What does this mean for schools?

[Shakepineapple]

Trying to get my head around what the delay to reopening means for the activities that usually go ahead at the end of the summer term.
Will parents be able to attend sports days? End of term productions? Will transition days go ahead?

Our school is so lazy. No sports days, no year 6 residential, no leavers events, no school photographs, no parents evenings (even virtual) list is endless. Seems a bit unfair when other schools are making the effort. Head is terrified of covid though and every newsletter for the past year has been covid, covid, covid with i shit you not one small paragraph about what the children have actually been doing in school.

Seems lazy of schools

Yep, schools are being super lazy right now. Hardly anything of not going on

The Director of education for our County has decided that transition is not happening from y6 to y7 this term due to the mixing of too many bubbles from different schools. Which has a knock on on all the other classes as they visit their new teacher usually when the y6s are out of the way.

We are recording our performance to send out to parents.

And are hoping to invite parents to an outside leaver's service and picnic in the last week of term, but we are awaiting hearing what numbers we can allow to congregate on our site next month.

@chickynuggets

It is lazy to just cancel things that could go ahead in different formats as has been proved in other schools.

Can you really give a good reason why sports day can’t go on if school has a big field? Kids could sit in masks if needed and take them off for their event. Non school race meets are currently going on all over the country for kids from all over the country.

[quote BunsyGirl]@Howshouldibehave But there will be a lot more than 6 people in a venue. So you could have a class of 30 spaced out in a hall, for example. Just needs a bit of creative thinking rather than a blanket no. Also, my DS1 took the 11 plus. He was in a hall with children from all over the country and beyond when he did the test. They wore masks into the school and took them off when seated. There is absolutely no reason this could not be repeated for a transition day.[/quote]
Would a transition where all they did was sit spaced out in a hall be of any benefit though? I’d have thought it would be worse than not going at all. To me the point of a transition day is mainly to meet the others in your class, and see a bit of the school and the teachers.

I know no transition is far from ideal (all three of mine started new schools last September, my eldest is year 7 and knew no one), but it is difficult to see how it could be done as one positive child could cause huge spread to other schools

[quote Watermelon222]@chickynuggets

It is lazy to just cancel things that could go ahead in different formats as has been proved in other schools.

Can you really give a good reason why sports day can’t go on if school has a big field? Kids could sit in masks if needed and take them off for their event. Non school race meets are currently going on all over the country for kids from all over the country.[/quote]
A good reason? How about covid?

How about lots of staff off isolating so large events can't take place as staff are so stretched that getting through the day is hard enough without anything else.

How about staff not allowed to put sun cream on children and hardly any children bringing in sun hats?

How about schools being absolutely sick of planning things that are instantly changed or cancelled due to new guidance or staffing.

How about schools rescheduling until the autumn term when parents might being able to attend?

How about having some empathy?

My school is doing a sports day. We aren't inviting parents and are taking individual videos of each child to email to parents. This is a massive job and I will spend many hours unpaid doing it on top of the hundreds of unpaid hours I have done this year. However, if all parents think like you and hold teachers and schools in such disdain I honestly don't know why I am bothering.

Normally I'd spend my lunch break applying sun cream and bring in a selection of my children's hats to lend to children without them.

I get no lunch break, we aren't allowed to bring things in from home like that.

Things aren't always as clear cut as you think.

DD’s school (year 11) has planned prom at a local conference venue so I wonder what will happen with it. What do people think?

Our primary school sports day went ahead. Small village school, kids sat within in their class bubbles but socially distanced from the other classes & raced only with kids from their own bubble. Parents weren’t allowed to attend which was sad but understandable. The children absolutely loved it though - finally a bit of normality & the first time the whole school has been together since last March.

Watching & waiting to see what happens with the planned Y6 transition days & summer school and keeping everything crossed they can go ahead. My eldest is Y6 & has missed out on so much of the transition stuff already - no taster days, no open evening, we had to choose without physically looking, he’s not set foot in there & hasn’t met his new teachers in person.

His year 6 residential was cancelled, no other trips planned, kids will have some sort of celebration in school but no leavers service & no parents allowed. I’m so gutted for them it’s completely shit.

chickynuggets

I teach dance in two different schools and the amount of time the video editing took to enable parents to see productions and dance shows pre May 17th was insane. I'm not especially techy so maybe if you are you'll be ok but I only work 3 days a week and know that it would have been absolutely impossible to get it all done if I were full time. The idea of filming every child individually for a sports day video is just horrifying! Really feel for you. Sports Days take place outside. Why won't your head let you invite just parents? The heads at one of the schools I work in is very cautious but even they are allowing parents to come with a slight rearrangement of sports day activities being split over two days into 2 year group 'bubbles' for 2 hours each rather than the normal whole day event for the whole school. I'm guessing that took SLT an hour or so to discuss and organise. As oppose to the hours and hours of work you'll have to do if parents aren't invited.

No transition days, no prom - cancelled tonight.

A whole summer of sporting events (regional level junior sport not spectator events) that have been the only focus for the kids for 18 months of missed opportunities, cancelled tonight. Devastated for the kids.

We have worked so hard to keep them engaged with it all and for national competitions to potentially be off for a 2nd year in a row is going to be the final straw for some. Teenagers are hard to keep in sport, so many will not bother coming back.

@blameitonthecaffeine

chickynuggets

I teach dance in two different schools and the amount of time the video editing took to enable parents to see productions and dance shows pre May 17th was insane. I'm not especially techy so maybe if you are you'll be ok but I only work 3 days a week and know that it would have been absolutely impossible to get it all done if I were full time. The idea of filming every child individually for a sports day video is just horrifying! Really feel for you. Sports Days take place outside. Why won't your head let you invite just parents? The heads at one of the schools I work in is very cautious but even they are allowing parents to come with a slight rearrangement of sports day activities being split over two days into 2 year group 'bubbles' for 2 hours each rather than the normal whole day event for the whole school. I'm guessing that took SLT an hour or so to discuss and organise. As oppose to the hours and hours of work you'll have to do if parents aren't invited.

Thank you for your response. Without being too outing, there are reasons why we can't invite lots of parents in at the moment that have nothing to do with Covid. It's a huge shame as we all love sports day and want to do the best for the children. It makes me sad that some people instantly assume schools are lazy without thinking about how things may be completely unworkable at the moment and how each school has different circumstances and are working their socks off.

Leavers' assemblies and proms might still happen if they are in the last week of term as it would be after 19th July? I really hope transition can be moved to the last week of term.

@Petitefiloute I have every thing crossed for this - we will miss out on sports day and Y6 production but might manage the leaving assembly and a party for them.

I feel so sad for DD2, though; as well as such an odd Y5/Y6, she was so looking forward to being at school for one year with her youngest brother. He started reception this year and they've been in bubbles throughout so have hardly seen each other.

I think it would have bothered me less had there been some acknowledgment of it in the announcement but nothing. Poor kids.

I at least have the solace of an upcoming by-election where I can make my feelings known!
No idea how he's going to get on moving to Y1 either - reception is in a self-contained building so he hasn't seen the rest of the school.

Every school I know locally had made a different arrangement for prom, even just under Step Three. From nothing, through ‘in a marquee one school afternoon’, to full prom but in school hall. So no one can give you odds on what your school will do, sorry!

[quote Passthesauce]@Petitefiloute I have every thing crossed for this - we will miss out on sports day and Y6 production but might manage the leaving assembly and a party for them.

I feel so sad for DD2, though; as well as such an odd Y5/Y6, she was so looking forward to being at school for one year with her youngest brother. He started reception this year and they've been in bubbles throughout so have hardly seen each other.

I think it would have bothered me less had there been some acknowledgment of it in the announcement but nothing. Poor kids.

I at least have the solace of an upcoming by-election where I can make my feelings known!
No idea how he's going to get on moving to Y1 either - reception is in a self-contained building so he hasn't seen the rest of the school. [/quote]
A mention would have been nice, wouldn't it. I'm also worried for the little ones' transition day, I wonder whether they can happen when they are in bubbles? This is all awful.

It is. Alarming how one school year has slipped by so quickly without any normality.

chickynuggets Ah, I see. No, definitely don't think schools can be accused of being lazy right now! If anything, not having parents in is harder - physically as well as emotionally.

There's also the individual anxieties of heads, staff and parents to take into account. Depending on the demographic of the parents and the local Covid conditions, you could have parents screaming at the gates to be let in for every last thing at one school and parents emailing in to sue you because you handed a child a pencil you've forgotten to sanitise at another school. Most difficult of all is that most schools probably have some of both types of parents creating opposing versions of havoc while the majority of parents and staff sit in the middle with their hands over their ears and eyes waiting for sanity to return.

@blameitonthecaffeine

chickynuggets Ah, I see. No, definitely don't think schools can be accused of being lazy right now! If anything, not having parents in is harder - physically as well as emotionally.

There's also the individual anxieties of heads, staff and parents to take into account. Depending on the demographic of the parents and the local Covid conditions, you could have parents screaming at the gates to be let in for every last thing at one school and parents emailing in to sue you because you handed a child a pencil you've forgotten to sanitise at another school. Most difficult of all is that most schools probably have some of both types of parents creating opposing versions of havoc while the majority of parents and staff sit in the middle with their hands over their ears and eyes waiting for sanity to return.

Absolutely right!

“Lazy”.

Yup, I’m sitting around with my feet up every day.

My child's sports day is on Wednesday. No parents allowed. My child's transition to high school has been changed to a virtual event.

Ah this is sad. We haven’t heard yet about the party (instead of a prom), new school get together and sports day

Feel bad they’re missing out

Erm the school guidance has been updated 6/7 times since reopening on 8th March.

All of you calling schools lazy, I assume you don’t actually work in a school. All of our LA decisions are being informed by local public health. Prior to this announcement they’d asked us to restart wearing masks in classrooms again. They ultimately will inform decisions on what can and can’t go ahead based on local health situation.

But yeah schools and teachers are just being ‘lazy’ FFS.

Rates are doubling quickly again and the line of case increases is very steep. My main priority is my child not having to isolate before the end of term.

for anyone calling teachers 'lazy' - you are nasty and ignorant for saying that. They are supporting so many children with extra help right now.

This thread has some really shitty responses on it. We're all disappointed but don't take it out on the teachers.

Primary Transition to new classes is happening one afternoon per week with the full class going to the new class and teacher.

Residential has already happened.

No prom, but an ‘adventure day’ planned with an outdoor education centre instead.

We are finishing one day early for all other years so that Y6 are the only ones in school and we will be inviting parents in for a prize giving (that may happen outside of the weather is good).

No transition to Secondary but the Y6s have been meeting teachers virtually via Teams and have had a few virtual tours of the school and selected children are having one day in the school holidays, which has been supported by parents.

I think we have handled it all quite well tbh.

(Currently on tenterhooks for my Y11 DD and the possible prom, which was due to go ahead but now we are wondering if it will be cancelled )