Class sizes may have to rise to 60

[Baboonballoon]

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/27/class-sizes-in-uk-may-rise-to-60-as-schools-struggle-to-cover-for-self-isolating-teachers

This is so depressing and the government’s statement at the end is pathetic - why didn’t they see this coming and allocate additional funding for schools to pay for additional teachers?

Academies don't need to have qualified teachers so anyone could theoretically be hired to teach students. And of course at a lower rate of pay than a teacher with qts!
Most schools simply don't have the space to have 30 students let alone 60 or 90 in a class.

take over underused local buildings for schools, teach in the open air where possible

I can't imagine the practicalities of a large secondary school being spread across multiple non-school-building sites across a town, with subject teachers constantly having to travel from site to site in time for lessons.

As for teaching outside... it might be all right in Italy, but we might have trouble here in Cumbria during the autumn and winter. Well, most of the year tbh. It rains more days than not, even in the summer.

herecomesthsun

I agree with your post. I couldn’t be arsed to write a long response to the “well would you prefer schools to be closed” poster 🤷🏻‍♀️

I would rather schools closed than this. 60 will double the risk and there will be no meaningful education in a group this size either. If this is the option then surely part time would be better. Yes it would be difficult for parents working out of the home and for families that don’t have the tech but at least everyone gets part time, if schools close then it will be even more difficult for working parents and children without tech will miss a huge block of education. My son would learn more part time in his normal class (which is ridiculous at 35 anyway) than in a doubled up year group of 70 full time.

I agree Us 4 them went a bit quiet so I have started another thread asking them if they would like to come and discuss what they think of the situation now

@herecomesthsun can you link that thread please? I would be interested to hear from any Us4Them supporters on this. Are they going to be lobbying local MPs and government for more funding to schools for supply teachers to ensure school's can stay open? And more funding for better technology etc to allow for proper blended/remote learning?

Blimey

If ONLY teachers had thought ahead & warned the unions & Govt that opening all the schools would be a problem

The Govt could have used the summer to plan & dirt done testing out.

Silky teachers, no foresight, more interested in their holidays....

Oh wait! 🤦🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

@noblegiraffe - i think you took me a little to seriously! Just forget the idea you are there to teach and the children are there to learn and it will all fall into place. Think of it as warehousing.

Us4Us are currently campaigning to stop sending contacts of positive cases home from school.

They truly don’t give a shit about anyone except themselves and the possibility of inconvenience to their lives in order to improve the safety of others is abhorrent to them.

Silky teachers? Silly!

Oh I see, Millie! Too many posters slating teachers for their lack of vision has damaged my sarcasm detector!

I doubt you'd actually get 60 in the room in many places. At my school the classes are running at two thirds of their capacity because people are having to stay home for coughs and colds, fevers etc.

Where will the extra teachers come from? I want to do my PGCE next year but I cant get work experience anywhere right now. I'm not sure I want to sign up for teacher training until things get more stable.

Imagine turning up for a day of supply to find you’ve got two classes of 60 in the hall on your own all day!?

@CovidPostingName

Because there is no money. And they don't care about education. Quite simple really.

The money is there in central government but they choose not to spend it on state schools.

DSs school has plans for cover teachers or TAs in a class for behaviour control with self isolating teachers joining by Zoom to direct learning , obviously not if the teacher is actually I'll though

I've been really impressed with their planning. They have two trial days planned where all children in 3 years will trial working at home with a full timetable of live lessons but done remotely. Years 11 and 13 are not doing this as they will be prioritised to come in at all costs. The trial is to make sure they iron out any problems with tech and non engagement in advance in case they have to quickly switch to online or blended for some years .

They are also actively fundraising for basic laptops for the children who don't have one they can access exclusively during the day.

It won't be perfect but they have really given it a lot of thought and planning . I am very impressed

@DellaDoo

Girl I know, just completed a psychology degree, has qualified as a teaching assistant, ( I assume on her current course) and expects to be a teacher, fully qualified in 6 more months. PGCE I assume.

There is no nationally recognised TA qualification in the UK. There is HLTA status but you'd find more hens teeth in your average primary school.

The other thing is, could there be ways that independent schools could be encouraged to help the situation in state schools? Thinking abut the whole charitable status, cooperation thing?

It will only ever be 2 classes of 60 as most schools only have 2 halls don’t they (if that).

And I can’t see parents being happy to send their kids in if this happens. Even those who are desperate for schools to stay open. I think at this point there will be a mass exodus again. Sod the fines.

Independent schools definitely need to be helping. And if they don’t then charitable status needs to be scrapped.

There's barely any rooms that will house 60 in the average school,

If the government gave a shit about education they'd ask to rent lecture halls that are available because of distance learning

Or they'd rent out office space from companies that are wfh

I think I read on here that one of the Scandinavian countries rented theatres for school too. The theatres got the rental income and socially distancing was made easier.

Or they'd rent out office space from companies that are wfh

How would this help?

So people are actually ok with their children being taught in groups of 60 ?

So long as it means they don’t have to do the teaching themselves, yes, sadly many people would be happy with that.

Independent schools definitely need to be helping. And if they don’t then charitable status needs to be scrapped

How do you propose that will work? Given that independent schools have their own children to teach with the teachers they employ? Do you think there is spare capacity in the independent sector to send in an army of staff to the state sector?