Huffpost - leak on School Guidance

[PatriciaHolm]

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/school-reopening-whole-year-bubbles-full-guidance-covid_uk_5ef9dd4ac5b6ca97091288e4?oo9&guccounter=1

Full document due this week, but some "highlights"...(I use the word advisedly)

• secondary bubbles of up to 240 children (essentially a year group) -No in-class social distancing requirement for primary pupils, with secondary pupils advised to stay 1m apart but not at all times -Teachers advised to keep 2m away from pupils, at the front of the class, and away from colleagues as much as possible as if in a supermarket

• Compulsory engagement with the NHS Test and Trace system, with whole classes or year groups liable to be sent home if a pupil tests positive, but whole school closure not seen as generally necessary

-No face coverings for pupils or teachers, on Public Health England advice, as they “interfere” with teaching and learning -Children seated facing forwards in same direction and not at circular tables, with pupils wearing normal uniform and washing hands throughout the day -Teachers advised to spend no more than 15 minutes at any one time closer than 1m to anyone - Fines of up to £120 for parents whose children fail to attend school. In contrast with the “softly softly” approach taken during full lockdown the message will be “education is not optional”

• Heads told not to put in any staff rota or physical distancing that would require extra space or make it impossible for all pupils to return full-time.

- Contingency plans for some or all of the school being put in local lockdown and any temporary return to “remote” teaching needing to be of a high quality -Some subjects for some or all pupils may have to be suspended for two terms to allow catch-up on core subjects such as English and maths, with a full spread of subjects returning in the summer term of of 2021 -Some pupils may have to drop some GSCEs altogether in Year 11 to allow them to catch up and achieve better grades in English and maths. GCSEs and A-levels to take place as planned next summer but with some “adaptations” - First year pupils at secondary school may have to be re-taught English and maths from their final year syllabus at primary level

So the government can’t work it out, so basically back to normal. Let’s hope they have got it right.

I think this ignores TAs, for year 10 we currently don't have TAs in as there isn't enough room. It ignores special schools. I'm not sure how the 1m distancing will happen without kitting every class out with exam desks. I wonder if the whole school day will have to be staggered to allow lunch service and buses to transport kids. Getting kids to and from school is going to be difficult.

@Reastie yes, sounds like it. Imagine that come autumn/winter, even with the current bubbles of 15. Nobody would ever be in!

So many things to get our heads around.

Staggered breaks and lunches with areas cleaned between year groups will take all day?

Would a whole class drop a subject? As if it’s just some where do they go. Or do I have half my class doing my subject and the other half doing their own thing for other subjects?

Where is the focus on emotional and mental health. We need time with the kids to help them process what has happened. This is important.

What happens to the children that won’t come in at the moment (their own health issues or family health issues) they certainly won’t want to in sept. Where is the duty of care to them?

As a teacher I’m not going to worry too much about this leaked guidance - there’s a lot of time for things to change before sept. I just hope we can get kids back safely and keep them safe.

Sweden also ahs much larger classrooms and grounds and smaller class sizes. Older students not going back til after the summer.

Those lunch areas being bleached constantly will be a joy for the asthmatics...

@Piggywaspushed

Those lunch areas being bleached constantly will be a joy for the asthmatics...

Shit. I hadn't thought of that, it'll mean my DS can't go in the lunch hall.

I wonder if schools will be given extra money for the cost for the extra cleaning.

Haven’t been given any additional funding for cleaning so far

@TuckMyWin let's hope so! I think the majority of people are a lot more cautious now, considering how many children are being kept at home.

Looks like guidance at the start of march = wash hands as often as possible!

Even now with 20 keyworker kids in secondary they break SD guidelines as soon as you turn your back. With everyone in it may as well be abandoned.

Bubbles of anywhere from 150 to 240 kids. Teachers isolating at front. Not sure how workable that is. If a fight breaks out do we put on ppe before or after? guess it is 1m plus except if you are a teacher or ta...... when it is realistically

@Reastie schools were told last week they can only claim extra money for cleaning if they've had an outbreak. Everything else has to be absorbed in normal budgets. Our local primary has teachers cleaning because they don't have cleaners on site during the day.

Maybe they are going to build portakabins on the school field to create more classrooms. And grow teachers from planted beans over the summer to staff them.

So the guidance is for extra cleaning but no extra money to do it. How’s that going to work?! Schools are already overstretched hugely financially. So teachers will probably end out cleaning desks etc in between classes. I’m guessing areas like the loos won’t get any extra cleans during the day.

Have any other countries started back in full classes with no sort of PPA?

What school fields?
The government sold most of them off!

Plus lots of schools don't have any fields.
We already have two cabins in our already too small for the numbers concrete, on a slope, yard.

@Appuskidu

Have any other countries started back in full classes with no sort of PPA?

France, I think, last week?

@Appuskidu Australian schools have gone back, there does seem to be a rise in cases but I don’t know if that’s due to schools going back.

No extra cleaners in our school as it only has one cleaner at the end of the day. We are just trying to clean as we go.

Yep it’s back to what we had at the beginning wash your hands and hope for the best.

Australia has a very low incidence of community transmission and infection. France is the one to watch....in theory, but they break up this week!

Haven't read the full thread but I'm wondering if a year group of 240 is the max bubble size?

DS's high school has 280 in each year group. Would be an absolute pain (and probably be unworkable due to space) to have 2 bubbles per year group.

Hang in a minute. How will different start and finish times work with the school buses?
Dd1's year has 300+ pupils too and at the moment can only accommodate 25% of one year group plus the key worker and vulnerable children. It's a school of something like 1500.
I just don't see how it can work.

I have just read the BBC article. I think 240 is a media guess. I think they are doing 40 x 8 as I bet 8FE is average.

I reckon larger schools will have larger bubbles, so called.

In Switzerland we've had schools for under 16's back in half classes since 11th May and full classes since June 8th. Over 16's have been back in half classes since June 8th. There is no evidence that Covid is spreading in schools here.

There are no masks (although these are strongly recommended on crowded public transport) and there are fines for non attendance. The rules are really strict on staying home and getting a test even if a child/teacher just has a mild cold. For close contact with teachers there is a plexiglass screen on the teacher's desk, like in a shop.

However infections have risen in the last week and this has been traced back to opening the borders and allowing nightclubs to open to up to 300 people.

So we might end up back in lockdown with school closures if cases continue to rise, but the cause of the spike in cases isn't the schools.

Matt Hancock saying significant numbers of children being affected In outbreaks in Leicester hence schools all closing down again in their local lockdown.