Which year groups back first?

[dippyegg32]

I'm guessing not too dissimilar to last time so secondary exam years, reception and year 1? With other year groups following within a fortnight so everyone gets at least two weeks before Easter.

If other countries can do rotas/masks and no keyworker places successfully then maybe it’s something we need to look at

If 26 out of 30 in some classes are key worker places then the definition of key worker is too wide. The schools basically are fully open and it will take far longer for the the ones remaining at home to get back to school. It needs to be looked at.

Our school has been incredibly strict on KW places this time. In June/July there were over 50% of children in on KW spaces which meant that they couldn’t accommodate even the priority year groups. The head knew that many of them were taking the piss (either twisting the guidance to make their jobs fit, or many cases where there was a SAHP) and so this time they only allowed where there were 2 KW parents and also had to be working out of the home. There are now around 10% kids in and guess what, the “key workers” from last time are managing perfectly well with their children at home like the rest of us. The online provision is tonnes better because the teachers actually have time to do it properly.

Perhaps if all schools tightened their guidance similarly then there would be capacity for rotas.

Week on, week off in primary. V strict critical worker criteria.
Week of teaching, focus English and maths. Week of activities on foundation subjects using Oak etc, tables practice and so on at home.

Not ideal, dull for teachers, but it's an emergency situation.

The issue is that one size doesn’t fit all. Lots of schools now have a 3 year GCSE so children make their choices in year 8 not year 9. Also, some schools are middle schools so children transition to these at year 4 and then move to upper school at year 9.

I doubt we'll never have a flexible system offered,
Middle schools - have a local ability to change for the system
GCSEs - 3 years is a choice. This could be reverted back to 2 years without too much hassle, if need be.

I think Reception and Y2 (why is Y1 always cited first?), Y6, Y1 & Y5 and then rest of primary.

Secondary is easier to manage blended.

@QueenPenny

I think Reception and Y2 (why is Y1 always cited first?), Y6, Y1 & Y5 and then rest of primary.

Secondary is easier to manage blended.

Year 1 are a bit less likely to be able to do work independently at home than Year 2-I think that’s all it is.

With prioritising certain year groups, are people wanting full time in reduced class sizes, a rota, or back as normal for those year groups.

And if nnot as normal... Who will do the home learning for the other year groups?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

With prioritising certain year groups, are people wanting full time in reduced class sizes, a rota, or back as normal for those year groups.

And if nnot as normal... Who will do the home learning for the other year groups?

True it only worked last time as the other years had very little provision.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

With prioritising certain year groups, are people wanting full time in reduced class sizes, a rota, or back as normal for those year groups.

And if nnot as normal... Who will do the home learning for the other year groups?

I actually think education wise and more beneficial for the children that part time rota would be better.

I work in primary, actually infants. I'd go for

Monday/Tuesday - 50% of each class, core subjects with some PE and wellbeing activities

Wednesday - Childcare provision for critical worker children, on a very strict basis supervised by TAs not involved in producing remote learning materials; teaching staff producing remote learning for foundation subjects and any vulnerable child phone calls. A short optional 20-20 min whole class video call for show and tell type activity led by the class teacher and ta if they have one. Full clean of class areas.

Thursday/Friday - as Mon/Tue for other 50%

When not in school - remote learning of pre recorded and/or set activities for foundation subjects; daily reading and phonics expectation based in work done in school, a general activity based masks and writing task which could be integrated into the foundation subject tasks.

However this would need a huge crack down on critical worker care with strict eligibility to reduce numbers. Only eligible is both parents are key workers and are working outside of the home, And them only being given part time attendance wherever possible, trying to keep same day each week as much as they can. We've found that our critical carer children tend to have the same day each week anyway. We also need to look at how these children are managed in countries where no critical worker childcare is offered.

Vulnerable children are often in part time at present here anyway so this group would be manageable.

It would mean that every child got access to live face to face teaching plus social contact with their friends. Core subject input could be done in school with follow up,activities set,

But it means more flexibility in the part of parents and employers too.

But surely some time in school is better than no time in school for the majority of children and families.

Plus where possible allow vulnerable children or those living with cev to have optional attendance. The compromise there maybe the input of core subjects though, so a way to manage this could be considered. Clearly teaching staff can't be expected to do both, but perhaps there is a way to combine the lesson slideshow with pre existing online lessons through bite size and oak academy. Not ideal but a compromise.

Also vulnerable staff could be allowed to work from home where possible and can be overseeing and monitoring remote learning for the other subjects. Again this depends on how many staff are vulnerable and how many could be spared. It may involve funding from central government to have longer term supply to cover those who are more vulnerable.

@Abraxan that is a brilliant plan

I am a primary teacher and I would like to see all of Reception and KS1 in first because it is harder for them to manage remote learning. I have a DC in year 6 and she is pretty independent with the home learning. As long as she got some time back before the summer I wouldn't feel it necessary for her year to be a priority.

The problem with having all of EYFS and KS1 back is that you’ll have jam-packed infant schools but junior schools standing empty.

It would be more sensible in my view, to have one or two year groups from each key stage back.

The reality is that much of the country already has lower rates than in November, and rates fell through November with schools in

Really?

In our area the rate was 150 in Nov and considered to be relaly high.
At the beginning of this lockdown it was 500.
Now is it around 200.
So, no, we are not back at even the beginning of Nov yet round here.

I think a plan like @Abraxan’s to get all children back in at least part time on a rota would be fairest

Or a poster from the US explained that they have split their class in 2 cohorts. Cohort A in for the morning concentrating on core subjects. Cohort B in during the afternoon.

In this scenario critical worker children would be in all day but in the afternoon session would do mostly self led art/ reading/ topic work/science (possibly supported by a TA) still in the same room for safeguarding and there shouldn’t be huge numbers in for full day.

cohort A would do same as critical workers but art /topic etc self led at home in the afternoon. cohort b would do self-led activities at home in the morning and then in school for taught core curriculum in afternoon.

Importantly this would allow distancing in the classrooms & smaller groups for teachers to go over the core subjects with to help catch up

My DC2 wasn’t in the cherry picked years to go back in school last year - home from March until July (while I wfh) Other DC was yr6 and back full time from May. Would have been far better if both had been able to go in p/t 2 days rather than one f/t and one not at all.

I am worried about DC2 - 5 months off last year in ks2 not one of the years people are suggesting as priority so could be months out of school this year too. Not likely to be targeted for any extra catch up help as (thankfully has ‘met expectations’) not swimming but treading water and may well start to sink.

DC yr7 coping well with full programme of online lessons. Would like them at some point to be able to go back for practicals but at school with over 2000 pupils makes sense to study from home for longer. DC2 primary 1 hr lesson per day can’t study alone, distracts me when working. Please DfE make a plan to get all primary back in part time!

@scissy my DD's state school used the Rota system in the summer to open to all years. It is larger than average (which helps), all year groups got 2 days a week and they kept a separate KW stream of mixed years as a separate bubble. Essentially for those few weeks they made KW places far less attractive and it was only used by ppl who really needed it, a surprising number of parents switched their kids back to regular "school"

This would make total sense as at my DCs primary they gave all key worker children f/t places that didn’t just cover when parents need to work. So last year the pharmacist working 2 days a week (& husband wfh) had 4 DC in f/t. The furloughed hairdresser with keyworker husband had 2 DC in critical worker hubs f/t
If critical workers DC are only in school on days when it’s essential as their parents are working it would allow space for a session in school for a lot more DC (whose parents are also working albeit not in frontline Covid response jobs).

@Abraxan has basically just described the system my DD's school used in the summer. They had the means to do it as a 3 form entry mind so there were staff available to monitor the home learning. But it can work. It was popular too, although I'll admit I didn't canvas the staff to get their opinions.

Y6, 7, 11, 13

I really hope the younger years of primary will go back soon because most won't be learning much at home. Face to face and hands on learning with teacher support is what works not lessons on video. Parents are doing most of the teaching and that is going to vary greatly from one parent to another.

We are awaiting further details on Friday next week, to give the 2 clear weeks notice we've been promised but the Welsh first minister has made it clear already that they are considering foundation phase (all of ks1) in Wales going back first.

And that will then be followed with a phased and flexible return, prioritising exam years (to do their teacher assessments in y11 hopefully that will have replaced exams), vocational courses and year 6 to allow of a good transition to high school - but that this will only happen once they've seen how well the foundation pupils return is - and we work on a 3 week review cycle so that may mean 3 weeks of foundation and KW pupils in school.

They have mentioned being flexible and want to look at the possibility of rotas and messing around with the structure of the school year.

To allow for rotas (I'd like to see half of my class in one week and half the other, perhaps one week doing Wed- Fri and the following week Mon - Tues so they are in school for part of each week, following up with a few days of home learning) then they'd need to really tighten up on the criteria for key workers.

I was annoyed last year at how we had to bend over backwards in our county to provide care for KW kids. The parents had access to full days of free childcare, with a free lunch provided. No charge for hours outside of the school day AND then they could still do the same in the holidays. I think we are shutting for half term as normal this year but haven't had that clarified yet.

KW care carried on last year when we did open on a rota in Wales in July for 3 weeks (8 per class in per day) but they had to choose between their day in the class or the KW care which happened in the hall. But we'd massively have to cull our numbers to even consider this. We've got 25% of each year in at the moment! No care on the premises for parents who are wfh would be a start when their child would then be able to access days in class too anyway.

I think we are shutting for half term as normal this year but haven't had that clarified yet.

I'm in England and we've had this confirmed for February half term. No key worker and vulnerable child provision, no remote learning provision - half term holiday as normal.

No drip to the media about rotas is apparent so looks like they will select certain years again.

half term holiday as normal

Except extremely fucking boring. Weekends are dire at the moment, I'm dreading 9 whole days in a row of it.

Once again people seem fine with them not bothering to do anything to make schools safer and reduce transmission.

Who cares what year groups go back if the end goal is to have them all back in the same overcrowded, underventiated, close contact way and people getting ill and having contact with illness all over the place?

In this scenario critical worker children would be in all day but in the afternoon session would do mostly self led art/ reading/ topic work/science (possibly supported by a TA) still in the same room for safeguarding and there shouldn’t be huge numbers in for full day.

cohort A would do same as critical workers but art /topic etc self led at home in the afternoon. cohort b would do self-led activities at home in the morning and then in school for taught core curriculum in afternoon.

There's not enough space and staff for this. If you've got more children back in, including children with 1-1 support who are not in at the moment, then there aren't spare TAs around to do childcare in the afternoons.