No longer a national priority to keep schools open

[noelgiraffe]

The government has surreptitiously dropped its priority to keep schools open.

It has replaced it with a priority to “keep education open”.

Remote learning is now a viable alternative to keeping schools open (as opposed to last Monday when it was a matter for the high court).

In the DfE media blog, tweeted earlier today regarding the delayed start to term in January they say:

“ Is this an extension of the Christmas holiday?

No, this isn’t an extension of the holiday and we haven’t asked that the start of term is delayed.

All students will return to education from the first day of term. Secondary school and college students should learn remotely for one week except those in exam years, vulnerable young people and the children of critical workers. It remains our national priority to keep education open and we are not closing education for any period other than during the set holiday periods.”

Interesting development.

You will find that tier 4 quote reassuring too.

No. How could any teacher possibly have any trust in anything the government ever says about schools ever again?

They went from threatening legal action against schools who moved online to moving schools online themselves within the same week.

And three days ago they said that the Christmas bubble thing was definitely staying.

@mrshoho

The penny is dropping finally. Lockdowns without changes to our schools set up are not very effective. Shame it's taken so long to reach this point.

I beg to differ, the numbers went down during lockdown.

But we need either/or it seems. Either schools closed and everything else open, or everything else closed and schools open. I vote for the latter. Btu those with jobs in "everything else" are obviously going to think differently. Hence the tier system - an attempt to have it all.

I meant more in some of the parents on here's minds - ie. at what point, if any, would they think keeping school open was no longer the biggest priority?

I've recorded a year 7 lesson for the first week back already today We're down to tier 2 now and I'd like to be able to enjoy my Christmas without worrying about work

Yes you're right @cologne4711 they did in some areas that were aleady starting to fall but in other areas numbers were higher than at the start of lockdown. I just don't think the national lockdown we recently had and all the hardship that went with it had the desired effect because schools continued to spread. I can't see tier 4 being any different.

Well I think the Gov hope that by doing this now that numbers will fall and so attendance at schools will improve.

The problem we have is that school attendance has been poor recently. It is hard delivering a syllabus to 85% to 90% of the class with the rest being at home but it is a different mix every lesson.

I fear for attendance in January

Marsha needs to look away because I'm about to speculate and she won't like it.

We know that infection rates in secondary schools in the areas that are now Tier 4 had spiralled out of control.
Mass testing was ordered for the last week of term (did that ever happen?)
Peston suggests that the new strain is more transmissible among children. We know it's more transmissible in general.

The press conference doesn't address the issue of schools. The guidance says that travel to/from tier 4 for education is allowed. However, this is totally irrelevant for the first period of Tier 4 as schools are closed for Christmas. So basically it's an easy addition that won't need discussion. That can has been kicked down the road.

In the meantime, the government have planned to test every secondary school child on return to school in January. These plans will not be implemented, schools are basically downing tools for the holidays and all the education bodies are in support of this. This could have got them out of the tier 4 schools problem, but won't.

So on the 30th December when the tiers are reviewed, the question will again rear its head about what to do with all those secondary schools where covid was rampant just before Christmas? It's unlikely this new strain will have been stamped out within 2 weeks. Travelling to school from different tiers will be an issue. Transmission within schools will be an issue. Opening schools would probably require those areas to stay in Tier 4 for longer. There will be heavy pushback on that, especially regarding London.

The government have already changed their messaging about schools being open being a priority. It's now possible to close schools (see first week of Jan).

The DfE are offering bonuses of £1000 to staff to fix this mass testing debacle over Christmas. I think there will be a sharp focus on trying to get this established in tier 4 areas. Heads there will now be feeling the pressure.

Noble do what you want. But I can also post reassurance if I wish.

If the Government was that bothered about disadvantaged pupils it would have helped them a lot more in the past before pretending to care in 2020 just to keep schools open.

@MarshaBradyo

Noble do what you want. But I can also post reassurance if I wish.

Absolutely, Marsha.

Interested to hear your reassuring rebuttal of what I have just written.

Interested to hear your reassuring rebuttal of what I have just written.

I doubt it.

And I cba reading more on it right now tbh. I’ll let you debate with other posters.

I only posted on the close issue as I could see other posters stressing out.

Thought not.

Lol

I didn’t read it.. I’m sure it’s fantastic

Of course, I wrote it.

👍

I beg to differ, the numbers went down during lockdown.

And then shot up hugely, on the back of this alleged new variant that transmits more easily in the young.

Nicola has closed schools other then KW and V children until 18th Jan. That doesn't seem unreasonable for England too.

I'm already uploading vids of all lessons next term for the children with nervous parents.

I beg to differ, the numbers went down during lockdown.

They didn’t go down enough.

MarshaBradyo

Teachers want what we have always wanted
A coherent, sensible policy on education during this crisis.

What we have actually had is the government bumbling from from mess to the next ignoring the science, fudging the figures, threats to take schools and authorities to court and making teachers (and unions) the bad guys.

Some people are stupid enough to believe them.
But even the willfully ignorant and the stupid will have to realise that education cannot continue in the form that the government wants it to unless something happens and happens quickly.

Lockdown barely touched schools and the infection rates in primary and secondary this week were mental.

What will really help infection rates in schools is them being closed for Christmas and partly closed the first week back.

@RandomDent

If the Government was that bothered about disadvantaged pupils it would have helped them a lot more in the past before pretending to care in 2020 just to keep schools open.

Not just the government. Most people to be honest.

What's the point of keeping schools open if pupils are having to isolate left, right and centre? Make it online until at least the next half term.

Here

The real problem is that in Jan -because of A)hill to die on B)public perception C)wants to win popularity contest - the gov will open up schools. With non-existent testing as a facade.

It reminds me of the saying about repeating the same experiment and expecting a different result....

Alternatively they will only open primaries, but not organize how primaries could make use of secondary space, so in effect nothing will change. But it will look like they have done something.

Much of this could have been avoided if ppl weren't such assholes.
IF

1. every teacher stood up as one and not gone in to school to teach in Sept gov would have had to rapidly u-turn*
2. parents AND teachers were all on the same page from the getgo re: protection for all
3. parents would have acknowledged the simple safety precautions by themselves and as a min send their kids in with sanitizer AND MASKS.
4. If ppl could think for themselves rationally

But even now it's not going to happen. Unions at this point could organize well ahead of time a strike (leaving parents with time to prepare) and finally stand up to this farcical gov as one.

For this to work parents would also need to stand on teacher's side, but gov's divide and conquer strategy is working oh so well :(

*believe I sympathize with teachers and I understand why they have not done this. And in principal agree with every one of them. But it is obvious that the gov is taking massive advantage of the fact that teachers are so bloody reliable and conscientious.

@User158340

What's the point of keeping schools open if pupils are having to isolate left, right and centre? Make it online until at least the next half term.

But that won't work.

There are far to many families without the required equipment and connections to the internet.

The promised government help didn't appear in any great numbers, and there are far too many parents that will not bother to make sure that their children do the work.

and that doesn't take into account those that are working,

@noelgiraffe

Lockdown barely touched schools and the infection rates in primary and secondary this week were mental.

What will really help infection rates in schools is them being closed for Christmas and partly closed the first week back.

I fear that the xmas period will drive numbers down and will give reason to start over again in Jan/mid-jan. So we'll essentially be back where we were in sept, but starting from a higher baseline.

I'm o relieved that my year 10 DS can still attend as a critical worker child. Concerned that not all vulnerable children are known to be vulnerable and could be trapped at home for another week though.