Local secondary has switched to home learning...

[Emerald76360]

A local secondary has switched to home learning because not enough teacher because of covid. My friends children go there and she has them home now. We have high levels of covid here but never did through the lockdowns. Is it happening to schools where you are?

Ours are sitting in the sports hall doing revision supervised by anyone available!
Poor teachers are really on their knees.

@PeachesPumpkin

Ours are sitting in the sports hall doing revision supervised by anyone available! Poor teachers are really on their knees.

Oh blimey, really. How depressing

We got an email saying a quarter of staff are off with covid and they are planning to bring year groups in on different days from January. So sounds like they don’t expect things to get any better before then.

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

We got an email saying a quarter of staff are off with covid and they are planning to bring year groups in on different days from January. So sounds like they don’t expect things to get any better before then.

So they're already looking ahead to Jan? How can they predict that staff will be off then? Although I know likely

Not that I can see. DS at primary and they're doing fine. I don't have any kids at secondary but I see them going to school when I take DS and they were all there this morning.

So they're already looking ahead to Jan? How can they predict that staff will be off then? Although I know likely

I don’t know. They said they hope not to have to implement this but that this is the plan they’re working with and if it changes they will obviously let us know.

I'm a primary supply teacher and for the past four weeks, all my work has been covering teachers who are off due to having covid.

Last week there were 2 supply teachers and one regular teacher teaching the three y3 classes. This was the picture throughout the school. The covid rates were rising and they had decided to bubble some classes to try to contain the spread.

This week, I'm at a school where supply teachers are making up half of the staff in many of the year groups.

Other schools I've worked in have had had to close year groups for a week or more and many are asking all children and staff to take PCRs before returning.

All of this is of course not being reported on and so most people remain unaware of the situation in schools at the moment.

A local secondary school went online for years 7 8 and 9 last week due to lack of festering staff and them being unable to supply any supply teachers.

A local primary school has combined 2 years die to lack of pupils and 1 teacher being off

Our secondary feels like they’re hanging in by the skin of their teeth. A significant number of lessons are being covered by other staff or supply teachers. I’d almost prefer them to close than pretend that our kids are getting an education that is up to the usual standard. All the disruption and inconsistency is unlikely to be taken into account for their GCSEs as it’s so variable between schools and subjects.

@Waxonwaxoff0

Not that I can see. DS at primary and they're doing fine. I don't have any kids at secondary but I see them going to school when I take DS and they were all there this morning.

I am sure all appears to be fine. It certainly appeared to be fine at my dc's primary, although we started to discover that there was half of one year group off with covid and a small number of cases in all classes.

It’s not happening here but there are lots of teachers off sick. Lots of supply teachers and staff covering other lessons. My child’s school have checked whether kids can access to various platforms at home, have laptops etc so I suppose they’re getting prepared in case.

From my experience in working in a secondary school, it has come in distinct waves throughout the year. We had a huge wave of Covid 4 weeks ago, ripped through staff and students. Now we don’t have any cases at all.
Equally this is peak time for staff illness anyway. We get every bug/illness/cold that the kids bring in with them. And some staff might be off with their own children.

Our primary had one class closed last week for 2 days because of lack of staff. Not ideal at all but literally the only option for us.

It's far better to plan for the worst now than to have to plan on the fly in January. We're on the edge staffing-wise.

@FlopsterFlops as long as DS is in school, then it's fine in my eyes.

Both the Reception Teachers at DDs school are off, they've been taught by a mixture of teachers from across the school and supply.

Local Secondary has closed for Years 7 and 8, has Years 9, 10 and 12 in on a rota, only years 11 and 13 in full time.

@FlopsterFlops

I'm a primary supply teacher and for the past four weeks, all my work has been covering teachers who are off due to having covid.

Last week there were 2 supply teachers and one regular teacher teaching the three y3 classes. This was the picture throughout the school. The covid rates were rising and they had decided to bubble some classes to try to contain the spread.

This week, I'm at a school where supply teachers are making up half of the staff in many of the year groups.

Other schools I've worked in have had had to close year groups for a week or more and many are asking all children and staff to take PCRs before returning.

All of this is of course not being reported on and so most people remain unaware of the situation in schools at the moment.

I wonder if you've been to my school. There have been times we've had more supply staff than our own teachers. It's been awful for the children, and no meaningful learning is taking place as the staff who are in the classroom have no idea about the children.

Don't worry - even as a supply teacher I always try to ensure the best learning experience for all children in the class. I teach the lessons that are left for the class to a high standard and the children definitely do still learn! 😁

Absolutely normal at dd's large secondary. I've had a couple of emails about cases in the year group but nothing major and no sign of any staffing issues. We are in an area that has had consistently high cases all along though so probably higher than average immunity.

Whereabouts in the country are you?

@FlopsterFlops

Don't worry - even as a supply teacher I always try to ensure the best learning experience for all children in the class. I teach the lessons that are left for the class to a high standard and the children definitely do still learn! 😁

Supply staff are amazing, but having a revolving door of supply staff has been really difficult for our children. Unfortunately their learning has definitely suffered because of all the staff sickness and isolations

I’m in charge of supply at my school. There’s no one out there. If I call after 7am I’ve no chance. I’ve got two in today who I’d normally never have (because they are crap)One of our schools in the trust has 16 staff off. I’ve been looking for core teachers for January since October, no one is applying. It’s truly dire.

My dd is in GCSE year and he's had lots of substitutes this term because of staffing issues.

One at primary and one at high school in Scotland - not aware of a single issue tbh.

DS is in college and is now going into a 3rd week of remote learning (they were supposed to be back in this week). Staffing issues are the problem.

DS is Year 8 and he's been in school since Sept with no issues so far. Just gave him a shout and he says apart from one subject he's had his usual teachers... Fingers crossed for no change