If You Could Choose Any Education Option for Sept

[IDSNeighbour]

I'm getting so confused by what parents actually want to happen with schools right now (I'm not a parent, I'm a teacher). I want to know what home opinions my classes are going to be coming in from in Sept - whether they're likely to be nervous or confident, whether they will want to SD or not, etc.

I know parents aren't one hive mind but the 'loudest voice' seems to keep changing its mind. Or I hear different ones, idk.

I'm sure there used to be a board for polls and surveys but, if I wasn't imagining, I can't find it.

So, if you're up for an unscientific straw poll to help me gauge general feeling, can you post A, B, C, D or E in the thread (you can explain if you like, I don't mind!)
A - I want full time schooling as close to the old normal as is allowed
B - I want full time schooling but with safety measures such as social distancing and masks for all who can and are old enough.
C - I want blended learning (half in the classroom and half online)
D - I want to keep my child at home all the time, home school them and not be penalised (ie, I want my place back when I think it's safe)
E - I think schools should remain closed for most children for now.

@SengaStrawberry But what’s the actual problem there?
Is it that you’re waiting for a place in a “good” school for your children?

If they’re already in a school, then whoever does choose to temporarily keep their children at home, whatever their reason, is making the classroom a little bit more distanced and safer for the ones who want to or have to go.

B, C & D

B - Primary schools, visors for teachers, bubbles, frequent hand washing and/or sanitizer

C - Secondary schools, my DD's school has just under 2000 students, I don't think it will be long before the school has to shut (or bubbles sent home) because of either too many confirmed cases or too many staff having to self isolate (this happened before lockdown) so having blended learning with only a certain amount of students in at any one time seems the best option for staying open over the coming winter (with all the other colds/flu etc that will trigger self-isolating).

D - Available to any clinically vulnerable students or those who live with vulnerable relatives

I have 1 DD at secondary (about to go into year 11), our area is low risk, I have no pressure to get back to work so I could technically home school DD but the last few months have shown me that it is not a suitable option for us so I want school's to go back.

A (Primary School)

B primary school and secondary

A) primary
B) transmission is low but keeps budging up and we’re being warned to be cautious. We’re right next to a lockdown area.
C) work full time self employed and it’d be far more sensible to plan my business around set part time rather than a packed full time that has to keep sending bubbles home and causing me to struggle to meet client demands.

I said b or c but really I want a combo of the two.

@PiataMaiNei

I'd rather planned part time: two cohorts in each class, one in Monday and Tuesday, deep clean on Wednesday, second cohort in Thursday and Friday. Each child then has twice the space: most school building sizes make B impossible.

They did this at my DC primary at the end of last term. It's not ideal and would fuck over lots of working parents, but my thinking is it would make school closures due to outbreaks less likely, and impromptu school closures with no notice are worse than something that some people might be able to plan for.

For the sake of fairness I probably should say that even before this, I would've been at least somewhat interested in the idea of my children being in school for half the time in a half sized class.

It would definitely screw working families - and a lot of of those working parents are the teachers who are needed in full time.

Any version of C will need full time key worker provision again to keep it going.

I'd love A but happy with B.
C is the lowest I would be happy with and home learning was uninspiring, no feedback from teachers, no marking of work. Far too much just doing online quizzes. So if it is C the home element needs more structure but do understand this needs planning.

1. Secondary, with youngest about to start Y7
2. Low risk
3. Work full time, one of us at home at no other out of home

My youngest struggled with home learning towards the end, was over the moon to go back in June. Frequently says home learning was the worst thing in the world and felt sorry for those who didn't go back. He's starting a new school, had zero transition, and so starting on just a home learning basis would really not work for a child going into a new school. He hasn't even met his tutor or tutor group as would normally happen.

So I voted d:
Are you answering for primary or secondary? 2. What has been your local area of risk? Lockeddown hotspot/Threatened with Lockdown/average/low 3. Are you working full-time/under pressure to get back, so need schools back for that?
Answering for primary, I was the only person in the whole locality to get covid and wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and I work from home

The salient point is whether C will screw working families as much as impromptu school closures will. They're both going to be a nightmare, and both require keyworker provision for there to be any hope of keeping viral services functioning.

A - primary and secondary, in the GM area, made redundant so at home until I find a new job.

B for Primary, C for secondary. A is going to be utter chaos and cause a sharp rise in cases IMO.

C
I have primary and work part time (in theory, although I’m seriously considering leaving).

D should be available to anyone who wants it.

C - best of both worlds but would need better online learning and ensuring all kids have computer.

My DS's university did a good job at online learning and exams so it is possible but perhaps with a smaller number of subjects?

@Uhoh2020 do you think schools will stay open in your area?

PiataMaiNei you’ve hit the nail on the head there.

Thank you to all the posters who have explained their A reasoning so far - it's been really interesting and it's definitely helping me understand a lot more.

I think one idea that's coming through is that we all have different ideas of what business as usual means and different ideas about how blended learning/part time provision would work. When I discuss it I'm always thinking about the one week in and one week out with independent work set during the time in but I'm experienced in secondary teaching and I spent years using flipped teaching with my older (and more able younger) students so it's a model that makes instant sense to me.

One year I actually restructured my A level classes for the final term so it worked like that - I had six lessons a week and students came to two of them in small groups (and spent the other four doing independent work that either filled in identified gaps or prepared them for upcoming content) I went from a class of 15 to three groups of five and we go SO MUCH DONE. I think they were my best results ever.

(State comp btw - very lenient HoD in terms of letting us be creative).

And I'm not naïve enough to think that would have worked even remotely the same with my last cohort of year 10 (I taught the bottom quarter of the year, it was brutal) but I do think that for them half the lesson time in a group half the size would probably have been just as effective in terms of what they understood.

@duffeldaisy I think your questions are good ones to consider too - I hope I don't sound stalkerish by saying that I recognise your name from a lot of school opening threads and I can empathise with where you're coming from. The constant stream of "well if you don't like it re-register" for parents/the "well if you don't like it then quit" for teachers posts have really stifled a lot of decent discussion and I think they've led to a lot of views becoming more entrenched on both sides.

(So many strawmen you'd think it was a harvest festival etc)

For me the map on the dashboard (which I actually hadn't seen until last week) clarified my thinking a little. It's also been interesting (but also difficult) to untangle which bits of my thinking about September are to do with my own personal situation and which bits are to do with the wider world.

A

And to clarify. I’ve said b or c but if my school can’t do those it’ll be d or e. No way A.

C for me

I answered A or C
Secondary
Average risk
Work FT from home

Agree though that C would be P/T school plus homework. Homeschool REALLY didn't work for us (guess what teens are not often self directed either!)

Really don't want masks on kids- would be hot, uncomfortable and utterly pointless sodden mobile germ factories within about 20 minutes. At least with C kids could be spaced out a bit in a more comfortable way.

@everythingthelighttouches

PiataMaiNei you’ve hit the nail on the head there.

Thanks. I'd love B, but there's just not the space in a lot of, perhaps the majority of schools, is there?

C

I am really really lucky I am WFH, but for years was a single parent working OOH, and am very concious of the impact of all this on women (let's be real) and I think at least with C it's possible to plan as long as the days and week remain the same. None of this "in one week on Mon and Tues, and the next on Thurs and Fri" because that would be disastrous for working parents who need to plan childcare and working days.

A

A.
Ok with B as well