The EARLIEST schools will open is 8th March!!!

[dingledongle]

I cannot believe this!

Stunned!

My kids have lost one year of school and are going to be paying for this for decades to come

FreekStar

“Nobody's children have lost a year of school!“

Our youngest has. At Sixth Form College, he’s been working at home since mid-Feb last year. His dad is CEV and we could see the writing in the wall. He has done his very best. He had no live online provision until this latest lockdown began. At last, he has a full timetable and a level playing field with his peers.
Despite the disadvantage he has been working with for nearly a year now, we all support keeping schools closed until the vaccination rollout is far more widespread, infection rates are low and ICUs have wiggle room.

Bert that makes sense. I think there’s something very upsetting and close about DMs like that and teachers shouldn’t have to read it. Most professions have layers of protection online. Sadly not all now I think if it

@ChimaeraEgg so many of our parents have found this lockdown so much more difficult due to the expectations on them to homeschool as well as work this time.
I completely agree they should be supported. Schools have been put under pressure to provide a full school day online so this has been placed on the shoulders of parents and children. It’s a rock and a hard place.

I don't envy schools at all in all of this. It has been an impossible task for them to please everyone. My son is in reception and he gets 2 half hour zoom lessons a day, one at 9am and one at 1pm, plus online activities put up and ideas. However the head categorically says these don't have to be be done and there is no pressure to attend the zooms.

@ChimaeraEgg

Does ANYONE else on MN believe that school closures are 100% necessary and supports them wholeheartedly but also believes than working parents in particular are being asked to do the impossible and that children will suffer for it?

It seems on here you either believe that schools closing is something that has been done to selfishly save pensioners' lives while riding roughshod over children and their parents, or you believe that children will be fine and dandy and working parents just have to get on with it and stop whinging about parenting their own children. I've literally been accused of being both a lockdown fanaticist AND a covid denier on here

Seriously, does anyone have a nuanced viewpoint which can see both sides of the argument? Anyone?

I agree. I agree with school closures but f#ck me it’s hard work trying to homeschool 2 kids and work, especially as a single parent (also with a child with sn’s). Of course no one really wants their kids to miss a year of school but technically they aren’t. This time around there’s a lot more in place, my DD’s are accessing work online, it took a while to get used too but today dd managed 5 live lesson and probably did more than what she would do in school. Teachers are doing an amazing job managing live lessons and providing for key workers children.

I’m upset about today’s news but it’s no shock, until a certain amount of people are vaccinated and the numbers of people testing positive drop then I don’t think it’s safe for schools to fully open.

I also don’t beleive missing a year of being at school is going to effect children’s lives forever, most kids will catch up, of course they will remember the time they were stuck at home but it won’t scare them for life.

My kids were self isolating for 4 weeks with school closures after October half term so they had about 6 weeks teaching

No point in opening if half the kids are going to be isolating for weeks at a time, especially as the other half of the kids are in and getting a proper education.

People bleating about "losing a year of education" just need to re-adjust their thinking. The year groups who are mostly going to be affected are the kids in their exam years, but they have put things in place to make sure they aren't disadvantaged.

By the time the kids lower down the school come to sit exams, the exams will be adjusted to take in to account how much of the curriculum they have learned. They aren't going to be expected to answer an essay question on the Manchurian Crisis if they haven't been taught the Manchurian crisis, and no child's life is going to be affected in the long term because they didn't learn about the Manchurian crisis.

The purpose of education is not to ensure that children leave school armed with the same stuff in their heads having learned a fixed amount of knowledge. Beyond them learning the basic skills which are developed through primary school, the purpose of education is to give them the ability to think critically, the ability to "learn how to learn" and to give the state the ability to sort people by educational attainment so they can be assessed for FE or job suitability. Missing one year of school in the same way as their peers have missed one year of school will not put them at a disadvantage.

The only group of children who will lose out in any way are those who are already on the wrong side of the attainment gap and who will now be even further apart. As far as I am concerned the government should throw huge amounts of money at closing that gap so these kids have the same advantage as the kids of those who are weeping about "one lost year of education"

It would also be lovely if people would spare a thought for the thousands of children who have missed years of education because successive governments have failed them in providing for kids with additional needs, kids who are in hospital long term etc. And will continue to lose out after March 8th when your kid goes back to school. We've been fighting for years to try to get them what they are entitled to. Where were you then? Or does it only matter that your child is missing out?

@Nenevalleykayaker

Kids aren’t going to be ‘irreparably damaged’ for decades.

Most kids absolutely adore being off school, dossing about all day, having more screen time than usual, rediscovering board games, hom pom, the formerly mostly ignored back garden!, their immediate local green spaces, cycling, walking to the corner shop, and are knuckling down to remote learning just fine, certainly over age 11 they need barely any supervision at all thanks to well structured teaching online.

Many are spending more time outdoors than they ever did going for walks and getting fresh air.

Many are spending more time with their family, enjoying playing with siblings again, those bonds are growing.

When asked how their mental health is doing, my 11 and 13 year old shrug it off and say things like all their friends love being off school, admittedly missing seeing their friends in person, but they know that will get back to normal eventually.

They’re finding security and comfort in their home base and their family connections, and having grown up into a digital world, learning by screen is no big deal to them.

Where remote learning lacks, they’ll pick it up when they go back to school.

None of this probably applies to SEN kids and other disabilities and disorders of course, it is obvious they may struggle more. So that minority of children, indeed, will suffer.

But for most kids, they’re bloody loving the lockdowns in my experience.

These kids would beg to differ if they were still here to tell you about how this has affected them. twitter.com/LilMsOpinion/status/1351361654634774532?s=20

@ChimaeraEgg

Certainly no one on here should be moaning about their child falling far behind because they obviously have the means to access mumsnet

I am currently accessing MN on my phone; that doesn't necessarily mean I also have a laptop or tablet for my child(ren) to use.

I think it is massively naive to assume that all children have access to exactly what they need.

You have a phone you can access oak Academy. You can access worksheets online. If you can’t afford to print them out then write them out. We have had at least 20 Local families ask for old laptops to use for homeschooling and they have all been given them for free. There are so many free learning resources online.

I know it’s not a popular view but people who are moaning about their children not getting enough academic learning this year generally couldn’t be bothered to put a bit more effort in themselves. What else are you doing at weekends?? You can fit 2 days of homeschool in there if you really wanted to.

@Nenevalleykayaker

Kids aren’t going to be ‘irreparably damaged’ for decades.

Most kids absolutely adore being off school, dossing about all day, having more screen time than usual, rediscovering board games, hom pom, the formerly mostly ignored back garden!, their immediate local green spaces, cycling, walking to the corner shop, and are knuckling down to remote learning just fine, certainly over age 11 they need barely any supervision at all thanks to well structured teaching online.

Many are spending more time outdoors than they ever did going for walks and getting fresh air.

Many are spending more time with their family, enjoying playing with siblings again, those bonds are growing.

When asked how their mental health is doing, my 11 and 13 year old shrug it off and say things like all their friends love being off school, admittedly missing seeing their friends in person, but they know that will get back to normal eventually.

They’re finding security and comfort in their home base and their family connections, and having grown up into a digital world, learning by screen is no big deal to them.

Where remote learning lacks, they’ll pick it up when they go back to school.

None of this probably applies to SEN kids and other disabilities and disorders of course, it is obvious they may struggle more. So that minority of children, indeed, will suffer.

But for most kids, they’re bloody loving the lockdowns in my experience.

You cant speak for most kids. Mine are early primary. One is really feeling the isolation and pretty moody. With both parents working full time and too young to do many things unsupervised, there is zero walks, cycling, board games or heading to corner shops during the week or whatever idyllic picture you are conjuring. Lots of tears and fights to do school learning / Google classroom or anytime torn away from screens. I get they like security of mum and dad around all the time but part of school is to develop social skills and independence. They're also going to pick up on our increased stress as it's hard working and shouting "be quiet!" On every call + guilt of parental neglect.

This is very much at odds with my experience both professionally and personally.

Many kids are not knuckling down to home learning and are barely getting outside at all. You make it sound idyllic which it most certainly is not for most children or their parents.

And from my experience children who have got even further behind over the last year are the children who struggle with learning anyway (and it it these that desperately need 1 to 1 extra classes provided by the government) and those that will struggle to do very well in life anyway due to their parents (and so far we, as a country, haven’t worked out how to solve this one yet).

@starrynight19

Reality is when schools opened after lockdown one one in 1,000 people had covid now it’s one in 55. Given how many children on here had isolation periods then what do some people think is going to happen if we open schools as normal right now.

There will probably be fewer isolation incidents because more people have already had it.

@Nenevalleykayaker

Kids aren’t going to be ‘irreparably damaged’ for decades.

Most kids absolutely adore being off school, dossing about all day, having more screen time than usual, rediscovering board games, hom pom, the formerly mostly ignored back garden!, their immediate local green spaces, cycling, walking to the corner shop, and are knuckling down to remote learning just fine, certainly over age 11 they need barely any supervision at all thanks to well structured teaching online.

Many are spending more time outdoors than they ever did going for walks and getting fresh air.

Many are spending more time with their family, enjoying playing with siblings again, those bonds are growing.

When asked how their mental health is doing, my 11 and 13 year old shrug it off and say things like all their friends love being off school, admittedly missing seeing their friends in person, but they know that will get back to normal eventually.

They’re finding security and comfort in their home base and their family connections, and having grown up into a digital world, learning by screen is no big deal to them.

Where remote learning lacks, they’ll pick it up when they go back to school.

None of this probably applies to SEN kids and other disabilities and disorders of course, it is obvious they may struggle more. So that minority of children, indeed, will suffer.

But for most kids, they’re bloody loving the lockdowns in my experience.

Sorry, it didn't pick up the quote before. I was referring to this post.

Today I let my seven-year-old do my hair in some ridiculous fashion whilst on a video Zoom meeting with a client. Maybe I didn't look ultra professional but needs must. It kept her busy and let me do what I needed to do!

Homeschooling is tough and I feel like I'm darting between my work, helping with her work, connecting her to Zoom classes and cooking endless meals! It's been so hard and I can't count the days left, it will be overwhelming. The good news is it's so busy the days go quickly if I just take it one day at a time and don't let myself think of how long it might last.

If you need some ideas for budget lunches for the kids in lockdown, here are a few - www.sweetpotatosoup.co.uk/post/kids-lunches-on-a-budget

I know it’s not a popular view but people who are moaning about their children not getting enough academic learning this year generally couldn’t be bothered to put a bit more effort in themselves. What else are you doing at weekends?? You can fit 2 days of homeschool in there if you really wanted to.

I'm not having an issue with home school, because I'm working in a very flexible job with a DH who is a high earner, and between us we own two laptops and one tablet.

I'm also not so arrogant to believe that every parent struggling with homeschool just isn't trying hard enough. I find it hard enough to get my 5 year old to engage with those oak videos on a massive computer screen, let alone a tiny phone. We live in one of the most deprived London boroughs. There are children in my son's class living in high rise 2 bedroom flats with four other siblings. The school cannot provide a laptop or tablet for every child who needs one. Many are going without.

Mine are fairly neutral about it, better than last time.

But they love school and more importantly seeing their friends.

I was having a phone call with my boss this afternoon and my son was just having one of those days where he needed something every 30 seconds. In the end I just said look, this isn't happening, can we pick this up tomorrow so I can sort him out? She could not have cared less, because she had to do the same for her DC earlier in the week.

That's what I mean when I say some of the onus here has got to be on employers.

My son can honestly take school or leave school. He hasn't got much interest in other children.

I can well see that for some the loss of the social stuff must be devastating.

I was excited actually, the thought that it would be after Easter was terrifying but the thought that the schools would be opened after half term with these death figures was even more terrifying. 15 February + 3 weeks sounds like a sensible choice. I hope that people will stick to rules in the meantime and the transmission will reduce.
I want my DD to go back to school but I want her school to be a safe place. And no, she doesn’t have immunity neither do I or DH, we were very careful since February last year. I’ve got damaged skin on my hands because of all these washing and sanitising. Home schooling is tough as DD has additional needs, so the life in lockdown but I can’t see what else could be done considering the level of infection.

There will probably be fewer isolation incidents because more people have already had it.

@bumbleymummy with current modelling suggesting only 1 in 5 having had covid that’s highly unlikely.

It's a pandemic what do people expect? I have a teen in year nine he's getting live lessons via teams which is far better than the last lockdown and another child ina special school whose getting one zoom lesson per day and tasks on Dojo none of this is ideal but it's a pandemic lots of teachers will be vulnerable or have family members that are vulnerable.

@CrackOpenTheGin really not sure you want children to be forced to do an extra two days of schoolwork at the weekend, just because their parents are working so don't have time to teach them during the week.

It is unrealistic to expect parents to help their children catch up on the missed school, we're not teachers, we don't know the methods they're taught. Your attitude is very uncompromising.

Everyone is trying to do their best in difficult circumstances.

My child has lost 3 years of schooling due to a chronic illness.
I have sympathy but in the scheme of things what’s a year. And no, it’s not early years my child has missed, it’s all senior years and exams.

@MintyMabel

My kids were self isolating for 4 weeks with school closures after October half term so they had about 6 weeks teaching

No point in opening if half the kids are going to be isolating for weeks at a time, especially as the other half of the kids are in and getting a proper education.

People bleating about "losing a year of education" just need to re-adjust their thinking. The year groups who are mostly going to be affected are the kids in their exam years, but they have put things in place to make sure they aren't disadvantaged.

By the time the kids lower down the school come to sit exams, the exams will be adjusted to take in to account how much of the curriculum they have learned. They aren't going to be expected to answer an essay question on the Manchurian Crisis if they haven't been taught the Manchurian crisis, and no child's life is going to be affected in the long term because they didn't learn about the Manchurian crisis.

The purpose of education is not to ensure that children leave school armed with the same stuff in their heads having learned a fixed amount of knowledge. Beyond them learning the basic skills which are developed through primary school, the purpose of education is to give them the ability to think critically, the ability to "learn how to learn" and to give the state the ability to sort people by educational attainment so they can be assessed for FE or job suitability. Missing one year of school in the same way as their peers have missed one year of school will not put them at a disadvantage.

The only group of children who will lose out in any way are those who are already on the wrong side of the attainment gap and who will now be even further apart. As far as I am concerned the government should throw huge amounts of money at closing that gap so these kids have the same advantage as the kids of those who are weeping about "one lost year of education"

It would also be lovely if people would spare a thought for the thousands of children who have missed years of education because successive governments have failed them in providing for kids with additional needs, kids who are in hospital long term etc. And will continue to lose out after March 8th when your kid goes back to school. We've been fighting for years to try to get them what they are entitled to. Where were you then? Or does it only matter that your child is missing out?

Excellent post,especially the bit about developing critical thinking; but the rest of it is also true.

It’s such crap that kids will fall behind. Fall behind what? Stupid standards set by politicians that stress them out? This NEEDED to happen to reduce the pressure on children and teens.Hopefully it will mean a whole new method of assessment. Kids are under ridiculous pressure.

It’s a dangerous narrative. I’m a teacher, most teachers think they system needs resetting to allow for more freedom and individuality. I’ve spent 1/4 century dealing with stressed out tearful adolescents.

Look to the future, not the past where kids were at breaking point.