Statement in parliament this afternoon on 'reopening of schools in England'

[DownRightAmazing]

By Gavin.

I'm aware there are a million threads on this generally but this is specifically regarding the statement - any leaks/clues/predictions?

To state my own position: I think schools need to close to all except keyworker and vulnerable children. I feel it's obvious this needs to happen. My own two children are thriving at school and I'm not concerned about them at all - if their (primary) school is open, I will send them - but I worry for their teachers, any vulnerable parents of their classmates and of course the NHS.

My prediction (based on nothing): secondary schools blended/part time. Primary fully open. We are tier 4 fwiw and I disagree with opening schools in January...

Sue, I had to simultaneously try and keep a 7 year old with sen going in lock down and work on line with zero help from our school.

After trawling through research and the curriculum and what she knew etc I managed to forge a path for her.

In between work, roblox, Minecraft and life I did about 2 x 30 mins a day with her and managed to bring her on about 4 reading levels, taught grammar she should have been taught from year 1 and year 2 which she didn't have a clue about, history projects through packs and on line and got her other skills going.

Ie If she can do it with sen and a low achievement level in class in 30 mins a day... I can't see how other neuro typical dc wouldn't?

They don't need hours and hours and hours. Lower expectations, take it easy and at that age focus on the core.

My DS's school have been bloody brilliant and are happy to be open and functioning as close to normal as possible.

You genuinely don't know if they are happy or not sueellen. teachers are very good at being swans : serene in the presence of parents, frantic underneath. For all you know, some of those very teachers have MN accounts and are venting in the safe space of anonymity as we speak.

There is no way I would tell any parents of children I teach how unsafe or frightened I feel, or how bad behaviour is at the moment, or how shit our school's covid measures are, or how crap my head is etc etc

@HelloMissus

On a personal level I’m very pleased my foster kids will be going back to school. Last academic year was a complete shit show for them and they were utterly let down by their teachers and schools. This year has been so much better. So obviously I’d like that to continue. Also we simply can’t continue to foster if we’re expected to give up our jobs. So there’s that...

Why do you say 'let down by their teachers'? You see, the more people say this, the more it seeps into the general consciousness. I worked really hard trying to sort home learning, not allowed to do live lessons because our parents didn't want it and more than half of our kids didn't and still don't have the tech. We really tried hard but for some children, home learning is a disaster. We did home visits, sent home packs, organised food parcels, staffed hubs ... but it wasn't a level playing field.

@Piggyinblankets

My DS's school have been bloody brilliant and are happy to be open and functioning as close to normal as possible.

You genuinely don't know if they are happy or not sueellen. teachers are very good at being swans : serene in the presence of parents, frantic underneath. For all you know, some of those very teachers have MN accounts and are venting in the safe space of anonymity as we speak.

There is no way I would tell any parents of children I teach how unsafe or frightened I feel, or how bad behaviour is at the moment, or how shit our school's covid measures are, or how crap my head is etc etc

I'm a governor at the school and in our regular meetings we address staff issues and concerns. We've put a lot of effort in to making sure staff are happy and comfortable with the situation.

Wax I know your really worried about this and I totally get your concerns but what will happen if you get sick and need medical help?

I've lost 3 people very close to me, 2 suddenly... (pre covid) and with dd 2 I've been in a and e a few times... I don't want to sound hyperbolic... But when you're facing split second.. Or critical minuets watching someone unable to breathe that really does become the pressing issue.

Nothing else matters at that point at all.

Zero chance I'd tell a school governor how I'm feeling.

I'm a governor at the school and in our regular meetings we address staff issues and concerns. We've put a lot of effort in to making sure staff are happy and comfortable with the situation.
And you think they'd tell you?

Sue, I mention concerns in meetings but again I can't be as honest as I'd like.

Everyone usually holds back something, I wouldn't be over confident that you are being told everything in your governer meetings.

I know from ours immediately after everyone let's off steam!

@PandemicPavolova

Sue, I had to simultaneously try and keep a 7 year old with sen going in lock down and work on line with zero help from our school.

After trawling through research and the curriculum and what she knew etc I managed to forge a path for her.

In between work, roblox, Minecraft and life I did about 2 x 30 mins a day with her and managed to bring her on about 4 reading levels, taught grammar she should have been taught from year 1 and year 2 which she didn't have a clue about, history projects through packs and on line and got her other skills going.

Ie If she can do it with sen and a low achievement level in class in 30 mins a day... I can't see how other neuro typical dc wouldn't?

They don't need hours and hours and hours. Lower expectations, take it easy and at that age focus on the core.

My issue is that I have to deliver 3 hour lectures and have a really fully timetable. I can't ignore DS for 3 hours at a time and I can't look after him while teaching my students- students who have paid thousands to be on my course. Not to mention the fact that 50% of my teaching is actually on campus.

Last time university academics weren't considered key workers. I can only hope this changes.

Pandemic I understand, everyone is going to feel differently depending on their own circumstances. My concerns are for what is most likely to happen, of course I could always get sick and need medical help, I know I'm not invincible but the odds of that are probably lower than me losing my job at the moment. So that's my main worry right now.

I also used to be a governor. I was the only one who could read between the lines about staff wellbeing and queried workload.

I can tell you the teachers in that school were mighty pissed off and the governors had no idea.

The governors at the school I work in offer us no support whatsoever but are v supportive of SLT.

Our SLT constantly tell our governors how happy we all are! I have seen the minutes!!

Myother the teachers and schools wouldn’t even answer emails from us or the children’s key worker.
We weren’t asking for the moon / just basic information about them like reading levels etc so we could have a try at keeping their learning going a bit.
Also we wanted to be added to the school’s mailing lists so we’d get any info being sent etc

But they wouldn’t even reply. It was awful.
Later during a court hearing the teachers and SLT were ordered to explain themselves.

I still can’t get over it TBH. Imagine receiving an email telling you one of your most vulnerable pupils had been removed from their mum and placed in foster care and ignoring it.
Now imagine doing that multiple times.

🤷‍♂️ Me too, we followed the time table as is, 2 days after lock down.. Dd was next to me on the computer. Not ideal but she was safe and I used her roblox time as leverage to get her up 4 reading levels and teach nearly 2 years of work?

6/7 year old don't need that much supervision? As I said people have to be resilient, lower some standards, be flexible....

My dd ended up flourishing and yet that age group is way out of my comfort zone. She has sen and was massively under achieving and wouldn't work me happily. It was constant negotiation and bribes, but I was determined to make it work.

Why is so shocking that some schools are managing this well and that some teachers are relatively happy - given the challenging times?

We made staff well being a priority from the start. The staff governor is a 'take no shit' type so if there were issues we'd hear about it. Yes, they might hold somethings back but we are getting a pretty good picture via various feedback methods. There are plenty of opportunities for staff to feedback concerns anonymously.

@HelloMissus

Myother the teachers and schools wouldn’t even answer emails from us or the children’s key worker. We weren’t asking for the moon / just basic information about them like reading levels etc so we could have a try at keeping their learning going a bit. Also we wanted to be added to the school’s mailing lists so we’d get any info being sent etc

But they wouldn’t even reply. It was awful.
Later during a court hearing the teachers and SLT were ordered to explain themselves.

I still can’t get over it TBH. Imagine receiving an email telling you one of your most vulnerable pupils had been removed from their mum and placed in foster care and ignoring it.
Now imagine doing that multiple times.

I'm sorry HelloMissus - you're quite right to be pissed off at that. It wouldn't happen at our school. I hope it's all sorted now.

I'm a governor at the school and in our regular meetings we address staff issues and concerns. We've put a lot of effort in to making sure staff are happy and comfortable with the situation.

Our governors have no clue how we are feeling. They are getting the same positive spin as parents.

Myother it is thank you.
Some lovely MN parents on the home Ed section were super helpful.
And it wasn’t too bad in the end because my job had pretty much been halted (I’m a film producer and all filming stopped).
And my adult DC were sent home from uni. And adult son who plays football came home (football stopped).
So we had many hands to keep them occupied 😂

Governors are not told the reality of how staff feel.

It's worse to tell them and not have it addressed than it is to know it won't be addressed and keep quiet.

@PandemicPavolova

🤷‍♂️ Me too, we followed the time table as is, 2 days after lock down.. Dd was next to me on the computer. Not ideal but she was safe and I used her roblox time as leverage to get her up 4 reading levels and teach nearly 2 years of work?

6/7 year old don't need that much supervision? As I said people have to be resilient, lower some standards, be flexible....

My dd ended up flourishing and yet that age group is way out of my comfort zone. She has sen and was massively under achieving and wouldn't work me happily. It was constant negotiation and bribes, but I was determined to make it work.

My DS went 6 a couple of weeks ago. I'm not comfortable leaving him a different room for 3 hours while I deliver lectures - two days a week I teach all day with 30 min break.

I'm capable of teaching the curriculum what I'm saying is I can't effectively care for him and do my job at the same time. I've tried - it doesn't work and I get complaints from my students.

But now filming had started again and DC are all back at uni/playing so I can’t carry on if schools close.

@itsgettingweird

Governors are not told the reality of how staff feel.

It's worse to tell them and not have it addressed than it is to know it won't be addressed and keep quiet.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

I can't comment on your school and you can't comment on mine. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Watch out everyone : it's like Election night. London Boroughs are being added as we speak.

Redbridge just gone on the list.

Sue I'm not disagreeing with you that you feel staff are being honest or that you discuss well-being at length.

Same for our governors.

But what you think is getting the full lowdown and what staff really feel may differ.

We've raised some stuff. Other stuff we moan about between ourselves because we know it won't change. The governors can't go against government guidance any more than we can.

As a pp said, Redbridge on list now.