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

We're not coping very well either in our little flat and we have another month of this, the six hours of school are so important to us;what about the 40%school children that are attending? Are those children immune to covid or what?

Bottom line is, every child has a right to be educated, and every parent has a responsibility to educate their children. We do not get to abdicate our responsibilities by paying taxes, and we do not have a right to expect other people to do what we are not willing to do for ourselves

That's fine, we'll just close all the schools and sell them off for development. We don't need teachers, parents are perfectly capable of doing the job of a professional who has trained for years and in many cases also has years of experience.

Such sanctimonious claptrap. Even if you are a teacher yourself you can't teach everything because you don't have the subject knowledge. You can of course switch on BBC Bitesize (I would if I had younger dc) but is anyone really trying to claim on here that it is a long term alternative for most children?

I could have taught my son history and German - I'd be hard pushed to teach DT or physics.

[quote bumbleymummy]@ElliFAntspoo There are other routes into university rather than standard exams in school but they do typically require evidence of you being educated/having knowledge to a certain level eg some kind of portfolio or sitting the exams as a private candidate. Being a nice/friendly/reliable person isn’t going to be enough. If you want to be a doctor/architect rather than just running an office then you will need to train as one.[/quote]
The point was, if you raise happy confident, intelligent, and honest children who have a passion for the world around them, it doesn't matter how much we try to destroy the world around them, they will win out every time.

@CALLMEMUM

We're not coping very well either in our little flat and we have another month of this, the six hours of school are so important to us;what about the 40%school children that are attending? Are those children immune to covid or what?

No they are not immune. They are all potential carriers. The odds of children getting sick is thankfully very low. But the odds of parents getting ill is much higher. And of all the children who are likely to be asymptomatic carriers, the children of key workers are it. Their parents come into contact with far more Covid+ people, and are exposed to much higher doses of the virus than the rest of us, so the very least we can do is cut them some slack, and leave them the F alone to do their jobs.

Are those children immune to covid or what?

No, bubbles are closing in schools still. In my school it's not teacher cases closing the bubbles either.

@ElliFAntspoo yeah, it’s a nice thought but I’m afraid it’s a bit too simplistic. I was always a very confident, outgoing, intelligent, happy and honest person but that alone would not have gotten me to where I am.

I think self confidence and motivation and curiosity are invaluable skills to have and are all too wanting in many students unfortunately but opportunities need to be there as well.

Maybe we should campaign for all children at school and college repeat this year . Put a mobile classroom extra in each school so Septembers reception start as normal , year 6 repeat the year giving secondary schools the opportunity to help the present yr7,8,9,10,11 get extra help . Colleges catch up and those who have missed their first year in uni repeat it too at no extra cost

‘I’m sorry little Steven your granny and grandpa have both died from Covid. But look on the bright side, at least you can do your times tables now.’

@Owl55

Maybe we should campaign for all children at school and college repeat this year . Put a mobile classroom extra in each school so Septembers reception start as normal , year 6 repeat the year giving secondary schools the opportunity to help the present yr7,8,9,10,11 get extra help . Colleges catch up and those who have missed their first year in uni repeat it too at no extra cost

Hmmm, that’s presuming schools are a one-form entry.

There are several schools in my town with 5 classes in each year-there wouldn’t be room on site for them to have 5 huts for the 5 reception classes, then staff to fill them, let alone enough portacabins in the country to give everyone the right number!

We have had our second survey for online learning this week...😄 All the hard work getting everyone on line and up to date with technology will be the new ongoing during the 2020’s. They only know technology, even I get excited when my son completes literacy and the American woman says “Great Job” 😄

I'm probably going to be slated for this but sometimes I question why parents have had children, you are lucky enough to have this opportunity to spend time and very valuable time with them. Education can be maintained if you support their learning at home, even those not fortunate enough to have access to lap tops, the BBC and other channels are showing educational programmes, you can borrow books from the library, yes I know they are closed but you can request books by phone.
Children have managed home learning already for many reasons; my daughter for example missed most of Y10, &all of Y11 due to illness but still achieved 13x GCSE's all at A & B, yes she is bright but self taught using revision guides.
Apart from illness other children miss big chunks due to mental health issues, war, and culture, but learn from what is available and where possible parents and carers who express an interest.
The thing about these lock downs is that they are used to save lives; possibly yours and that of your children. What can be more important?

[quote bumbleymummy]@ElliFAntspoo yeah, it’s a nice thought but I’m afraid it’s a bit too simplistic. I was always a very confident, outgoing, intelligent, happy and honest person but that alone would not have gotten me to where I am.

I think self confidence and motivation and curiosity are invaluable skills to have and are all too wanting in many students unfortunately but opportunities need to be there as well.[/quote]
Are you saying that you would not have been a success without a piece of paper the say you were going to be one? If one goes into the workplace with a singular goal, then of course there are going to be obstacles. But again, singlemindedness and tenacity may have got you somewhere just as meaningful and rewarding if you had been without your qualifications.

@Shell4429

‘I’m sorry little Steven your granny and grandpa have both died from Covid. But look on the bright side, at least you can do your times tables now.’

Lol. If a parent can't teach a child to count, you really have to wonder why they are a parent in the first place, and whether or not it was by choice.

Maybe we should campaign for all children at school and college repeat this year . Put a mobile classroom extra in each school so Septembers reception start as normal , year 6 repeat the year giving secondary schools the opportunity to help the present yr7,8,9,10,11 get extra help . Colleges catch up and those who have missed their first year in uni repeat it too at no extra cost

And in the real world teachers are buying their own stapler, paying for photocopying by taking it home as there is no budget for it at school, buying students pens and paying for exercise books out of their own wage.

It's never going to happen.

@SallyB392

I'm probably going to be slated for this but sometimes I question why parents have had children, you are lucky enough to have this opportunity to spend time and very valuable time with them. Education can be maintained if you support their learning at home, even those not fortunate enough to have access to lap tops, the BBC and other channels are showing educational programmes, you can borrow books from the library, yes I know they are closed but you can request books by phone. Children have managed home learning already for many reasons; my daughter for example missed most of Y10, &all of Y11 due to illness but still achieved 13x GCSE's all at A & B, yes she is bright but self taught using revision guides. Apart from illness other children miss big chunks due to mental health issues, war, and culture, but learn from what is available and where possible parents and carers who express an interest. The thing about these lock downs is that they are used to save lives; possibly yours and that of your children. What can be more important?

I get why people have children. I don't get where all the self entitlement comes from. We have an responsibility to feed, raise, educate and protect our children. We are not entitled to expect or demand other people do that for us. When did the world become so selfish?

Sorry, meant to say I agree with the sentiment, Sally.

@OverTheRainbowLiesOz

Maybe we should campaign for all children at school and college repeat this year . Put a mobile classroom extra in each school so Septembers reception start as normal , year 6 repeat the year giving secondary schools the opportunity to help the present yr7,8,9,10,11 get extra help . Colleges catch up and those who have missed their first year in uni repeat it too at no extra cost

And in the real world teachers are buying their own stapler, paying for photocopying by taking it home as there is no budget for it at school, buying students pens and paying for exercise books out of their own wage.

It's never going to happen.

Yes, but we are entitled to it! And if we don't get it we'll stomp our feet.

Lol. If a parent can't teach a child to count, you really have to wonder why they are a parent in the first place, and whether or not it was by choice

@ElliFAntspoo

Oh the irony in your post. Absolutely clueless if you think it’s that simple...... I can only assume

You have very young children or adult children.

Don’t have any children

Are a SAHP so don’t have to juggle your work with homeschooling

You’ve got a big house with plenty of outdoor space

Or

You’re lucky enough to have a child that thrives at home and doesn’t need much supervision!!!

Whatever the reasons for your overly simplistic and ignorant comment, you should perhaps think before you type...

So agree TableFlowerss, what an entitled, judgy, nasty comment. Multiplication is actually a lot more complex than just “learning to count” anyway, and any child with SEN can find the differentiation between the 2/ even basic maths mind boggling. There’s just no need to make such sweeping, general assumptions about parents or their child’s ability.

@sundowners

So agree TableFlowerss, what an entitled, judgy, nasty comment. Multiplication is actually a lot more complex than just “learning to count” anyway, and any child with SEN can find the differentiation between the 2/ even basic maths mind boggling. There’s just no need to make such sweeping, general assumptions about parents or their child’s ability.

I know. There’s some absolute shight spouted on here at times. They’re clueless to things that don’t affect them.

I think if parents want to campaign for anything after this horrendous year a more realistic idea would be to lobby the Government for decent funding for schools, put back the support staff (especially with regard to mental health / counselling - which will be very much needed) and TA's. Also address the teacher shortages.

That would be amazing.

@ElliFAntspoo
Lol. If a parent can't teach a child to count, you really have to wonder why they are a parent in the first place, and whether or not it was by choice.

I'm sorry?
Could you explain what you mean by this, because I'm quite sure you didn't mean to sound like such an appalling human being.

@sundowners

So agree TableFlowerss, what an entitled, judgy, nasty comment. Multiplication is actually a lot more complex than just “learning to count” anyway, and any child with SEN can find the differentiation between the 2/ even basic maths mind boggling. There’s just no need to make such sweeping, general assumptions about parents or their child’s ability.

It was a comment in response to a poster quipping about blaming a child for its grandparents dying. If yous can really sanction passing the guilt of Covid deaths onto our children without passing comment, and then lash out at someone who does pass comment, maybe there is something else wrong here.

It will be fine, kids are resilient and will bounce back. I say this as someone who's teacher was absolutely useless when I was 9/10 and I turned out fine. It's exhausting but summer will be here before you know it and that first day they go back will feel like a holiday/massage.