Why aren't the government being given more credit for prioritising education?

[annabel85]

The government have risked a lot by putting schools first, selflessly knowing that a second wave would reflect badly on them. This is how it's turning out, but they're still even now fully committed to keeping schools open.

They could have just had blended learning or even carried on demanding tutoring from home for the the winter term, but they've stuck their necks out by getting every child back to school.

Basically, just a reality check for people who are criticising the government at the moment. They've made big mistakes but the kids are their priority and they deserve credit for that.

If they really had considered them a priority they'd have put money in place for more safety measures

Like most other civilised countries.

I am ashamed at how this government has abandoned any children not in private schools - and teachers too.

Scientific consensus around school openings is:
Class size no more than 15
Social distancing
Good test and trace

This country has none of these things. Children in classes of 30 with less than 10cm between students, let alone 1m, let alone 2m!

I've been trying to get a test since Monday, I spent 4 hours on the computer today and NOTHING.

Fuck off OP - Dominic, Boris, whoever you are.

Class size no more than 15

Is this doable for us? Wouldn’t we need to double the number of teachers and classrooms overnight?

Social distancing

What sort of social distancing are you suggesting? That children don’t play with each other at break time or something else?

They get it in the neck when cases rise

No op when cases rise they will blame the teachers or the parents.

Yep my school refusing highly anxious child was told on day one that we would be fined if she didn't attend as the Govt are insisting on it.
At the time extremely clinically vulnerable dh was in hospital with sepsis .

@Northernsoulgirl45 that’s awful, my children have a months authorised absence then it will be reviewed as I am CEV. Hope you dh is doing ok now.

Is this doable for us? Wouldn’t we need to double the number of teachers and classrooms overnight?

My daughter's school (state) did it by using hall, other rooms creatively. And yes, they had extra money so got in extra TAs. But that seems a better use of funds than bunging several hundred million for PPE that doesn't materialise. Or testing that doesn't work. If other community spaces used should be doable for a lot of schools. SD means desks 2m apart. Not all schools will be able- but not everyone can wear a mask in shops either. Even if only some can do it (with appropriate funding) that would massively reduce transmission.

Playtime is outside so not as critical as indoor unventilated spaces, sitting for hours breathing in the same air.

Coronavirus spreads in crowded, indoor spaces and the risk is higher the longer you're there. Small classrooms, lots of kids, poor ventilation for hours at a time = prime coronavirus transmission.

Thank you He is now home thankfully and recovering well. Tbf tbe school probably didn't know when they ssid it but haven't changed their attitude now they know. Makes me want to homeschool. If only we could.
Also wish we kept shielding letter. Unfortunately probably haven't got a leg to stand on as other dc gone back although their bubbles are smaller.

@IloveJKRowling

If they really had considered them a priority they'd have put money in place for more safety measures

Like most other civilised countries.

I am ashamed at how this government has abandoned any children not in private schools - and teachers too.

Scientific consensus around school openings is:
Class size no more than 15
Social distancing
Good test and trace

This country has none of these things. Children in classes of 30 with less than 10cm between students, let alone 1m, let alone 2m!

I've been trying to get a test since Monday, I spent 4 hours on the computer today and NOTHING.

Fuck off OP - Dominic, Boris, whoever you are.

My son is in a class of 30 but a bubble of 60.

For various staffing reasons and logistics reasons they have mixed in the last two werks.

"Selflessly?"
They are supposed to act in the interest of the nation at all times. Your post basically indicates what everyone knows - that they normally act in the best interests of their party.

Other countries actually used lockdowns to get on top of the virus, so that track and trace had a hope of working. These clowns shovelled money to the wives of their MPs (Dido Harding), ignored the evidence from other countries, tried to develop an app to compete with the already working Google and Apple app and now are blaming the upturn in the virus on people socialising when it was exactly what we were told to do.

Boris, Matt or Gav, I'm not sure?

Because they haven’t prioritised education. They prioritised an unsustainable undistanced childcare plan that will see all education closed on and off or completely.

Men don’t have children? Teachers don’t have children? Not all school staff are teachers.

We all know that women are the ones picking up most of the extra childcare and home schooling. It is their careers and independence that is being damaged.

Teachers and school staff have kids too.

Teachers and school staff have kids too.

That is a fact. But I don’t know how it informs the central feminist problem caused by Covid and the closure of schools.

The government have risked a lot by putting schools first, selflessly knowing that a second wave would reflect badly on them

Second so called wave is inevitable and so far little seems to reflect badly on them, tory voters still want Johnson so to vindicate their choice in dec '19.
The whole saga is a lesson in how not to govern but the conservatives are still popular.

As for prioritising education? no, have you forgotten the exams fiasco which will be repeated next year or what is happening now with Uni students.

Can only think your post is an attempt at sarcasm.

have you forgotten the exams fiasco which will be repeated next year or what is happening now with Uni students.

Those are interesting topics. I can see no way the govt could have made up grades for students who had not taken the exams that wouldn't have really upset half the country. The fiasco was the U-turn but both possible options were terrible. It wouldn't have been any better without the U-turn.

What is happening to uni students now that is the govt's fault?

jasjas1973 I'm probably what is described as a Tory voter, although not a dyed in the wool one. I am in my 50's and have voted for the Conservatives more often that not, but have voted for other parties in elections too. I think the governments handling of this has been a shambles and history will probably show that. The Dominic Cummings fiasco being the turning point for many. I'm disgusted that DC didn't have the decency to resign or that BJ didn't have the leadership to sack him.

If the Labour party can get it's act together I will more than likely vote for them next time, but they have to make themselves a credible choice to lead the country. I'm hoping that they can become more than just "not Tory". I hope they can do that because I want to see Boris Johnson and his like minded crowd gone. Gone for good.

I can see no way the govt could have made up grades for students who had not taken the exams that wouldn't have really upset half the country.

And yet it was the government that insisted on made-up grades when Ofqual offered them 3 options: sitting the exams, postponing the exams, or a teacher certificate (not made up grade) enabling appropriate progress to the next level.

And then when the govt forced Ofqual to do something they disagreed with, it was their head that rolled when it went wrong.

@Missmidden

I agree with you too, OP. In real life, I only seem to meet parents who are delighted their kids are at school and have everything crossed it will stay that way. No sign of the worry and angst that I see on MN!

I am far from a government supporter but do think that their bullish determination that kids would be in proper full time education again from this term onwards is to their credit.

Surely it would only be to their credit if they did something to help keep the school open at the same time as showing 'bullish determination'. Just saying 'Schools will open' regardless with no help and lots of last minute and confusing advice to teacher is not to their credit.

Any buffoon can say 'School must go back, we are determined' and yes the gornment have said that but they have done everything in their power it seems to make this more difficult and likely to fail. (see noblegiraffes' post)

They are most emphatically are NOT prioritising children. You are right that they are however sticking to the 'schools must stay open ' line - since July anyway. I am firmly of the opinion their reason for that is the economy and getting parents into work and not the education of children.

I suppose in this time of u-turn after u-turn the constancy of the message (well a couple of months anyway, let's not forget they shut the schools in the first place) is at least comoforting to the less intelligent among us. I will give them credit for that

And by the way I absolutely think children should be in school in a way that is stable and sustainable. I'd just have liked the government to make that easier rather than ore difficult .

I can see no way the govt could have made up grades for students who had not taken the exams that wouldn't have really upset half the country. The fiasco was the U-turn but both possible options were terrible. It wouldn't have been any better without the U-turn

Germany and other countries didn't cancel exams, they were taken with SD, so no need to have made up results.
If education really mattered, they'd have found a way to have sat exams.

What is happening to uni students now that is the govt's fault?

...by making them pay out 5k plus for accomodation many will never use because of home learning plus still paying 9.250k for tuition they will never get nor the experience being on campus brings.

@notevenat20

have you forgotten the exams fiasco which will be repeated next year or what is happening now with Uni students.

Those are interesting topics. I can see no way the govt could have made up grades for students who had not taken the exams that wouldn't have really upset half the country. The fiasco was the U-turn but both possible options were terrible. It wouldn't have been any better without the U-turn.

What is happening to uni students now that is the govt's fault?

Also, the fiasco really disadvantaged students from deprived backgrounds. Many lost their uni places to students from small, private schools (who suddenly found they had done amazingly well). Then these places could not be recovered,even with the U turn.

There are many students (and families) who would be reluctant to vote conservative after that.

Oh I do wish you'd all stop 'carping on' and be more positive...

(This thread was clearly started by Mr Rees-Mogg)

@Walkaround

Ah, I see, *@notevenat20*. My personal opinion on mass temperature checks is that they are indeed an imperfect tool, and also time consuming (if you get a funny reading from an infrared thermometer, you really need to check it with, eg, an in-ear one, too, because you can’t turn children away for ten days for no good reason), so lack of funding is not surprising and not the only downside.

You see the thing that stuck out for me about the Italian provision for re-opening schools was the billions of euros they dedicated to making it work. That was what made possible

• the extra classrooms
• the tens of thousands of extra teachers
• the extra sanitary measures and cleaning
• the psychological and phone support

And this Government showed just how much they valued students and their families when they committed precisely ....

nothing. No extra funding at all.

So what we got was a lot of hot air that took the form of contradictory messages to headteachers, often in the same day, with absolutely no understanding of the pressures and constraints under which state education is forced to operate, starved as it has been of finance over the past 10 years.

Bear in mind that we have among the largest class sizes in Europe, before covid. Yet, while the rest of Europe has been working to bring schools back safely, the Tory contribution has been a smoke screen of empty promises. They have made grand sounding statements to parents, while the senior leadership teams in schools have been left to run around trying to make some sense of the pie in the sky claims. With no financial provision at all to underpin it.

As you say, we could have had a proper offer of blended learning in place. We could have had a commitment to listen to the needs of parents, to support the vulnerable while allowing parents to work full time where that is needed instead. However, what we actually have is a mess of unsafe classrooms, the largest class sizes in Europe and an R rate likely to have been 1.7 last week. And we may be facing a second lockdown due to their incompetence.

So they get full credit for cackhandedness, poor performance and failing this country's children.

@herecomesthsun - I really don’t understand why you would quote a reply to a specific question about mass temperature checks to make a general point?! Did you bother to read my earlier post pointing out where funding was promised and needed, but not delivered, and how confusing and unhelpful DfE advice was? It is exceptionally irritating to be selectively quoted in a way that gives the impression that the person quoted means the opposite of what they actually said if anyone bothered to read all their posts.