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

How big do they think classrooms are? 2m from the teacher at the front and what about 1 or 2 TAs?

I thought that you needed a mobile for track and trace?

Doesn't sound too bad. Secondary pupils need to be back.

I wouldn't get too het up about this tbh.

They changed the school guidance 42 times in 2 weeks just imagine how often then can change this before September

Where do the catch-up tutors fit in?

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

How is this going to work for recently deshielded pupils, who need 2m (or masks) ?

Will private schools be dropping subjects too I wonder, does this apply to them too?

The current infection rate is about 1 in 2,000. By September it should be a lot lower.

Really? What’s going to make it lower? A summer of international travel, pubs and parties?

The school I know (primary) has round tables or square tables all children couldn’t face the same way. Classrooms are small and in desperate need of updating, initially built for classes of 20 now class size is 30-32.

Will private schools be dropping subjects too I wonder, does this apply to them too?

Nope @Orangeblossom78 because they’ve been teaching live lessons the whole time and have very little catchup to do.

I wonder if they will be upping capacity on buses to accommodate this too?

Currently the limits here are 10 passengers on a single decker and 20 on a double decker. During term time the buses were rammed at normal capacity with school kids. They'd have to run goodness knows how many extra buses to cope with demand if they stick to 10 and 20.

Does it say anything about wrap around care for primaries? Without it I can’t do my job (I’m a teacher) and I’m guessing there are many others who won’t be able to either

@Xiaoxiong I reckon you have hit the nail on the head!

@ShinyFootball

I thought that you needed a mobile for track and trace?

They've abandoned track and trace. We now have test and trace - it's all done manually with people having to identify and remember anyone they've been in contact with.

I do think it is overly optimistic to think we won't have more cases coming once lockdown eases, I haven't heard any scientist or doctor say they expect it to just dwindle away.

I'm concerned they may drop Triple Science and just offer the combined, and I suspect DS will find his photography and woodwork GCSES dropped too. Not sure what will happen with history/geography either.

So many implications for A levelchoices going forward

Mine has just found out that boarders get their own room, with their own ensuite. It's a small school though so social distancing won't cause a problem, apparently.
She's currently shopping online for new stuff for her room.

If wraparound care at schools is open, is there any point in having bubbles?

Stupid set of guidance. Its half arsed and contradictory in so many places.

Not sure what's worse, the guidance or the responses on here suggesting its good/sensible.

Just get everybody in the country back to normal. I can go abroad on holiday, have a drink in the pub when I get back and teach all like we used to.

''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''

This is the concerning bit. If a child has a cough/cold - which will happen at that time of year. By the time the child has got a test result, the rest of the class would have been spreading it if any had caught it.

Plus, I don't drive. So I wouldn't be able to get a 'same day test'. Meaning I'd need to request a postal one for my DC - so any children who may have caught it will be spreading it for even longer.

My DD is just going into year 10. She will be spitting blood if she's meant to put the start of all her GCSE courses on hold so she can concentrate on English and Maths. She's worked a full timetable with homework all the way through lockdown.

In fact we received a letter from school only today saying that the majoirty pupils were beyond their normal academic achievement for the end of the year as :

a) After half term they'd moved everyone up a year group working on new timetables, new subjects etc.
b) the last half of the summer term is usually pretty relaxed anyway and this year it wasn't as htey'd just carried on with distance learning.

If DD is held back because schools that couldn't be bothered to set work for their pupils or teachers who couldn't be bothered to teach (luckily I think a small unprofessional minority) or pupils who just couldn't be bothered to do the work set I will be fuming.

Its a private school so hopefully they'll have more sense than to bow to those ridiculous plans but if this is true its going to affect thousands upon thousands of ambitious, dedicated hardworking teenagers.

Why on earth should year 11s be expected to give up GCSE courses to do the basics? It defies belief.

I'm glad it says some pupils... but how do they decide which pupils? What on earth will the criteria be? What about all the staff in sciences, languages, arts subjects, humanities.. will they all be redeployed to teaching Shakespeare, Steinbeck, geometry and artithmatic.

It'll be the same as the overseas travellers quarantine rules - come into the U.K. Make your way to your destination on public transport and THEN quarantine for 14 days.

Actually, that will be - come to the UK from a country which will 99% be certain to have a far, far lower infection rate than the UK if you have a death wish. Then quarantine for 14 days to keep the British racist xenophobes happy.

What happens with schools that have more than 240 in the year? Two bubbles? Sounds a timetabling nightmare.

Am appalled at the thought of dropping everything except core. There's more to life and learning than English, Maths and Science.

If social distancing is still the norm outside school then it has to apply on school. Why would anyone think it doesn't?

Teachers should be allowed to wear masks just like everyone else. Older children should wear masks.

School staff have the same rights to be as safe as possible as all other workers. If schools have to be part time so be it.

I really hope the unions are on the ball with this.

Hoping this will be the case for Wales too. The risk to children's (and parents') mental and emotional health is a much, much bigger problem.

Children are not super-spreaders. The chance of a person under age 50 dying of CV19 is very, very low. Under age 15, it's vanishingly small. It's a reasonably dangerous virus for older people who are already vulnerable to poor health.

We cannot continue to have children out of school. I have so much more respect for teachers - our children need their expertise.

It's utterly baffling to think that from next week, some people could come back from the Costa Del Wherever and start the whole thing off again.