Government removes statement schools are not considered "high risk settings" in guidance.

[IloveJKRowling]

Reported in the TES

www.tes.com/news/Covid-dfe-cuts-schools-arent-high-risk-line-guidance

From the article:
"The government has removed a paragraph from its Covid guidance stating that schools are not considered "high risk settings".

The Department for Education (DfE) previously stated in its guidance for schools that Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) advise that schools are not considered high risk work environments, and it is "therefore appropriate for teachers and other school staff to return to their workplace setting".

But following an update to the guidance today, this detail has vanished."

Is there any hope at all of the government letting disabled parents/vulnerable DCs have a choice? It is getting so much scarier now (and to think I was worried in September ). Obviously worried about the staff too.

@noblegiraffe

You can make all the adjustments you like to a cohort’s results but it doesn’t mean that students who have missed months of schooling will be ready for the next stage of their education.

A year 13 who gets AAA predicted grades will not necessarily be ready to move on to university if they have missed a large chunk of their A level courses.

Like Y13 just gone, Ecosse? They all just went to uni didn't they? Unis were bloody desperate for students.

The thing with most academic qualifications is that they don't actually require a mastery of all the material. They're not like a driving test where you have to reach an absolute standard. If unis find that their cohorts are weaker this year (and they will) then they will make adjustments. Just like I, as a Y12 teacher, am having to make adjustments for my current Y12 having gaps from Y11, including intervention tutoring.

We can't afford to kick kids off courses especially when they're all in the same boat and we know why.

Nobel
We can't afford, as a country, to have whole cohorts failing maths and English, so they won't.

I am one of these parents I'd like to think the GCSE Maths 4 was due to mine just scraping through, but I'm not convinced tests and mocks were 2/3 at best. I'll never know.
Not sure if you saw the results, I know for the past few years you encouraged and supported our efforts and more

Like Y13 just gone, Ecosse? They all just went to uni didn't they?

I do not usuallymfind myself aligned with ecosse

But there is a world of difference between last year's A level cohort, who had pretty much the full teaching time, covering nigh on everything planned. Some schools had covered the syllabus by late March. Others very nearly so. What was lost was revision, consolidation and the latter stages of NEAs.

This year is totally different. One term of teaching and summer exams gone. Disruption in many schools this term. It is likely that not all the syllabus will get covered. Some schools will get through more than others, just by luck and number of isolation absences.

I know what they've missed, meditrina, I'm bloody teaching them.

But suggesting that their life expectancy is reduced because of what they missed in terms of course content is really just nonsense.

Wow, Dev what a good outcome for your DD! Can't believe she is that old, it's been a long journey!

An ex-boyfriend of mine was a management consultant.

He talked a load of bollocks.

I teach all day in a mask, changing them several times. Pupils should be doing the same.

@AllDoneIn that is heartening to hear, I wish you were my son’s teacher!

Ecosse

Easy to see why you are a management consultant.

If the government invested to have socially distanced schools (investing in more space and more staff) the QUALITY of education would go up as well as reducing risk of coronavirus.

Children would be in a calmer, safer environment and get more personal attention. They'd be less disrupted by endless time off isolating (as fewer illnesses doing the rounds).

Why we're so happy for our schools to be among the worst in Europe is beyond me - even in normal times the crowding is a huge barrier to education.

My daughter was in with a half sized class socially distanced for 4 weeks in June/July and her education and progression was the best it's ever been and she wasn't off sick once (nor was anyone else in her class).

She was much happier. The past 6 weeks she's been off sick multiple times it's crowded and the learning environment is disruptive (people jostling her, noise levels higher, minor injuries from tripping over other people's feet and so on).

People who genuinely care about education, and particularly the most deprived children, should be jumping on this opportunity to improve conditions in state schools in the UK and to repair some of the damage of chronic underfunding.

@IloveJKRowlingYou are right this is a massive opportunity in some ways. My DS also thrived at home to be honest and I realized that school is struggling way more than I thought. It makes so much difference to have less students that it may even be worth investigating some shorter days for kids - but same days for teachers so they get to teach smaller classes even for part of the week. It must have been a real eye opener for you with your DD.

Yes it was a real eye opener.

I find it absolutely astonishing that parents are not up in arms at the terrible conditions in UK state schools that this crisis has revealed- how we have among the largest class sizes in Europe.

Our children are already disadvantaged educationally just on that basis alone compared to Sweden and many other countries.

And it's also why we can't take studies from those countries and compare them, it's just not the same environment at all.

I know a cousin of mine has taken the decision to put one of his children into private school. It was the lockdown that showed him just how bad it was for this particular child, who just needed a less chaotic environment and a smaller class size. It just hit him as he was helping him homeschool, and also because my cousin was working from home, she had the time to let these things sink in. He’s fortunate to earn enough, well it’s a bit of a stretch tbh but he realized it was either that or his child end up in a bit of a mess from school. I have to agree.

My friends who are teachers have been worn out for years.

The lockdown was tough, the pandemic is tough. However it does seem to galvanise us in some ways to see what is important.

Yes, I wish we could afford private school and am looking at retraining into a better paid career in order to try and facilitate that a few years down the line.

Apparently the demand for private schools has gone up since lockdown. Unsurprisingly.

Apparently the demand for private schools has gone up since lockdown. Unsurprisingly

Why apparently? Don't you know?

I find it absolutely astonishing that parents are not up in arms at the terrible conditions in UK state schools that this crisis has revealed- how we have among the largest class sizes in Europe.

What makes you think parents are not? But what are they supposed to do? People go to great lengths to try to get their children into better schools.

There is very little choice unless you get your dc baptised or can afford to move near to the best school. Or they get into grammar.

Nearly all of our local schools are inadequate. Do you not think people aren't in despair about their children's futures when we know they probably won't get to reach their potential.

Since my ds has been in a top set bubble of 30 (secondary), he's learnt more this half term than the entire of last year. I wish they'd just keep it like that all the time.

I find it absolutely astonishing that parents are not up in arms at the terrible conditions in UK state schools that this crisis has revealed- how we have among the largest class sizes in Europe

What makes you think parents are not? But what are they supposed to do? People go to great lengths to try to get their children into better schools

As a teacher and long time poster on MN I have seen very little to absolutely fuck all parental attention paid to class sizes, funding, actually anything to do with education in general until Covid. Teachers were and still are the ones raising the issues.

It has been individual issues with teachers (relevant and genuine or not) or pissing and moaning about snow days/ strikes/ how long the holidays are and I can't wait for school to start/ INSET/ uniform/school dinners/ report this teacher for giving my lively child a detention, etc. etc. etc.

SEN-related posts have been a general exception to this.

The increased demand for private schools is a bit of an urban myth. the HMC reported more enquiries but it hasn't translated to bums on seats (people still can't afford it and more people can't afford it now). In fact, many private schools are cutting jobs, not awarding pay rises, resorting to temporary contracts and increasing fees. The latter lead to huge demand from parents for the 100% live lesson approach during lockdown and is now seeing private schools still offering almost full diets of music and sport, perhaps against better judgement.

It is hilarious how many of the "schools must be open as usual, children first!" crowd don't seem bothered that state schools open "as usual, " especially in the current climate, is still pretty dire for lots of children.

Surely those like @Ecosse who are so concerned with the wellbeing of children, especially vulnerable children, would be interested in the wider picture and advocating for what our children really deserve...which is much more than what is currently in place.

More funding to allow for proper distancing, smaller class sizes, adequate testing so that infection rates in schools are minimised and families are kept safe, free internet to support home learning where appropriate, etc. Other countries are doing this successfully. Why is anyone satisfied with the UK provision of sending kids back with minimal measures to keep kids safe or to catch up with their learning? If you truly cared about children's education, surely you would want better for them?

@Whatshouldicallme

It is hilarious how many of the "schools must be open as usual, children first!" crowd don't seem bothered that state schools open "as usual, " especially in the current climate, is still pretty dire for lots of children.

Surely those like @Ecosse who are so concerned with the wellbeing of children, especially vulnerable children, would be interested in the wider picture and advocating for what our children really deserve...which is much more than what is currently in place.

More funding to allow for proper distancing, smaller class sizes, adequate testing so that infection rates in schools are minimised and families are kept safe, free internet to support home learning where appropriate, etc. Other countries are doing this successfully. Why is anyone satisfied with the UK provision of sending kids back with minimal measures to keep kids safe or to catch up with their learning? If you truly cared about children's education, surely you would want better for them?

I totally agree with this.

Why are we settling for the chaotic ‘pack them back in to the classrooms’ system we have in schools at the moment when, with proper investment, we could have a decent, consistent provision for all children?