I keep hearing talk about school closures....

[november90]

Which is just talk at the moment, no facts behind it (or at least I don't think so!).
Does anyone know if this will likely be secondary school or all schools and nursery's? DS1 is currently in preschool which he absolutely loves! If it closed for the rest/majority of the school year I would be devastated for him!

It's all just noise. No-one knows. I think it is best to prepare yourself and your kids for any eventuality and then you won't be shocked or disappointed.

No one knows yet but they will only close if the new strain proves to be more infectious in children.

That's for the toes everyone! You're all right it's not a straight forward answer... I haven't really been totalling the news to a T because it's too depressing and overwhelming so I wasn't sure if there was any decisions etc on this yet!
Oh god it's just never ending isn't it :(

I see both ends of this - I teach A levels at an FE college. Of course this is a priority. But also have a 4 year old pre schooler. When I returned to work after being able to keep her at home (hubby furloughed so could look after her) in September, she was literally too scared to leave us and suffered severe separation anxiety. Pre school children and early years were a priority group aswell. Both ages have very different needs. So I understand why a preschool age parent would be worried

This worries me so much Y1 son's confidence is at an all time low. He's an only child so has hardly had any interaction with other children for a large chunk of the year. Since being back in September he's really struggled to interact with the other kids and has really gone into his shell. I'm so worried for his anxiety around other children.

@november90, at least your child is only in preschool. My daughter is Y11 and taking GCSEs in June. She’s missed so much school due to self isolating because of positive tests in her year/bubble. She’s had virtually no instrument instruction for her music and she needs to submit a piece of coursework analysing a field trip that didn’t take place. This year’s Y11s have been shafted.

Agree that the developmental effects on those in their first few years of education and childcare are significant. And exam years ... I'd be surprised if it wasn't teacher assessment after all. Last year's got teacher assessment and they had missed far less time and none of the curriculum. This lot have lost four months out of what is really just a nineteen month course, when you subtract academic holidays. I know there have been tweaks to the syllabus but even with that exams are not going to give a realistic assessment for pupils who have lost over a quarter of input.

Makes sense just to bring back exam years only for 2 weeks or so....just to buy some time IMO.

My ds has been told first week is online learning with potential extension. He's already been doing blended learning because of the rates of covid in his school.

I don't know what will happen with my other children, we've not been told yet.

Really though it's the same for everyone isn't it. I mean no one is benefiting from the pandemic. Apart from Jeff Bezos and a handful of other billionaires. Everyone has had opportunities and growth and development adversely affected, whatever stage of life they're at.

@AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii try the NfU for support maybe. His company need to step up a bit. Concrete has been available throughout in England. Tricky and slow maybe but available.

We had shed builders in our livestock farm in April and they were most definitely essential. We're having a grain store built this year and i don't need to tell you what my husbands reaction would be if it wasn't done. Nor the weetabix factory we supply.

Sorry, can you tell I'm angry on your behalf! Good luck.

Email from school this evening, online for all w/c 4th, years 11 and 13 in w/c 11th. With the aim of all returning 18th.

Then an extra week tagged onto Feb half term which will be online learning..

Dd is year 13, it’s worrying. Although I am more concerned about the mental health of my year 12 - different personalities.

@flowerycurtain thank you I appreciate it. I’m in Scotland and I think a lot companies just closed even though they didn’t really need to!

@NellyJames, it's not fair to play one up manship, there is no need for it. Experiences in early years have a massive impact long term. This has been hard on all of our children and for most adults too.

Online learning for my dd in yr 9 until the 11th Jan-hoping to be open for yr 11 and 13 as they have their mock exams.Haven't heard from youngest dd's primary. Obviously, like other parents of exam years in England , I feel the priority should be those taking exams in a few months. They have been the forgotten children in this pandemic.

We had email last day school saying yr 11 in 4th i think the rest following week ( not sure about keyworkers as didn't read it all )
But i thought this was announced before they broke up and more to do with the testing than they planned than anything else , as we didn't have news on this new strain
I think they will watch numbers closlely if they stay where they are or higher I can't see how we can open schools really not as we know it anyway

Meant to say I have yr 13 ds! So my main concern is his education and mock exams in the first 2 weeks back in Jan

Sorry, over a fifth of input. But still, it's a lot. Exams aren't going to give an accurate picture given the content gap.

I don't see how they send schools back in tier 4 areas, and if they don't I can't see how they can fairly run national exams. Scotland have already cancelled exams.

[quote Velvian]@NellyJames, it's not fair to play one up manship, there is no need for it. Experiences in early years have a massive impact long term. This has been hard on all of our children and for most adults too.[/quote]
I agree, I think some people overlook the impact on early-years children mental health and social development. Of course if your child is coming towards their exams then you are going to be concentrating on that aspect but we can't underestimate how vital it is to set children up in their early years development.

Dds are Y1 and Y3 and I'm grateful they are not older from an educational/social point of view. But I really need them in school so that I can go to work, the first lockdown nearly finished me off I was getting a bit stroppy about an inset day on 4 January but if they do both go back on 5th that'll be a right result.

See, I get the argument about exam years. But if numbers continue to rise I'm not sure it's the best idea to have them out and about in large numbers. They spread the virus like adults do because really they have adult bodies, also use public transport and are in close contact with each other all the time they're at school, and schools are workplaces.

[quote NellyJames]@november90, at least your child is only in preschool. My daughter is Y11 and taking GCSEs in June. She’s missed so much school due to self isolating because of positive tests in her year/bubble. She’s had virtually no instrument instruction for her music and she needs to submit a piece of coursework analysing a field trip that didn’t take place. This year’s Y11s have been shafted.[/quote]
Nelly the early years are SO
Important - just as important as exam years but for very different reasons.

The foundation for learning is built when children are small and if we don't also prioritise the learning experiences and education of very small children then the rest of the school years are going to be fecked.

I don't think it's fair so make a comment such as 'at least your child is only preschool'.

Yy schools do so much valuable work with very young children and also it's a golden opportunity to catch the ones who need extra support, because even a year or so down the line it's that much harder to bring them up to speed.

Tricky because we need to see if children can deflect this new strain because being ill in hospital for a long period will also affect them.