 imo. Remember many y10s won't go onto A-levels so need GCSE grades for employment, apprenticeships etc

I don’t get why primary is a priority

Childcare so that parents can go back to work.

Do you genuinely feel that these young people have any hope in achieving their potential.

If their potential was uni then yes, as unis need bums on seats and will make this happen.

Apprenticeships and employment will be trickier.

I have a year 10 as well as a year 12 and whilst they are important I don’t think their situation is as critical as year 12’s. Year 10’s will have to be in some type of education for 2 more years so there is time to get back on track. The year 12’s are in a much more urgent situation.

*If their potential was uni then yes, as unis need bums on seats and will make this happen.

Apprenticeships and employment will be trickier*

Which is truly tragic and so upsetting that this is just being glossed over rather then all parties working out how to save these young people’s future.

and even my bold won’t work!

Flowery biscuit is a Jammie dodger I think. You must have had them OP? You have missed out if not.

@KittyMcKitty the reason that primary is a priority, and the younger ones especially is because early intervention has the biggest outcome for vulnerable children.

School is also more than just about education, it's a safety net for kids at risk of real harm.

For every teacher on here, can you honestly say that all vulnerable children are in school?

Of course not every vulnerable child is in school, nobody would claim they are. What a stupid sweeping statement.
Difference is they never have been...just a shame that some in the MN community have only just realised this.

For every teacher on here, can you honestly say that all vulnerable children are in school?

Name changed for this.

I would say we have quite a few not come in and one mum was quite up front about why. She told the class teacher that they were getting £15 a week Sainsbury’s vouchers to replace the school meals and was told this would be stopping if she returned the children to school as they’d be given a lunch bag each day, so she hasn’t. She has 4 children and could have had them all back, in vulnerable school places. £60 extra a week is a lot of money though.

kitty, my year 12s are honestly OK. The work they have been submitting to me has been really good.Two of the have had the tine to do a university enrichment course, too. The only one I worry about , I worried about all the way through GCSE to be honest. They are actually thriving on the independent learning because they had September to March to get the foundations in place. if this had all happened earlier in the school year , and I had been teaching completely new concepts, then I'd be far more worried.

I do hope Ofqual see sense ,though, and think of a sensible way of addressing matters next summer, as I might struggle to get through al the content now as we have definitely had to slow down a bit.

But I feel worse for the year 13s who are destined to have a very different start to university than is normal and that's sad.

@MoreW1ne but that's one of the arguments used - vulnerable children COULD be in school. But they're not. For all sorts of reasons (like @Fedup21)

And the only people that seem to know anything about them are the NSPCC who have had a big increase in calls to childline. That's from kids who are old enough to phone. Imagine what's happening to the little ones.

I just don't understand why people don't care more about them. The NHS are urging people to get in contact with any issue even though they're exhausted and it will increase their risk again. I just don't see the same in the education sector.

I just don't see the same in the education sector.

And because you don’t personally see it it must not be happening? Pretty fucking insulting to imply teachers don’t care about vulnerable kids when often they’re the only ones who do.

@Helloitsmemargaret
See I have absolutely no idea what the nhs are or are not doing. But I'm not arrogant enough to think they're not doing something just because I'm unaware of it.

Some of the posters on MN clearly have no idea what goes on in schools or the amount of work school staff do to support vulnerable student all year long yet act like teachers have some how let them down because the government have done a rubbish job of organising things.

They then use the vulnerable tag as it now suits them. I wonder if well see the same enthusiasm to support vulnerable children when schools get back to normal. Given the last 10 years I'd guess not. Would be happily wrong though....

It isn’t about primary being a priority.

It’s about secondary schools having a much wider spread of students from large catchment areas who travel on public transport, and change lessons every hour, so constant mixing.

And l do not believe that children don’t spread the disease, BUT, the government acknowledged at some point that secondary can spread the disease like adults.

That’s why primaries opened first.

Teachers have always been at risk of catching viruses.

Yes we have. But we build up immunity after the first 2 or 3 years of teaching. So don’t often succumb, but just like when a toddler starts nursery and are often ill, teachers are often ill more in the first years of teaching.

But no one has immunity to Covid

It’s about secondary schools having a much wider spread of students from large catchment areas who travel on public transport, and change lessons every hour, so constant mixing

Yes of course I understand how secondary schools differ from primary but it doesn’t mean that you just throw your hands up and say it’s just too difficult. The government needs to be putting all its efforts into figuring out how to resolve this problem.

My year 12 is tge only child in their school to take their combination of A levels (for some reason they are a weird anomaly in their year as they are a fairly normal combination) but their right to a good education is exactly the same as every other child.

Yep, they do.

But they aren’t.

And as teachers there is nothing we can do,