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

Quote from Matt Hancock re the Leicester lockdown

"Given the growing outbreak in Leicester, we cannot recommend that the easing of the national lockdown set to take place on July 4 happens in Leicester.

Having taken clinical advice on the actions necessary and discussed them with the local team in Leicester and Leicestershire, we have made some difficult but important decisions.

We’ve decided that from tomorrow, non-essential retail will have to close and as children have been particularly impacted by this outbreak, schools will also need to close from Thursday, staying open for vulnerable children and children of critical workers as they did throughout.

Unfortunately, the clinical advice is that the relaxation of shielding measures due on July 6 cannot now take place in Leicester.

*We recommend to people in Leicester, stay at home as much as you can, and we recommend against all but essential travel to, from and within Leicester.

We’ll monitor closely adhering to social distancing rules and we’ll take further steps if that is what’s necessary.

@Piggywaspushed
Switzerland has average class sizes of around 25. Public transport is very rare in primary, except for private schools but quite common in secondary, particularly because there are large regional grammar schools attended by about 20% of pupils.

Schools went back in May with a prevalence of around 7 new cases per million people per day. At its peak it was over 120 new cases per million here - the highest in the world for a time.

UK looks to be down to around 14 new cases per million.

I'd really like to know what "children have been particularly impacted" means.

I just don't understand why teachers safety at work is not considered n the way everyone else's is.
If you work in an office, shop, bus, etc you are encouraged or at least allowed to wear masks, or in some cases have a Perspex screen. Teachers will be in an small,enclosed space with, for secondary teachers, maybe 240 others, no mask and it's unrealistic for most to be able to stay 1m away.
Our classroom (Yr R) will have 32 children in September. There is no sink in the classroom. Round tables. Many of the children can't open their packed lunch or refill water bottles. They still have frequent toileting accidents and can't change themselves. Some can't wipe their own noses.
Children may me be affected by COVID but they still get it and pass it on to adults. There has been an increasing number of school closures due to COVID since more children returned to school.
Children have been particularly affected in the Leicester outbreak so it's just not true to say teachers will he fine as children won't infect them.

@danni0509 that’s interesting.

I am also thinking of the SEN without a 1:1 but who still need the extra support ( my DC falls in this category as do many others). Often with support shared across 1 TA or extra input. Perhaps it would have to be something similar ( although presumably more tricky as actually not just close contact with one child). Guess will all have to be figured out once we have the guidance and seeing where everything is re infection rate come September.

Exactly sunflower. If I am going back to teaching 30 kids in an enclosed indoor space then, as an asthmatic with a diabetic husband, I will be wearing a visor or I won’t go back. Frankly, right now I don’t care if I loose my job.

One of the reasons that non-specialists struggle to teach other subjects (Maths being a great example of this) is that they may understand the subject perfectly, but have no knowledge of common misperceptions and strategies to work round them. I reckon I could teach GCSE maths to a very able pupil who grasped everything first time, but I'd be hopeless with middle or lower ability pupils with gaps in their existing understanding of the curriculum so far.

I doubt that secondary schools have enough regular classrooms to provide base rooms for every year group bubble, leaving specialist rooms out for practical work when needed. So there will be bubbles in science rooms, DT rooms etc. I can't see how practical work could be done under these conditions.

God its exhausting isn't it. I'm really lucky, I'm fit and healthy and I think I've already had covid at the start of lockdown, so from a selfish point of view I'm not worried about going back to teaching, it's not being in that's driving me mad. But I am an SEN specialist and have vulnerable children and adults in my department. I expect that some LSAs will just leave and we are always understaffed as it is. Supermarkets pay better, and if they are also looking after their staff health more actively - I know what I'd do.

I've taught since I graduated, but I've got an exit plan now. I'm exhausted.

@Sawsajis

One of the reasons that non-specialists struggle to teach other subjects (Maths being a great example of this) is that they may understand the subject perfectly, but have no knowledge of common misperceptions and strategies to work round them. I reckon I could teach GCSE maths to a very able pupil who grasped everything first time, but I'd be hopeless with middle or lower ability pupils with gaps in their existing understanding of the curriculum so far.

Totally agree. I’m a languages teacher but I’m fairly confident in maths. Last summer I did a maths cover lesson all about multiplication, clearly very simple maths! However, the way pupils are taught how to do it these days is totally different to how I was taught...I’m not that old at 32! Although I could easily work out the answers using my own method, the kids were really struggling with the more ‘modern’ way and I was at a bit of a loss as to how to talk them through it and I couldn’t show them my way as it undoes everything they’ve been taught!

As it would appear that younger children are less likely to spread it than older ones, and that it would be easier to teach older children (ie secondary school) with masks, why not mandate it for those pupils who can safely wear them in secondary school? I'm not a teacher and know nothing about how a secondary school works but this has been shown to significantly reduce spread and is surely far easier to implement than confusing and restrictive timetables? I know my DS would be happy to wear one (as would I) if it meant he could go to school. He is desperate to go, and I am desperate for him to go. The whole situation is very sad.

The guidelines pretty much stipulate no masks.

Thanks beresh.

How many... "course deviations" has the govt had to do ... honestly I wouldn't trust any blueprints they think they have now to actually happen in September.

I can't work out how kids are meant to move round school. If they want to go from science to art, and another bubble is going from art to science for example. How do you stop the bubbles converging?

If children have been particularly effected by the Leicester outbreak, is that not an indication that they do need to socially distance

@hedgehogger1

If children have been particularly effected by the Leicester outbreak, is that not an indication that they do need to socially distance

Only if they happen to be surrounded by 10% of the entire country's current infections. Schools in areas of the country with low infection rates have not been affected. The point is to keep infection rates low by socially distancing where possible. Which will mean in situations where social distancing is not possible, infection rates will also be low, because the virus does not spontaneously generate out of nowhere.

I'm a non core subject teacher and it mostly looks okay to me apart from the dropping subjects bit. I can't see how that would work for many reasons, apart from in cases where children are very behind and drop one option to get extra support in core. This has been happening for years anyway.

"I can't work out how kids are meant to move round school. If they want to go from science to art, and another bubble is going from art to science for example. How do you stop the bubbles converging?"

Keeping to strict timing for end of lessons, keeping dawdlers moving on and one way systems where possible. Individual children should in theory only pass each other for short periods.

Actually quite the opposite from strict timings, goes the theory. Remove bells. I have been in schools without bells and they are bliss ate lesson change over. None of the Grange Hill surge!

The fact that children have been particularly affected in Leicester needs to be explained really. There is too little real info and that just breeds worry.

I can't work out how kids are meant to move round school. If they want to go from science to art, and another bubble is going from art to science for example. How do you stop the bubbles converging?

I can only imagine that they will do something similar to the approach my yr10's school has taken in that maybe one day a fortnight (probably more for higher years doing exams) their year group is scheduled to be doing practicals in labs for the day so although they might need to move from one lab to another they are only swapping with other classes from the same year group. For example Monday of week 1 is yr 7 lab day - Physics, Chemistry and Biology all day. Then for the other science lessons they do theory and the teachers come to a different room. Similar set up for art/ food tech/ DT / textiles. Would be a logistical nightmare and I already think that politicians don't really understand how massively overcrowded some schools are.

Should really say 'if children have been particularly affected'

This really worries me. How can pupils just return in September with this strategy? It’s essentially business as usual but perhaps dropping a subject or two! How will school buses work?
All we need now is everyone to go away in holiday just in time for a second spike in the autumn and it’ll start all over again.

I don't understand how they can stagger start and finish times when the children all go on the same bus? Plus lots of families will have two or three children in different year groups.