Ways to make schools safer without closing them

[noblegiraffe]

Because I am so bored of the misrepresentation and lies going on on this site by people who shout down anyone who raises concerns about the current situation in schools as 'wanting schools to close indefinitely'. The people lacking in imagination who seem to insist that either things carry on as they are (with hundreds of thousands of kids not in school due to the spread in infection), or that schools close and there's nothing in between that can possibly be done to make things safer.

So here's my list, mostly copied from another thread:

We could start with an effective test and trace system, which we were told was essential for the safe re-opening of schools, but we opened without.

We could move onto making sure that all classrooms have windows. And then that those windows open. A national WEAR A VEST campaign to stop parents and kid complaining that it's cold. Germany have just invested a large amount of money in improving ventilation in schools, the UK should follow them.

Masks. Why do the government keep insisting they're not needed in corridors (from the comfort of a socially distanced parliament) and that it's impossible to use them in classrooms when the rest of the world seem to manage? What lessons can we learn from the international experience?

Marquees/covers on the playgrounds so that kids aren't inside for wet break. I know that wet break caused a whole year group to be sent home in a local school as it was uncontrolled indoor close contact.

For it to be mandatory (not simply 'where possible') that classrooms are arranged so that teachers are 2m from the kids when teaching. If smaller class sizes are needed to facilitate this, then solutions must be found even if the government needs to pay money for bigger spaces.

Parents to be supported/sanctioned to avoid kids being sent into school with symptoms or when they're supposed to be isolating.

The government to update its list of symptoms for children requiring a test to include the main ones that children experience, instead of the adult symptoms which they mainly don't.

Regular testing in schools, particularly when there are outbreaks, to enable more effective isolation.

Vulnerable kids to be allowed the option of staying at home. Schooling could be provided by Oak Academy (why spend millions on it and not use it?) and the army of 'catch-up tutors' to provide feedback on work (or ECV teachers also permitted to stay at home)

Any other suggestions?

[quote headstrong27]@noblegiraffe are you talking about vulnerable as in shielding or EAL, additional needs, safeguarding etc??[/quote]
Clinically vulnerable. The ones who do not fit the 'kids only get it mildly if at all' mould.

@StillGardening what's a drop down day?

And key has to be much more robust testing with immediate results and a reliable track and trace.
And some extensive research into how children transmit depending on age.

No I said I didn't understand the practicalities of different school sites like your example of Nightingale hospitals & wasn't fully sold on Ofsted Inspectors checking kids at home Why don't you tell me how it the different school sites would work?

Tbh the biggest thing that would make schools safer would be to reduce rates in the community. That means locking down everything non-essential. But I know that's outside the scope of this discussion.

But if the government truly wants to keep schools open, that's what needs to happen.

We need to stop referring to ‘schools’ because the issues in primary and secondary are too different and the solutions need to be too.

Your idea about a wear a vest campaign - really? Do you really think all it takes is a vest to keep adults and teachers warm and able to work effectively when it’s 5 degrees and less outside?

Honestly, I’m more or less happy with the way things are in my primary school already. (I’m a TA) The only thing I don’t like is that the staggered drop offs and pickups give us less time to do what we need to do in the space of a day.

@noblegiraffe I don't have an issue with the clinically vulnerable remaining at home. My understanding that in certain cases children don't have to go to school.

Nailsneeddoing what is it your primary are doing please ?

Just on BBC news: Covid-19: Schools may need to close to some year groups, former adviser warns (from Prof Neil Ferguson)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-54673558

Why don't you tell me how it the different school sites would work?

At my school it would be bigger portacabins on our school grounds so transport wouldn't be an issue.

I know other schools with permanent split sites. One has kids walking between them, another has teachers driving between them.

What would be the problem with your school and how could it be overcome?

@headstrong27

We could use Ofsted inspectors to check that they are receiving an appropriate education at home What does that look like in reality?

I would absolutely love to have an ofsted inspector round to my house to ‘check up’ on my teaching. As an ex teacher I would love to ask them all those questions I always wanted to but wasn’t allowed to for fear of losing my job. They’d have to allow at least a few hours for their visit to me - no tea or biscuits provided. And their written feedback better be up to scratch else I’d be making a complaint.

As I said upthread my dc go to inner London primaries & DB works at a secondary. The schools pre Covid are busting at the seams. There is one new portacabin of toilets, they can't take any more outside space. It would mean less space for kids to play outside in their bubbles. This is true for many London schools which were often built decades ago. What would you do in those schools?

At my school it would be bigger portacabins on our school grounds so transport wouldn't be an issue

That would work at my school. We’ve also got sports centres throughout the city that could be used - both inside sports halls and temporary buildings on outside space.

Your idea about a wear a vest campaign - really? Do you really think all it takes is a vest to keep adults and teachers warm and able to work effectively when it’s 5 degrees and less outside?

No, but it's currently not 5 degrees outside and kids are still complaining when a vest really would do.

From another thread:

"I teach in Germany and we have a message appear on the computer every 20 minutes, reminding us to open all of the windows for 5 minutes. Then they get closed again and the message pops up again 20 minutes later. Our heating is turned up to the hilt and I'm quite lucky that my classroom gets full sun in the mornings and is protected from wind. It's actually been fine. It might get cold for 5 minutes but then heats up again really quickly. It's generally quite hot in the room after a short while, so I'm glad to be able to open the windows again."

Good old Germans finding a way to solve problems that baffle our country.

I would absolutely love to have an ofsted inspector round to my house to ‘check up’ on my teaching. As an ex teacher I would love to ask them all those questions I always wanted to but wasn’t allowed to for fear of losing my job.

😆

I 10,000% (sorry, I know you're a maths teacher) love the idea of Ofsted visiting children at home to check on their learning

Not sure about the teacher's desk having to be 2m away, as a lot of teachers still get closer than 2m by choice to check pupils' work, and I think proper screens would be a lot easier/cheaper to implement for the benefit you get from them. Plus we're losing enough lesson time due to staggered break and end times, never mind having to transport kids to another site and back potentially several times a day. But otherwise I agree with your list, especially ventilation - give schools additional funding to keep the heating on higher and/or for longer, let pupils wear outdoor clothes and keep the windows open at least a little.

I'm a head of year in a school in a deprived area. We need 78 laptops for our students to engage in home learning, we have been given 30. We currently have 3 year groups who have half their kids isolating, not mine thankfully!

I've been doing blended learning this week where I have had 5 kids in a class and streamed the lessons to the ones at home. My motivated students have all logged on and it's worked really well for them, they submit their work at the end of the lesson and I can see they have engaged well.

Unfortunately I also teach a large number of unmotivated children who haven't logged on to the lesson, even in Year 10 lessons. One model we could go to is streaming lessons for student who engage and having the poorly engaged, less motivated students in school at the same time. The problem with that is often the motivated engaged students have parents that want them in school so they can have face to face contact with teachers, so would see it as their children being disadvantaged. Also, at my school, it is often theunmotivated students that have poorer attendance anyway and if they see their mates (or more likely just other students as it is often the case of birds of a feather flock together) having 'time off' they would not come in anyway. I really don't know what the answer is!

Im happy with the measures my dcs school have made & accept they can't do much about class sizes.

Provide funding for additional teachers so that schools who have spare space can make classes smaller
I qualified as a teacher in July 2019 and couldn't find a job anywhere locally.

I know that I am not the only one locally and further afield.

So before someone says there aren't spare teachers, there are some.

@noblegiraffe

Gosh you are so negative, headstrong. Schools regularly bus kids out for PE lessons to various playing fields without that being a massive issue.

My school has got outdoor space where they could chuck up a few larger portacabins no issues.

But where is the money coming from? You don't just chuck up a few portacabins when schools are vastly under funded anyway. I feel some people, teachers or not have their head in the clouds about what's possible or realistic

@Farcry66 my DB very strongly feels that certain pupils have to be in school.

@starrynight19

Nailsneeddoing what is it your primary are doing please ?

Not much except keeping children in class bubbles of 30 (which adults can move freely between) and extra hand washing/sanitising. I think the bubbles are pointless considering siblings though and serve only to make the school day more work and less enjoyable.

I’d rather go back to normal, allow those who want to stay at home to do so, and close fully (instead of just a bubble) if we get a case.

I would absolutely love to have an ofsted inspector round to my house to ‘check up’ on my teaching.

No, they wouldn't come to your house. There was that Ofsted inspector who went to a school for an inspection, then tested positive and the whole had to close because their entire SLT had to self-isolate.

If the concern about allowing clinically vulnerable kids to stay at home would be that they would be missing out on education, then the solution is to have some way of checking that they're not.

I'm not talking about graded lesson observations, I'm talking about someone checking that the kid is actually doing appropriate work, like accessing Oak Academy and following their curriculum.

Are there statistics/info on what schools are doing? I assumed most schools would be doing stuff in the OPs post already. Well except for the building of new schools 😜.

But schools can implement mask wearing in corridors etc can't they?

Not sure about the teacher's desk having to be 2m away, as a lot of teachers still get closer than 2m by choice to check pupils' work

Nope, shouldn't be happening. We want to keep schools open, remember, and having teachers get closer than 2m means that they have to isolate for 14 days if there is a case they've been in close contact with.

Each classroom should be equipped with a visualiser where kids could put their books for the teacher to have a proper look at on their computer. I know some schools where this is happening.