Safe to reopen schools

[askmehowiknow]

Article from oxford professor summarising new data that it's safe for children to be in school. Great pre September reading!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/18/children-covid-19-english-schools-virus-safe-reopening

And all support to get extra funding for schools is really appreciated.

I guess the fact there's no evidence that they will transmit it is reassuring

The myth that never dies! How can people think this of older teens? I end up just wanting to bang my head on the desk, it makes no logical sense. Of course they transmit it.

@Uhoh2020

But surely if a school can do it, it should be able to do it?

Most of the "can't do attitude" BS is coming from those that refuse to recognise that schools and education are being shit on from a great height.

UserNeedsGin
4. Current measures are working at keeping rates very low in the vast majority of the country.

schools are closed or were only open to a few pupils.

@FrippEnos

UserNeedsGin 4. Current measures are working at keeping rates very low in the vast majority of the country.

schools are closed or were only open to a few pupils.

Good point.

Are they transmitting it less in general or transmitting it less when schools were mostly closed.

After all we did close schools to stop them transmitting it in the first place so is what we’re seeing there evidence that it worked?

I don’t know.

A lot of people soldier into work when they don’t feel well. It’s hardly exclusive to teachers. We are all going to have to change

The problem with this is that in many other jobs, the work of the absent person can be thinly spread across the remaining workforce-eg my DH’s immediate emails could be covered by his colleagues and he would catch up with everything else when he got back. If teachers aren’t in due to being symptomatic, no supply is going to want to cover their class and put themselves at risk so there is no adult to put in front of that class, and it will have to close.

If only the government hadn’t cut school funding to the bone so that support staff were sacked, as they might have been able to help.

I guess the fact there's no evidence that they will transmit it is reassuring

There’s plenty that shows children do of all ages.

The virus doesn’t think to itself “I’m in a child so I must stop here”

[quote Uhoh2020]@latticechaos but there aren't enough teachers to be able to do it!
Say 1 secondary teacher has 5 different classes each with 30 children thats 150 children. At school that teacher is there in person teaching every class at the same time can answer all questions during that lesson etc. If only half are in the classroom that day there's 75 children she can't help. Of course the children at home who require help can email the teacher but when does the teacher have time to email back upto 75 children when she's got a day full of teaching in the classroom?[/quote]
I think it can be done, especially at secondary. In week 1, he teacher has group a in school, teaches them some concept(s)/ topic and sets them consolidation work plus preliminary study/video etc for the next topic. She does the same in Week 2 for group B while group A work at home, They write down any queries they have as part of this. Week 3, group B are at home and group A back in. The teacher deals with any queries and goes through issues/ difficulties with work done at home. Then teaches the next bit of the curriculum. It would work because with smaller groups, each student gets more individual attention from the teacher during face to face time.

But won't they spend the first lesson back answering all of the questions from the at home week, rather than moving on?

Would you prefer they moved on when the previous material hadn’t been mastered?

Teachers always spend time addressing misconceptions and going over previous lessons and reinforcing. A lesson is not a complete unit of learning.

Maybe, but if they have been given structure consolidation work to do from the first week's class lessons and have had enough individual attention to make sure they were " getting it" and are willing to really apply themselves when working from home ( this will be the trickiest bit) then it should be ok.

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras

But won't they spend the first lesson back answering all of the questions from the at home week, rather than moving on?

It would depend what the queries were and how many of the class had the same query. If lots were stuck on the same thing then it's best to reteach them all as it clearly is an issue. If 1 child has a specific issue, get the class going on the next task and have an individual conversation. Basically the same as a normal lesson, but with half the students much easier to have individual conversations. To speed up process could have an online system where student submit their issues in advance of the lesson so you can plan how best to address them.

I honestly think at secondary level, that the smaller group size, and so more individual attention, will compensate for increased independent learning.

That's what we did when we returned in June. I had one half of the class for two days, gave them all the input they needed and then they did independent application when at home. Then repeated with the other half. All the work completed at home was marked digitally with individual feedback and then, like Flags said, we reviewed little bits with specific people.

I'm not necessarily advocating for this approach but it did work well.

@WhyNotMe40

I honestly think at secondary level, that the smaller group size, and so more individual attention, will compensate for increased independent learning.

I personally think the government is terrified of pupils and parents having a taste of smaller groups and therefore realising why private schools get good grades

I actually think that secondary schools should have been asked to implement this blended approach for the first half term to ensure more social distancing, less students on buses at a time etc.

For example say I am usually timetabled to have a class of 30 for 1 hour each week.
Therefore under normal circumstances I'd teach 30 students for 2 hours each fortnight. In lessons there'd be some input from me, maybe a helpful video, some practise questions, group discussion, individual work, etc.

If I had 15 students for 1 hour a week with me and then 1 hour remote learning I'd move things round a bit. So when they were with me I'd want to check they were clear with the content and do some practise and maybe have a discussion. But the helpful video and individual work could be done whilst they are at home.

It would be a different way of thinking about lessons, but it could definitely be done. It would also be far less disruptive to learning than students in and out isolating all the time. It would allow social distancing in class and reduce numbers on buses and this would reduce the spread of all illnesses.

@noblegiraffe

Would you prefer they moved on when the previous material hadn’t been mastered?

Teachers always spend time addressing misconceptions and going over previous lessons and reinforcing. A lesson is not a complete unit of learning.

No, I wouldn't prefer they moved on. I just don't think it will be as straight forward as the pp was making it out to be - set the work and then answer questions once back at school.

My son is a secondary teacher and has been snowed under with answering the stream of e mail queries from students that would ordinarily have been addressed in class just once rather than repeated multiple times.

This is where I think the insistence on "all back" will back fire. If government had been sensible and willing to be more flexible with the return then they could have spent this time helping schools to devise fit for purpose blended learning programmes. Develop really good, structured home learning plans rather than hurried ad hoc tasks that require more explanation than there's opportunity for. If schools are repeatedly in and out of quarantine then lesson plans will be useless. No.one will have time to get together decent learning resources when they've been given five minutes notice.

@EducatingArti

I actually think that secondary schools should have been asked to implement this blended approach for the first half term to ensure more social distancing, less students on buses at a time etc.

Yes me too, it would also help with settling back in, inevitable anxiety issues, testing the water re. infection rates.

The bullish approach is high stakes IMO.

@Flagsfiend

For example say I am usually timetabled to have a class of 30 for 1 hour each week. Therefore under normal circumstances I'd teach 30 students for 2 hours each fortnight. In lessons there'd be some input from me, maybe a helpful video, some practise questions, group discussion, individual work, etc.

If I had 15 students for 1 hour a week with me and then 1 hour remote learning I'd move things round a bit. So when they were with me I'd want to check they were clear with the content and do some practise and maybe have a discussion. But the helpful video and individual work could be done whilst they are at home.

It would be a different way of thinking about lessons, but it could definitely be done. It would also be far less disruptive to learning than students in and out isolating all the time. It would allow social distancing in class and reduce numbers on buses and this would reduce the spread of all illnesses.

But you need time to.plan for this don't you? If they announce at three pm on Monday that your bubble is going into quarantine can you have a programme set up to go by start of play Tuesday?

It just seems far more sensible and practical to have planned for this term at least to have been blended learning so that SD could happen and and reduce the chances of bubbles bursting. At least then proper schemes of work and resources could have been put in place.

It just seems far more sensible and practical to have planned

This could apply to basically every aspect of this flipping government's covid response

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras
If they announce at three pm on Monday that your bubble is going into quarantine can you have a programme set up to go by start of play Tuesday?

The Government guidance more or less states that this has to be the case.

[quote Iamnotthe1]@Hearhoovesthinkzebras
If they announce at three pm on Monday that your bubble is going into quarantine can you have a programme set up to go by start of play Tuesday?

The Government guidance more or less states that this has to be the case.[/quote]
But it's impossible. Unless teachers have planned two versions for every week - an in school and at home version - removed all of the practical and technological problems of on line teaching and learning (which hasn't happened) then schools aren't in a position to switch to on line teaching with a minutes notice are they? For starters has the issue of pupils access to the internet and computers been addressed? Or even staff access to the same?

@Hearhoovesthinkzebras
You are completely correct. It's unrealistic and the workload implications are huge. But it's what is now expected by the Department for Education.

Actually, it's expected even if you don't have the bubble closed. Having a few children who are having to isolate would mean you'd be expected to provide both in-school and remote learning opportunities.

And no, internet access for students hasn't been addressed, despite Government announcements and promises.