When kids go back in September, should schools stay open till 4pm

[Lardlizard]

To allow kids to catch up and allow workers to catch up on work

It depends-if it’s an after school type thing staffed either by volunteers or staff who are paid extra and given the choice, then yes fine. In every school I’ve worked at there are options for the students to stay behind for hours if they wish. However as others have said if it’s forcing the teachers to do more hours then we will very quickly see the staffing crisis in education become unmanageable. Many teachers are leaving the profession or going abroad because of insane workloads and this would exacerbate the situation. Add to this forcing some students to stay for longer is going to increase behavioural issues and increase stress for everyone.

No way!

[quote TiptoeStar]@Lockdownseperation oh dear, 115 teaching hours a week between you and you still can’t spell (unless it’s meant to be ironic)[/quote]
I didn’t say I was a teacher. I’m an ex teacher and after anrough night with a teething baby I did not check my post. I still stand by not wanting my own child to be taught by exhausted teachers. I would much rather she had fewer hours of good quality learning than longer in school doing activities which fill the time.

As a parent who's concerned about the return, I do think that this seems the way to go tbh if they return.
Even more appropriate if we were to end up with part-time teaching.

if there’s a need for children to catch up then a lot of teachers haven’t been doing their hours during closures

or children don't have access/have limited access to the tech they need to access it and/or are looking after younger siblings and/or don't have an appropriate workspace and/or don't have sufficient support at home to enable them to self teach and successfully complete the work.

My DD is not behind, because she doesn't have any of the issues above. She is very aware that this is not the case for other students in her year group (i.e. ones who will have had the same work as her) - the school has done as much as it can to support disadvantaged children, but there is only so much they can do.

And, as usual, it's not just about children 'catching up' ( which they don't ALL need to do btw) but an hour of free childcare.

I don't get why people don't like looking after their own children! Very few posters talk about the impact solely on the child.... lots of ' I've had enough, I need to work, I'm not a teacher' - they just want childcare!

@Lockdownseperation ah ok, it came across as though you did as you were very specific. I think like any job peoples hours fluctuate wildly so it’s not helpful to try to generalise outliers to wider debates. Spelling mistake is in your username not your post!

My DC's school ordinarily runs drop in support sessions after school for an hour. I guess these could be used for catch-up instead - but no idea how this would work with "bubbles". Not that anyone knows how bubbles will work in secondary schools anyway.

No!

No.

Actually I’ll qualify that... primary definitely not. Secondaries potentially.

I don't think you can just it like that. My mum for example, is a TA. Has worked notnal hours throughout for keyworker children, including easter hols. So she's earnt her wages, certainly. She finishes school at 3.30 and starts her evening cleaning job at 5. It's tight enough as it is. Or the teacher who has their own children to pick up from nursery? (I'm all for kids being back normally full time btw, just pointing out if your boss asked you to stay an extra hour at the end of the day for the forseeable, would you?)

Yes great idea.

My private prep runs 8.30 till 4.30 and private secondary is 8.20 till 5.30.

Both children cope, lots of work covered.

I think it is a specific way of teaching though and private teachers go into that job knowing what they will be expected to do. Most of the prep teachers take turns running clubs each evening till 6pm too.

No, I don't think this would be a good idea.

I’d be ok with longer holidays and longer school day. Give the kids and teachers a longer break. Govt needs to assist with affordable holiday clubs for parents too though as so many have to work through the holidays. The longer day wouldn’t be for childcare purposes it would be catch up time academically. Maybe an earlier start would be better than later then if kids learn better early morning.

[quote TiptoeStar]@Lockdownseperation ah ok, it came across as though you did as you were very specific. I think like any job peoples hours fluctuate wildly so it’s not helpful to try to generalise outliers to wider debates. Spelling mistake is in your username not your post![/quote]
Those hours are averages. Some teachers will be working less but some will be working more. This is one of the main reasons we have a crisis with the number of teachers in this country.

Yes but to allow for staggered starts and end times (so some kids 10-4, some 9-3, some 9.30-330 etc)

Will the teachers be paid for these additional contracted hours? If so who is going to pay them? Schools are having to let staff go as they can’t afford them in their budget, so they certainly couldn’t afford to pay for additional hours. Most teachers already do many additional hours that they are not paid for.

What happens to after school clubs? Do they stop for a year? Or are teachers then expected to stay on for another hour to run them too?

Yes if it’s to help them specifically with the focus on catch up and homework.

No if it’s additional lessons. They are going to be overwhelmed as it is

If I finish teaching at 4pm, then I might be leaving school at 5pm on a good day. It takes me 45 minutes to get my my child’s primary school, where wrap around care finishes at 5:30pm. I would need that to stay open until 6pm, or even 6:30pm to give me safety net in case of traffic, meetings, or other issues.

Which would,mean paying for 2.5 more hours of care a day, 12.5 hours a week, which means it’s even less worth me working, so I’d leave and you child would have no teacher.

Not to mention the fact I really don’t think my just turned 4 year old would cope in school/care from 7:30 - 6:30 every day.

@Lockdownseperation Representative source please, not SM poll. I was a teacher for nearly 10 years and those numbers don’t reflect my experience.

I don’t know it would allow much more learning.

Not primary, especially the youger ones. It may be helpful for y4-6. but no homework to finish once home.
I think with secondary it's durable...

It takes my dc an hour and a quarter to get to and from school. If school were to finish at 4pm this would have a knock on effect to dcs after school activities. If school was extended until 4pm (currently 3pm) homework should be scrapped. Important to remember a child needs a well rounded experience and activities they’re interested in outside of school are important for well balanced mental health

The main reason that state school education is of such varying quality is the difficulties head's have in finding and retaining teachers. Anything that makes teaching even harder, then (like your proposal) will make this situation worse.

I've got a feeling that the impact of coronavirus on the education system of this country, is going to be profound and lasting. But, I don't think that it will be as people expect. I predict we will see an increase in the growth of private schools. Specifically, the "budget" model currently being trialled. Once the fees are comparable to the monthly lease on a high end car, I think a lot of middle class parents will vote with their feet.