Extending school term at end of July

[NeverForgetYourDreams]

That's not going to work. Another ridiculous idea. What about all those people that moved their cancelled holidays for 2020 by a year. Summer holidays may go ahead if vaccine roll out happens and who is going to cancel and lose their money - I'm not. Will be lots of absent children.

I don't mind getting stuck in Florida. Bloody love the US.
And if travel overseas is permitted, I will be doing so.

[quote DBML]@GintyMcGinty

Here’s a creative idea. If the government put some money into schools, halved the class sizes for a few years and paid for extra TAs, we would make a hundred times more progress than we could ever hope to make from 2 weeks of half-full schools in the summer with disgruntled teachers and exhausted children.[/quote]
Now that would make a difference. Instead of having 30 in a class, it would be 15 which is close to the indie school class size.

@DBML yes that is a good idea too

@Staffdontblowitnow

And that’s exactly what our kids deserve right now. Not these stupid half-baked, appease the public and media ideas, that are meaningless and serve no one (except those wanting childcare).

[quote GintyMcGinty]@DBML yes that is a good idea too[/quote]
That is the ONLY good idea.
It’s the only thing that will make a difference.

@Awalkintime

Carlislemumof4

But you'll turn a blind eye to all your mum friends who are doing the same and then coming back into school. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Nope I'll be unimpressed but ignore it as long as my DCs are in the classroom.

What I take issue with is teachers trying to ensure a percentage of children are locked out of classroom education because it's not 'safe' for them to be in while they themselves prepare to jtravel the UK or jet off abroad! That's how Covid arrived here in the first place, how new strains have spread here. The consideration of others safety doesn't seem to extend both ways for some.

@DBML

There is not ONLY one solution even if you put it in capital letters.

There will need to be a deployment of a great many different strategies to support children and young people whose needs are diverse.

Choosing to take a risk is different to being exposed to a risk against your will though. That's not tricky to understand.

[quote GintyMcGinty]@DBML

There is not ONLY one solution even if you put it in capital letters.

There will need to be a deployment of a great many different strategies to support children and young people whose needs are diverse.[/quote]
I didn’t say it was the ONLY solution. I said it was the ONLY ‘good’ one.

I stand by that.

What I take issue with is teachers trying to ensure a percentage of children are locked out of classroom education because it's not 'safe' for them to be in while they themselves prepare to jtravel the UK or jet off abroad!
Teachers haven't locked anyone out of classroom education.

What I take issue with is teachers trying to ensure a percentage of children are locked out of classroom education because it's not 'safe' for them to be in

This is such a shitty thing to say. I mean, come ON. I understand you followed it with “...and then go on holiday”, but it’s still so shit to say that we’ve deliberately tried to withhold classroom education from children. You can’t seriously think that? I’ll bear that in mind when I do my house visits to vulnerable children tomorrow.

My feeling is that if we were able to have a teacher and TA in every classroom, we could be able to find the gaps very quickly. There is every chance that in every lesson, a child can speak to an adult pretty quickly about issues they are having with independent work (instead of having to wait for ages with their hand up). A TA can work with a group in every lesson, which puts 4 - 6 strugglers/those with gaps able to have immediate feedback or further support.

Thing is, just saying 'get more TAs' isn't the answer. TAs are often specialists, they have to know just as much about the subject as the teacher (and even in primary this can take a year to learn - it's very different to how it was when we were at school), they also have to be able to work with some frustrating situations/with challenging behaviour. It's not 'just a TA' job. Also they are paid dreadfully for the job they do, you can get more doing lots of lower skilled admin jobs.

Carlislemumof4

But you said you were happy to travel yourself to the Lakes. So you're ok with your holiday but not wanting teachers to take theirs?

@MrsHamlet

What I take issue with is teachers trying to ensure a percentage of children are locked out of classroom education because it's not 'safe' for them to be in while they themselves prepare to jtravel the UK or jet off abroad! Teachers haven't locked anyone out of classroom education.

And there it is!

Teachers nor unions have closed the schools. That was the government. They wouldn’t have closed the schools unless they felt it was absolutely necessary.

Most school staff are still all doing their best to provide an education, look after key workers children and deal with pastoral issues.

Like everyone else, I don’t want to be responsible for this pandemic. I don’t want recovery to be my problem. I want to go home, see people I love.

I’m just a human being, not a commodity. I don’t want to be used for other people’s convenience. I don’t want to be blamed for what isn’t my fault.

What you’re implying is deeply unfair.

Individual teachers are not responsible for educating all the children of the nation. The government is responsible for doing that and organising the resources to ensure it can happen and safely.

Individual teachers each need to work their contracted hours (most work far more) and in their personal lives to stick to the government rules or guidelines as they stand at the current time, about travel, social contact etc. These things apply to all people, including parents of school children and their wider families, when considering social contact and holidays.

It is up to the government to set the rules and regulations that the rest of us comply with. And if the government want to run schemes outside of normal school hours for children, that’s up to them and it’s up to them to find the additional staff that will run it. These will need to be different staff to those who are classroom watchers in school because these people have already done their jobs and fulfilled their co tracts (and beyond).

So it is now up to government to plan whatever catch up they feel is needed and to find the new staff to do it.

What I take issue with is teachers trying to ensure a percentage of children are locked out of classroom education because it's not 'safe' for them to be in while they themselves prepare to jtravel the UK or jet off abroad

That's stupid and goady.

You take issues with the government shutting schools to prevent them being a vector for community transmission of a raging respiratory virus, at the time when the virus was indeed raging.

You also take issue with people hoping to travel at a time when the respiratory virus is no longer raging.

Dur.

I personally can’t believe that lazy cinema workers have locked us out of cinemas again.

And the bowling alley.

And the local landlord is only letting people order food for delivery when he knows that eating it on the premises is a better experience.

I can’t believe all these useless workers locking us out left right and centre.

Bet they’ll go on holiday when they’re allowed.

We have a government minister for catch up. They need to do something to earn their keep. It's all. Still v woolly sounding language:"might", "need", "should". I can hear the weight of a thousand a level language projects landing.

People who have been furloughed definitely don't deserve to take holidays, probably for the rest of their lives. Lazy shits.

I have a student who wants to look at the language of the pandemic themoth. It'll be fascinating. All those glorious modal verbs.

We have a government minister for catch up

We were supposed to have a committee for catch-up two months ago. The government are genuinely not doing their jobs and yet it’s teachers being slated by the press again.

So all those criticising my comment are up for a full reopening of primaries and secondaries on March 8th? No further closures. That makes the argument for keeping the borders open and holidays across the UK and abroad reasonable, whatever my personal feelings on people taking those risks for their communities.

But calling full reopening madness while demanding holidays be prioritised? Not at all reasonable or fair to those families whose children are losing out on a classroom education with peers and whose parents businesses are closed while those borders remain open.

Pressure from the unions and the teachers that support them (not all by any means of course) did keep my children out of school longer than they should have been last year, did lead to primary closures this Jan/Feb and is standing in the way of the fundamental changes needed (complete overhaul of term dates, summer school). Repeating a year a decision for the government absolutely and one I sense they unfortunately aren't on board with.

@Carlislemumof4

So all those criticising my comment are up for a full reopening of primaries and secondaries on March 8th? No further closures. That makes the argument for keeping the borders open and holidays across the UK and abroad reasonable, whatever my personal feelings on people taking those risks for their communities.

But calling full reopening madness while demanding holidays be prioritised? Not at all reasonable or fair to those families whose children are losing out on a classroom education with peers and whose parents businesses are closed while those borders remain open.

Pressure from the unions and the teachers that support them (not all by any means of course) did keep my children out of school longer than they should have been last year, did lead to primary closures this Jan/Feb and is standing in the way of the fundamental changes needed (complete overhaul of term dates, summer school). Repeating a year a decision for the government absolutely and one I sense they unfortunately aren't on board with.

1. Unions were calling for two weeks and some safety measures put in place. Where are we?

1. I’m fully prep to go back in March and I bloody well hope we can.

The children missing out on being with peers don't need a classroom to see them in the summer.

The children who are not engaging with online learning now will be the ones that don't engage with catch up programmes above and beyond their normal school hours. Fund small group intervention during the school day and I'd be all for it.

[quote DBML]@GintyMcGinty

Here’s a creative idea. If the government put some money into schools, halved the class sizes for a few years and paid for extra TAs, we would make a hundred times more progress than we could ever hope to make from 2 weeks of half-full schools in the summer with disgruntled teachers and exhausted children.[/quote]
All of this !