There is no army of volunteers waiting to be called to keep schools open

[noblegiraffe]

FYI.

So if you see anyone putting this forward as a serious suggestion, they're an idiot and anything they say about schools should be disregarded.

We can't even pay people to do it right now.

@RoastedParnsip

Happy to volunteer if it means my child continues their education and their mental health stays intact. Closing schools should be the last of anyones concerns while the pubs and nightclubs are open!

Awesome, thanks for volunteering to be part of the army. Your kid's cozy primary is fully staffed so we have allocated you to Bash Street Comp 50 miles away. 👍

"Since then school have frozen parents out of school life."

Well of course they have. For the vast majority of the time since then we haven't been allowed to have external visitors on the premises.

And this comes on the day when Javid has been refusing to rule out the possibility of school closures. That's not necessarily an order to close, could be an inability to keep open safely in hotspots - which means fully closed, no key worker provision

So I can kind of see why they need to show that everything has been considered (no matter how far fetched) when the barrage of criticism comes along when schools shut and even key worker parents need time off.

Is there any solution that wouid prevent that happening?
(given the start point we actually have, rather than a different one that we could have had if different decisions had been taken both during the pandemic and in the years leading up to it.

If they are worried about too many staff being off sick with covid forcing schools to close, surely the first consideration should be 'how can we lessen the risk of staff getting covid?' Rather than 'how can we replace them for free?'

I could do unqualified supply/cover having just been made redundant from a school. But I'd be a) risking myself b) be reliant on grandparent childcare so risking them too c) taking time away from my small amount of paid freelance work and d) I'd have to willing to go back into the education world which can be toxic at the best of times.

So basically I'd rather volunteer to marshall at a vaccination centre at the weekend than set foot in a school for free and I'm sure my thought process would be very similar for many people who could step up and be useful if push came to shove.

@noblegiraffe

If they are worried about too many staff being off sick with covid forcing schools to close, surely the first consideration should be 'how can we lessen the risk of staff getting covid?' Rather than 'how can we replace them for free?'

Nail on head! But logical thought isn't a strong point among the decision makers is it, sadly...

They may be being urged to but there's going to many who do miss that word and understand the context.

There's no supply.

We can get some for tas, often uni students.

Might be a bit late for recruiting a volunteer army (alongside the one to administer 1m jabs/day?). Every school I have contact with has started to prepare for online delivery of teaching should it be required. They've not received a formal instruction, but they're all working to exactly the same time-frame and message.

how can we lessen the chance of staff getting covid

I don’t think you can without it being ridiculously disruptive Giraffe.

Sorry - I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid.

"Sorry - I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid."
Or, here's an idea, accelerate the rate at which school staff can get jabbed.

@Weekbeforechristmas

how can we lessen the chance of staff getting covid

I don’t think you can without it being ridiculously disruptive Giraffe.

Sorry - I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid.

Which will close schools anyway, many for long term if they can’t staff them. Which is happening, hence why they are panicking.

I saw all sorts signing up and bragging to be volunteers for the nhs last year.

Every time I suggested "try a school" (to queries of "how can I help?") it was tumble weed.

Some schools will be at the point of live streaming bitesize with the school secretary sitting at the front. I think we have been in a couple of classes, v close to this point.

Well we know that the only mitigation is booster jabs, which all over 18s can get at 3mths+, a timing which essentially means that everyone who did not delay their earlier jabs is now eligible.

They are cincernedniw only abot number who end up in hospital. Nit the number who might need sick leave within a short space of time.

There is a huge impetus to keep schools open,

And I can see why they wouid want to mitigate the risk of closures because of extensive sick leave by examining if there are any ways of using non specialists as 'crowd control' to keep classroom open, even if only open for online learning under supervision

It's a call to examine the option, not a recommendation to do it. And I'm ready to bet that they see a need to show that everything was considered before reality bites

I think it's an idea that will fail, but I think it's right that it be considered, even if it's only 'consider in order to discard'

@Weekbeforechristmas

how can we lessen the chance of staff getting covid

I don’t think you can without it being ridiculously disruptive Giraffe.

Sorry - I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid.

The whole point here is that staff getting covid closes schools.

Which is rather ridiculously disruptive, don't you think?

And I'm ready to bet that they see a need to show that everything was considered before reality bites

Everything was considered? Really? They haven't even paid to improve ventilation.

Sensible LEAs will offer jabs to school staff. This week.

Kitchen staff were severely affected last week, which meant a much reduced menu, tricky in an sen school with lots of rigid eaters.

Reminds me of when they were trying to get retired NHS staff to "come back". the age group that was most vulnerable. Bet they got hardly any.

I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid.

If schools are that important and it is impossible to protect staff, teachers should have been prioritised for boosters in order to keep schools open. Every time the government refuse to prioritise basic measures to keep schools open they should be held to account.

@girlmom21

Surely, even if those people did exist, they wouldn't have current DBS's etc?

I don't think it's worth keeping schools open if kids would be being taught by retired ofsted inspectors anyway.

Yes DBS was the first thing I thought of.

@CallmeHendricksGingleBells

"Sorry - I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid." Or, here's an idea, accelerate the rate at which school staff can get jabbed.

Is that not happening anyway?

It is up here (Scotland) - we were all eligible for boosters in front of our 'peers'. Not for first 2 jags - but for the booster. Everyone at my school was done by last week.

@ChloeCrocodile

I know you don’t like people saying this but it’s either close schools or accept staff will get covid.

If schools are that important and it is impossible to protect staff, teachers should have been prioritised for boosters in order to keep schools open. Every time the government refuse to prioritise basic measures to keep schools open they should be held to account.

Yes priority for school staff getting boosters should have happened.

It is up here (Scotland) - we were all eligible for boosters in front of our 'peers'. Not for first 2 jags - but for the booster. Everyone at my school was done by last week.

It isn't in England. I wasn't eligible (due to age) until today and I've tried to book but keep getting stuck in a queue. I really want it before Christmas so that I'm as protected as I can be before we come back in Jan. I really don't want to have to take 10 days off work.

The retired teachers in our state primary have been back a fair bit during Covid to do supply…. I assume they are being paid.
The army of volunteers fair enough, not paying at least an acceptable minimum - not so much!
I think with class plans from the actual teachers it is doable. Our state primary has so much online now anyway due to the 2 lockdowns at different times of year. It is easy to access.

@noblegiraffe

If they are worried about too many staff being off sick with covid forcing schools to close, surely the first consideration should be 'how can we lessen the risk of staff getting covid?' Rather than 'how can we replace them for free?'

Before opening up boosters to over 18s, maybe they should have considered critical industries. Like childcare and school staff and food supply and etc as a priority. Health staff were a priority- rightly- for boosters. But if they can't send their children to school, and the childminder can't cover those hours, they can't work either.

Most ex teachers have new jobs to pay the bills so aren’t available to teach. Especially not for free! How does government think volunteers can pay their bills if they’re not getting paid for their work?

I’m an ex teacher myself and one of the reasons I quit was because schools refused to implement basic Covid safety measures like masks and social distancing. Which they still aren’t implementing, so I ain’t going back.