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

When they announced lock down at the beginning of January , they said schools would not be going back until at least half term (meaning that that would be the earliest, not that they would definitely going back immediately after ht.) And that depended on vaccinations and other factors .

The same people that thought he promised schools would open o all after half term were probably the same ones who believed the first lockdown would be 3 weeks, when they had always said they would review in 3 weeks.

The government have made enough u turns and sprung all manner of last minute changes on schools, I think it is better to give more warning than make decisions and then reverse them 24 hours later.

My children dislike remote learning, and are desperately missing interaction with their peers (and my year 10 DD is stressing about the imapct on gcses) , i'm keeping them updated with things we know for sure. I think they would lose hope and motivation if they knew there was a possibility of being home a lot longer.

On "robust measures" to protect staff- last term we didn't have any staff cases. This term, we've had 3 (one picked up by LFT, so asymptomatic). Clearly, staff are able to distance more and take more precautions this term.

The difference is, cases in our local area have increased by over 10x since last term and the new variant is accounting for 25ish% of those cases.

Schools can do their best, but I don't think there is any way to 100% protect staff if they are open as normal.

Just seen that long Covid is an issue for some children.15%have symptoms after 5 weeks!!!!

I feel relieved that they aren't rushing back, and have left it that the 8th March is the earliest they'll open.

Otherwise we will be sliding back into lockdown before we know it.

My kids have lost one year of school
My ds has been largely shielding since March - with 4 weeks in during September (followed by self isolation and then bubble bursting) - even he has missed less than a year in school (about 8/9 months). And in that time he has been remote learning - so not without an education.

@bumbleymummy
I really wish they would antibody test children. I reckon a really high percentage of them are already immune. It’s mainly asymptomatic in children/young people.
I thought antibody tests couldn't definitively show immunity or inability to spread (as per nhs screenshot)

I don't see why year 6 need to go back! It's not an exam year.

Year 6 is an important transition year and they take SATs.

@FreekStar

I don't see why year 6 need to go back! It's not an exam year.

Preparation for moving up to secondary school perhaps? It’s a big event from the child’s perspective certainly.

Earlier than I expected tbh

SATs are cancelled.

@Loopylobes

The virus needs to be contained to the point that the numbers of people needing medical care do not exceed the care available. When this happens, our NHS staff will be put in the horrific position of telling people to go home and die when, at other times, they would have been treated.

Those people aren't just the old and the sick who would have died soon anyway (not that it would have made it any better). It could be anyone who needs medical care for any reason.

The virus being mild for most people doesn't change the potential for this nightmare situation to occur. Neither does the fact that children are missing school and parents are struggling to support them with home-schooling.

Children missing school isn't great. Hoardes of people dying simply because there isn't an ICU bed/oxygen/ventilator available for them is far worse. Some would be loved ones of those children who are missing school. How would they then be better off?

This sums up the situation and should be repeated frequently until some of the stupid fuckers on here get the message

SATs may be cancelled but there still needs to be teacher assessment.

I was not surprised after the two weeks notice was mentioned last week that it will be March 8th at the earliest, only the surprise that it was announced now, not two weeks and a few hours beforehand.

Bad news but uncertainty is a bad thing in itself, which has been reduced.

As was transition last year and, I expect, will be this year too. Rendering Y6 no more important any other year group but probably twice as stroppy about being in, in my experience.

@DareIask

Do you have alternative plan to address the problem?

Thousands are dying.

Agree. I'm fed up of people going on about schools being closed but what is the alternative unless schools can be made safer. It's not just the actual school , but many secondary ( and some primary ) school kids have to travel on packed public transport as well further compounding the problem. No one wants school to open more than me, I have a year 11 dd who is devastated at not being able to sit her GCSE's and a year 13 ds, but it has to be safe and I'm not convinced at the moment when that will be. I have a CEV husband and despite my dd being distraught at no school, she would be more distraught at bringing this virus home to her dad. Kids are resilient, they will catch up and I am confident extra help will be put in place to allow them to do this. Did someone mention summer school catch ups etc? I understand how hard it is for everyone but with 1700 deaths a day, there isn't much choice.

Not to belittle anyone’s worried but more of a reassurance my daughter missed 75 percent of her education for nearly 3 years and yes she is slightly behind but making progress to catching up with her peers.

@Benjispruce2

SATs may be cancelled but there still needs to be teacher assessment.

Teacher assessment is also cancelled.

It's the right decision. Disappointing for parents who are struggling with home schooling, but better than opening for a couple of weeks then closing again.

Perhaps they can shorten summer holidays to make up for lost time? Or just increase summer school facilities to help more children to catch up?

Not at my primary.

Everyone is having to adapt and get through whilst we are all in the PANDEMIC fgs. It is challenging but it is not like you are having to do this alone.

Outside of this situation, there are many parents out there having to struggle with kids health and very low attendance whilst watching other kids merrily skip into school.That is absolutely heartbreaking,

And to those saying this is a lost generation for education, Im sorry but thats just scaremongering. Someone in the paper today saying about her 4 and 6 year old not being able to catch up. Really. I have first hand experience and kids do catch up. Those in A level, GCSE year have been impacted and I am dealing with this but without the hysterics that some seem to have.

@MarshaBradyo - I thought the letter was brilliant. How good for teachers to have such as supportive head.

@marshabraydo the bit about how many applications he expects to receive once all the parents have passed their teacher training as they can apparently teach better than his staff.

Hmm12121 that's the thing though, not all children are. My DC are absolutely not being educated by their school at the moment. I am educating them myself. They are not receiving any live or recorded teaching from school, just reams of worksheets and pdfs I could source myself. School couldn't be less interested in mine and other parents' complaints. I have given up contact with school as it was making me so angry and anxious. So now I'm just teaching them myself. But not all families have the time or ability to do that. So there absolutely will be children out there not being educated at the moment.

@Parker231 The headmaster who wrote that comes across as an idiot.

@Littleposh

Earlier than I expected tbh

Me too - I doubt it will be that early.

Nobody I know in RL is "stunned"

i missed this was this the earliest for all schools