So it looks like we're being prepared for children not to go back until after Easter

[choosingcrumble]

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/children-face-months-at-home-as-schools-stay-shut-until-easter-wp5ltpm82?fbclid=IwAR1l0gRSzuJLIv508reRmBEojbYfoGOsWwe3_pBFmKpA4EbI1IgC5dKC2uE

I suspected it wouldn't be until then, let's just hope that it doesn't stretch into the summer.

I’m off on holiday (if it isn’t cancelled) on the 24th July. This was the holiday I was due to go on last July. I won’t be the only teacher with summer plans and I can’t see the government reimbursing holiday fees, insurance costs etc.

Do you think parents dont have a summer holidays booked ? I'd be willing to move mine to Spring or Autumn half term if it meant helping whole generation of children. I think lots of people would.

@LickEmbysmiling

Cat girl, that's interesting why was it deemed illegal for teachers to ask for a safe working environment under health and safety legislation?

It wasn’t withdrawn or deemed illegal.

You keep on banging that drum. It doesn’t make it true. Unions have totally and utterly exploited this horrific situation and thrown a generation of children under the bus.

What complete and utter bollox. I am not a teacher. In fact have no school age children now. So no axe to grind for either party - but if you seriously relieve that teaching unions have the sort of power you suggest - then you need to go borrow your other brain cell so you have two to rub together when you give your head a wobble..

...: do you really believe that an 'oh so powerful union ' .. would not have closed schools as soon as the rates started rising and their members were right in the front line with no PPE ? No they don't have that sort of power.

Here's an idea. Perhaps schools are closed to protect more people from DYING. The average age in ICU is 60 !! . We have nearly 100k dead. The highest death rate in the WORLD per head of the population. So yes. It's a shame that kids aren't in school at the moment. That some are finding it hard. That is undoubtedly difficult. BUT these are all things that will get better over time.

You don't recover from death.
People need to look at the bbc news special report all last week on the 6pm news with a reporter and cameraman showing the reality of what NHS are trying to deal with. With many many people in their 20s, 30s & 40's on ventilators. The healthy 28 yr old married for two years, where the consultant had to call his wife and 'prepare her' fir the fact he will almost certainly die.

Are people really so stupid that they can't see why we can't open ANYTHING up further until this pressure on the NHS is relieved. The time is now for people to stop thinking about how difficult it is to have your child at home - and instead think how lucky they are not to be in a hospital with their life hanging by a thread.

DS’s school have introduced longer breaks between lessons so students can have screen breaks. A number of the students use these breaks to go on PS or X-box!

I think Gav is being forced to make this announcement because one, he needs to cover up the PP cut.

Two, it is abundantly clear so many people have pinned their hope (falsely) on vaccines being a quick fix. Schools were are mess, opening up whilst we still have high infections will land us in this situation again by March. They know it and keep saying so on all the press conferences. It’s not about keeping teachers safe, it’s about keeping an NHS available for all. The source even said it was to manage parental expectations.

So many people can’t see the big picture. Probably doesn’t help that the Govt have sent mixed messages to be fair. It’s why people clearly don’t understand the problem.

I think students will go back after the summer break. No earlier.

I think the time off now could be used to streamline curriculums

Do we need half the stuff in it? I’m talking secondary really. Wasn’t our education system due a shakeup? Now might be the time

@LickEmbysmiling the were looking at proposing a blanket S44 across an entire sector which doesn't work . You can't just say "schools are not safe" you'd need to show why you had a reasonable belief that you were in serious, imminent danger and just a blanket "becuase schools are not safe" would have been open to challenge.

The working environment for a teacher in a inner city school with 80% of children in under key worker provision and high COVID case rates would be very different to those of a teacher in a tiny rural school with 2 children in and hardly and COVID cases in that area. The proposed blanket application was too broad and would have left people exposed if the employer could show it was not reasonable for them to believe there was a serious and imminent danger.

I heart,

My dd got nothing last march and now at secondary gets full time table every day, she followes on her phone, there is a lap top but she prefers her phone in bed.

Ofsted want to know about school not providing proper on line provision.

And as schools are close is there a monetary saving?

People still peddling the line that it was teaching unions and not massively out of control covid that closed schools.

Idiots.

This is a horrendous and unprecedented situation but, assuming that people mixing is a risk, I am not sure what they can do right now to make classrooms “safer”. All the children would need to wear medical grade masks the whole time they are at school, which is just not practical.

@Itisasecret

The reason this is coming out now is because....there has been a stealth cut to PP. The money that supports all the vulnerable children that people declare to care about so much.

They haven’t just suddenly got a clue and decided to help parents by giving them notice. It’s to hide shittier news. About actually vulnerable children.

I’ve entirely missed the news of the cut to PP, and I’m normally very on top of the news. That’s shocking.

Cat girl in see, but I don't see how that would hold up especially in the light of a new strain.

@Nellodee

If this is the case, I think one of the first things we need to see is a loosening on restrictions about seeing other people outside, particularly for children. I think Scotland have got much better rules on this than England have.

This, totally agree.

catgirl the section 44 proposal was when primary schools were fully opened at the start of January. Not keyworker provision, fully open.

Even Boris realised that was a batshit idea and closed primaries as well as secondaries a day later. The teachers were correct that schools were unsafe environments.

[quote catgirl1976]@LickEmbysmiling the were looking at proposing a blanket S44 across an entire sector which doesn't work . You can't just say "schools are not safe" you'd need to show why you had a reasonable belief that you were in serious, imminent danger and just a blanket "becuase schools are not safe" would have been open to challenge.

The working environment for a teacher in a inner city school with 80% of children in under key worker provision and high COVID case rates would be very different to those of a teacher in a tiny rural school with 2 children in and hardly and COVID cases in that area. The proposed blanket application was too broad and would have left people exposed if the employer could show it was not reasonable for them to believe there was a serious and imminent danger.[/quote]
It wasn’t withdrawn.

See also the news in this morning’s Observer of an increase in child abuse and neglect. It’s almost as though schools have a role to play in spotting vulnerable children...

@starrynight19 I didn't say it was deemed to be illegal I said it was legally flawed.

And NEU withdrew the S44 template letter (though refused to admit they had been wrong in proposing a mass S44 exercise across the education industry - they would have been much better advising people to use it in indivual circumstances where an employee could reasonably show they believed there was a serious and imminent danger for example in a high case area with many children still in school)

@catgirl1976

People seem to think the teaching unions have a lot more power than they actually do.

This.

he needs to cover up the PP cut.

Is this the change in census date story?

Shocking how unwilling the government are to put money into schools and vulnerable kids.

I have 2 doing their GCSEs and one doing A-levels.

I don’t think their futures are hanging by a thread, nor do I think they are being failed by the current lock down.

The teachers know their students and have known them for the last 5 years, their capabilities based on their work ethnic and class work plus assessments over the last two years will be a good indication of their results.

You need to accept this situation and give the children some hope for their own futures. People managed before without qualifications and they can again.

[quote catgirl1976]@LickEmbysmiling the were looking at proposing a blanket S44 across an entire sector which doesn't work . You can't just say "schools are not safe" you'd need to show why you had a reasonable belief that you were in serious, imminent danger and just a blanket "becuase schools are not safe" would have been open to challenge.

The working environment for a teacher in a inner city school with 80% of children in under key worker provision and high COVID case rates would be very different to those of a teacher in a tiny rural school with 2 children in and hardly and COVID cases in that area. The proposed blanket application was too broad and would have left people exposed if the employer could show it was not reasonable for them to believe there was a serious and imminent danger.[/quote]
This is interesting.

The elephant in the room is unfortunately that once they start mixing, children become disease vectors. Them being at school completely undermines the wfh initiative, the household mixing rules and social distancing rules.

BoJo spelled it out clearly for us in his lockdown speech when he called them vectors.

How school closures impact DC is the lesser evil when compared to virus infection rates. As someone without children it doesn’t affect me but it means we could potentially get some normality back if closures remain in place for a longer period.

Parents have to remember that they are not the centre of the world even though their Dc are precious to them. To the greater good they’re just another cog. It’s a hard pill to swallow but try to have some objectivity when looking at the wider picture.

@Sparkles715

I’m a teacher and a parent and want schools open sooner. WHY won’t the government just take steps to make schools safer? I would love to see all children in at least one day a week in small groups. It could probably be more. Some school is better than no school. WHY do the government seem to insist on full time or nothing?

Totally agree - if this is to go on for months then they have to introduce some form of rotas so children can have some onsite education.

The Government are complete shitheads - apart from saying they want schools to be open they are unwilling to introduce measures that would allow the sector to do that more safely.Where is the plan to actually get children back into schools??

They are absolutely hanging working parents out to dry. If they don't present some plan for measures they are implementing to help re-open schools once rates have gone down then I will be seriously considering asking my employer for the keyworker letter or to be furloughed (our sector is on the Governments critical worker list but I am wfh and my actual role is not directly relevant to the Covid response) but working parents cant be expected to manage months more of tearing themselves in two !!