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?

An extra 12 grand a year buys a helluva lot more 'can-do'.

The 'can-do' attitude is what they use their fairly ugly playground for - marching bands, outside caterers...

Being able to immediately exclude anti social behaviour helps.

@ohthegoats you clearly have no idea about the constraints on indie schools - this is just a fantasy propagated by (some) embittered state school teachers -don't believe all their rants.

No I don't. This is what my friend at big posh secondary independent says, so I take her word for it.

I do.

My DH teaches at one.

We also have a tradition at my school of taking their cast offs...

@clavinova
cutting photocopying budgets....what then?

Photocopying budgets have probably been underused over the past three months in many schools.
We have spent a fortune on stamps, paper and printing hard copies for our children who don't have home devices suitable for online learning. Oh ... and actually schools have not been closed!

looking at making support staff redundant

Many are 'redundant' now - at home.
Are you suggesting that in September when everyone is back, children with one to one support will no longer be able to have it because the support staff are redundant? Or don't you want us to take more than a few children, because the few remaining support staff (that schools are lucky enough to have) will be responsible for running a bubble - as ours are now doing? Or would you prefer those children to go to a special school? Because here's the truth - there aren't many left.

Outside eating won't work in inclement weather.

Obviously not, but hopefully we won't have many inclement days in September and October.
Hopefully we won't have a covid outbreak. Hopefully the infants can carry their plates of food outside and eat from them on the playground as we certainly don't have enough outdoor seating for eating and can't afford to buy anymore. Hopefully too many parents won't complain because their child was cold at lunchtime when they were made to eat outside, because the parent forgot to send them with a coat.

This must be one of the most impractical replies I've read yet and there have been so many! I actually can't decide whether to laugh or cry. Or were you trying to be ironic?

Clavinova

he obviously has a 'can-do' attitude

Yup nothing to do with the large amounts of money that he has at his disposal.

Just a "can do" attitude.

FFS

Carlottacoffee

And I have seen threads on here where teachers have been told not to co operate.

Are you going to elaborate or just go with less than half a story?

Do you know what irks me? The desperation of so many parents to get kids back to school, regardless of health or economic context. Kids are no more nor less able to carry a virus than an adult and once it hits a school, it runs through that school! So staff have an absolute right to demand best viral barrier control going .... and many schools won't have the room to manage proper protocol. This is a societal issue as well as economic and parents should be backing teachers to the hilt. Our children, our responsibility, school is not a crèche nor baby sitting service on demand! Demand the best provision for staff and kids, that's what we pay taxes for. 👍

Ashard20
Hopefully the infants can carry their plates of food outside.
Hopefully too many parents won't complain because their child was cold at lunchtime when they were made to eat outside, because the parent forgot to send them with a coat.

I don't expect infants to carry their plates of hot food outside! I was replying to a post about senior schools;

"If bubbles have to eat at different times that means at an 11-18 school lunch would be spread across 3 and a half hours! (Assuming 20 minutes to wolf lunch down and 10 minutes clean in between)"

Lots of independent senior schools arrange 'street food' days for the occasional lunch time treat (hot food served outside - often healthy options) or more regularly for parents and pupils at sports matches. Admittedly the food is less healthy at sports matches (burgers and bacon rolls) but it doesn't have to be.Teenagers can eat lunch outside standing up, one or two days a week on a rota - weather permitting.

The independent school head also suggested extending the school day;

"If we create a longer teaching day then we can fit the standard timetable into four rather than five days and maybe each year group could be at home one day a week, with some extra online and independent learning," he said."That would take some of the pressure off of social distancing on campus.”

@noblegiraffe

Er closed the the vast majority of children they have

Omg what an amazing point. Except you can’t say you’re not going to do floor markings and signs because only 3 year groups plus keyworkers plus vulnerable kids will see them.

Yeah I’m still going with schools have been closed to the vast majority of children because it’s true regardless if you’ve been busy putting sticky tape on the floor.

But Carlotta that’s completely irrelevant to the point under discussion.

Longer school days would be terrible for learning. They're knackered as it is after 5/6 lessons (depending on length). Lots of people forget that learning new information is tiring work. As teenagers they're also dragged out of bed far earlier than their brains demand.

The first thing I do when I get my new timetable is look at who I have period 5 everyday, as it's the toughest period to teach in terms of behaviour and getting them to actually learn something.

The first thing I do when I get my new timetable is look at who I have period 5 everyday, as it's the toughest period to teach in terms of behaviour and getting them to actually learn something

Yep. I currently have (or did, until Covid) a Y 7 LAP/behaviour group last period on a Friday. I’ve had to write a scheme of work specifically for that session and squish the work they are “meant” to do into the other 3 periods I see them.

Carlotta as well as spending the photocopying budget and more copying packs of materials for families who don't have access to online learning at home, schools have also had to purchase stationary and equipment so that each child has their own.

That's a lot of pencils, pens, rulers, footballs.

I'm not sure that the government has allocated ANY extra funds to support schools with the basics, let alone to hire additional teachers, although I did read something about all schools being given a few hundred ££ for cleaning materials so I may be wrong.

But yes, as noblegiraffe says, another £12K per pupil per year would give state schools access to resources and facilities that they can only dream about.

Just found this. Children don’t spread it though..,

apple.news/AOp_uyJO2SKiC-dzbajHweQ

You only get the ££ for extra cleaning materials if you have an outbreak. Honestly, you couldn't make it up.

And this.,...

schoolsweek.co.uk/suspected-covid-19-outbreaks-in-schools-almost-doubles/

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

My 15 year old child is 6feet tall with size 12 feet. Do you really think he is a child for virus spreading purposes? Would you be happy to be in a room with him whilst infected with COVID for 6 hours a day?,

No, l think secondary school in this context are thought to spread it more like adults, which is why secondaries are still not really open.

Not sure why you’re having a go at me🤷🏼‍♀️I teach secondary kids for a living

If the bubble is the whole year in secondaries, will they ever be at school? My kids are at a 8 form entry school (240 kids). With all the classroom swapping, isolating one year group if there's an outbreak doesn't solve the problem. One classroom could be used by up to 6 different classes a day and if that spans every year (y7,8,9,10,11) you could end up with empty schools.

At my friends' daughters school they are going to 'stream' Years 7 8and 9 instead of set if they have to have bubbles so like the old days when you were streamed across all subjects instead of being individually set. She is Year 9 so have not heard what the plan is for KS4.
Hopefully social distancing will be abandoned by then at least got schools.