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Original poster

They are going to close the schools again aren’t they.

414 replies

Amithetoxicone · 01/01/2021 22:18

😱

OP posts:
namesnamesnamesnames · 02/01/2021 09:48

@poshme They get forgotten because headlines shout 'Schools are Closed' and many don't see past that.

RicStar · 02/01/2021 09:51

Its clearly not sustainable for teachers to teach in class and remotely. I would like to see rotas for little ones as soon as reasonably possible and schools given funding to support this.

Much more funding go to schools for at least a couple of years, so they can run proper catch up programs from the summer - not staffed by exhausted teachers but perhaps by supply teachers/sport coaches.

I would like as much consideration given to the needs of a 7 year old to be social as to a the parents of an under one year old. I would like to see children's sports actively encouraged / funded to move outside or to be allowed inside in small groups. I would like parents of at least primary and younger to have the same rights to time off work/furlough pay/ no discrimination as you have on maternity leave, for as long as there are school closures (including bubbles closing etc).

I would like teachers to be vaccinated so that they are safer and feel valued by society.

I would like everyone to stop saying 'just close schools' as if it is some minor consideration and have a proper plan.

Willyoujustbequiet · 02/01/2021 09:51

Its an absolute shitshow

They must close them. Parents will vote with their feet anyway.

Janus · 02/01/2021 09:52

I’m not waiting for this useless government to make a decision. We’ve decided our youngest, 9, will be kept at home with his 3 other siblings who have had their school/college and uni shut.
How can 3 of them be deemed at risk and he be fine to go to school? At best he will go when his sister returns to secondary school on the 18th. I’m not going to have him be the experiment the government will then decide was the wrong choice.
I am stocking up (again!) on workbooks from Amazon and will go over old Bitesize classes. I am so lucky that I am at home and can do this, I don’t have childcare to organise etc. It must be an absolute nightmare for working parents.

Benjispruce2 · 02/01/2021 09:52

It’s harder for teachers as they have to teach keyworker chn and supply online tasks for those at home. Not everything can be taught online so it’s hard to maintain equality between the two groups. Also sometimes the keyworker group are together despite ages so it’s hard to teach a 5 year old and a 10 year old in one group.

chaosisaladder · 02/01/2021 09:52

@poshme yeah, I’m not a policy maker (fortunately). I would imagine there could be a rota system or something so those who do work the next few weeks would get summer off. I’m a nurse and I have had to really adjust and be inconvenienced during this pandemic, we all do.

Bikingbear · 02/01/2021 09:55

Adulthuman
It was a bonkers time; in the days I was teaching 12 pupils in the classroom and in the evenings, often running into the nights, I was creating online content for the pupils who were still learning at home and preparing classroom lessons for my in-school bubble. My own kids didn't get a look in.

That sums up exactly why blended part-time learning isn't sustainable. I really feel for teachers, they've been given a raw deal. All the hours wasted trying to split schools into bubbles of 15 kids (that was a Scottish thing) classes his 32 kids so not even a simple divide the class in preparation for blended learning - then they realized that it wouldn't work as you found out the hard way.
People can stretch themselves, burn the candle at both ends for a short time but it's not something anyone can do for months and months on end.

Like the NHS many years of under funding fewest hospital beds per head of population and largest class sizes in Europe. I hope they'll be long term changes in both.

Alfiemoon1 · 02/01/2021 09:56

I desperately want schools to stay open my ds is year 11 but I think they need to close at the moment

whataballbag · 02/01/2021 10:02

I'm a single working parent and really need schools to be open, however I'm now at the point where I'd rather just lose my job and income than send DS1 into school. Especially seeing what some of the parents of his class have been up to on SM.

Income can always be replaced

Elle887 · 02/01/2021 10:03

I hope so. I am 31 weeks pregnant and DS is in reception with a girl whose mother couldn’t give a shit. I have known the mother for a while and have her on social media and all throughout the Christmas period she’s been partying and mixing with loads of others. Now my son has to go back to school with her daughter.

cansu · 02/01/2021 10:23

hedgehogger1 I have just searched for that article and although I can find it on google as a link, the article has obviously been pulled and has not been reported elsewhere. I am absolutely appalled that someone in government has clearly been using their influence to pull it as they simply don't want us to know about it. Unbelievable!

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 02/01/2021 10:27

@cansu

hedgehogger1 I have just searched for that article and although I can find it on google as a link, the article has obviously been pulled and has not been reported elsewhere. I am absolutely appalled that someone in government has clearly been using their influence to pull it as they simply don't want us to know about it. Unbelievable!
Have all the threads been pulled too? There were quite a few last night on here.
PatchworkElmer · 02/01/2021 10:28

If they shut the schools then I think early years care needs to close too. I think in London, nurseries are still open?

(I am the working parent of a pre-schooler, before anyone jumps on me and says I have no understanding of the issues this would cause for working parents).

PatchworkElmer · 02/01/2021 10:30

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss one of them definitely was- I think the deletion message was something like the situation not being clear enough so they were removing for the time being?

cansu · 02/01/2021 10:32

yes looks like they are being deleted. It should be relatively simple for a story like this to be verified so you have to wonder why it isn't being clarified if it is untrue. Why has it simply been made to disappear? I wonder also if the nurse has been told to stay quiet?

noblegiraffe · 02/01/2021 10:45

families are safer with kids in school snd nursery in that very controlled environment . In reality what will happen is that the streets will be full of secondary pupils roaming around in large groups

Why do people keep posting shit about schools being ‘very controlled environments’? They’re not at all. Full of secondary pupils roaming around in large groups for a start, and then crammed indoors with no mitigation measures.

If schools were very controlled environments then school kids wouldn’t be the most infected subset of the population.

Redwinestillfine · 02/01/2021 10:47

@cansu

yes looks like they are being deleted. It should be relatively simple for a story like this to be verified so you have to wonder why it isn't being clarified if it is untrue. Why has it simply been made to disappear? I wonder also if the nurse has been told to stay quiet?
Yahoo news has it now
Rosebel · 02/01/2021 10:51

So children should go to school in the holidays but not staffed by exhausted teachers?
When do children get a break? If they're doing online learning all term and school during the holidays where's their down time? I don't think it's good for children or teachers to work without a break.

Xenia · 02/01/2021 10:54

Yes, thankfully nurseries will remain open in tier 4. Unless we want no money to pay nurses and closed hospitals parents need to work for the good of those with CV19.

Thefeep · 02/01/2021 10:56

[quote Knackeredmommy]@Thefeep really? Our school offered to all EHCP children, unless they're staffing issues all EHCP & vulnerable children should be offered a place. Maybe not if there are health needs? [/quote]
No I know lots of children that were left without support or education due to staffing issues. My son’s sn school and college closed completely.

80sColourfulChristmas · 02/01/2021 10:57

[quote 2021hasalowbenchmarktobebetter]@80sColourfulChristmas

Totally understand why you'd be feeling stressed, and I would hope that the school would have your child in under the vulnerable category.[/quote]
Apparently not! The head teacher said they couldn't as my child is not 'bad enough' to require an EHCP

inquietant · 02/01/2021 10:58

Why do people keep posting shit about schools being ‘very controlled environments’?

People seem to be increasingly saying what they wish was true, as they can't handle the reality of where we are and where we might be headed.

thegreenlight · 02/01/2021 11:00

The reason remote working is more successful in other countries is because we have removed the accountability of children in their education and foisted all the accountability to their teachers. In Asia, children are expected to be motivated themselves to complete work and are responsible for their own achievement. In the U.K., if a child doesn’t achieve or put the effort in it is the fault of the teacher - they are not engaging enough, not scaffolding or supporting them enough. Education has become passive so children are not able to motivate themselves without someone chivvying them along. Parents who are complaining about this, you have one or two children to do this with, imagine doing it with a class of 34! If they don’t make progress, it’s the teacher’s fault and not the child. It’s a toxic dynamic that we are reaping the rewards of with remote learning. Enjoy.

cansu · 02/01/2021 11:00

Redwinestillfine thanks, I would just like to know if it is true or not. It is becoming increasingly difficult to know what is and isn't true. I would really like to see the data the government looked at when they made their decision on primary schools. If decisions were more transparent then everyone could have more confidence in the system. I was also appalled to hear Boris Johnson say that schools were safe. It is possible to advocate for education without telling outright lies which again just make the government look more dishonest.

80sColourfulChristmas · 02/01/2021 11:01

[quote Saylethewayles]**@80sColourfulChristmas Flowers for you and all others struggling. Its so hard.

If your DC has SEN or behavioural issues will they not qualify for a vulnerable child place at school? I hope so.[/quote]
Nope! My child doesn't have an EHCP (not needed) so the school wouldn't even entertain having my child in during first lockdown