January (schools)

[fizzypop100]

If we are faced with remote learning, will school be open for vulnerable children?

There’s so many threads on here where someone’s annoyed someone in their office is sniffling, angry they’ve been asked to go into work 2 days a week, angry a stranger coughed near them, annoyed someone wasn’t wearing a mask, scared to go on a bus… yet they happily expect school staff to continue to go in and teach their kids…!

@FutureHope

They were at minimum complicit and at worst actively pressing for schools closure. A weak education minister (G Williamson) who did not gave them down.

Even censored (along with thr govt) by thr Children’s Commissioner.

Not today, factual.

No they werent, and yes you are continuing to goad.

I don't think they will close but the teacher shortage is at critical levels.

I was at a school last week where the TA, not even a HLTA, had been in the class on her own for two weeks. Another TA was taken from nursery and put into year four and all of the year ones were in one classroom with one teacher. It's was like a war zone. The year two class I was put in had had a different supply every day that week.

School’s won't close again, it would be absolute lunacy to do that a third time.
Last time the school I work in had 75% children in (mostly with EHCPs)
And DS' school had 60% children in as they were "keyworker" families.

Assuming less people each time will voluntarily keep their children at home we'll end up with another "schools are closed but open to almost everybody" situation which is grossly unfair on the few people who don't make the cut.

@JustBkind

Schools won’t close to vulnerable children/key worker children, they never did in the first place! For children that can stay home and do home learning, that could make a difference, though it then adds extra pressure on teachers to deliver lessons in two different ways. The admin side of children home educating is also a nightmare, so for anyone thinking school staff want schools to close…they actually don’t!! But we have to do what’s best at the end of the day.

It’s not good for dc at home though.

@PickElaine

I don't think they will close but the teacher shortage is at critical levels.

I was at a school last week where the TA, not even a HLTA, had been in the class on her own for two weeks. Another TA was taken from nursery and put into year four and all of the year ones were in one classroom with one teacher. It's was like a war zone. The year two class I was put in had had a different supply every day that week.

Er...... maybe the TA is actually a qualified teacher? Not quite the crisis you paint.

Then we disagree, CarrieBlue.

And yes, I do hold them accountable - along with this inept govt and inept prior min for Ed - for the mental health and educational damage my kids suffered during lockdown.

Not the individual teachers though, ours were great.

@JustBkind

Schools won’t close to vulnerable children/key worker children, they never did in the first place! For children that can stay home and do home learning, that could make a difference, though it then adds extra pressure on teachers to deliver lessons in two different ways. The admin side of children home educating is also a nightmare, so for anyone thinking school staff want schools to close…they actually don’t!! But we have to do what’s best at the end of the day.

Some Special schools most definitely did close, my son's did ,every child has an EHCP and every child is considered vulnerable ,when the government wittered on about vulnerable children being able to attend school ,they forgot the most vulnerable .

@FutureHope

I wish the unions had the power you reckon they do. You’re wrong thinking they could close anything.

My eldest teen is working at home on the first day of term. They have to pop in the day before to do saliva tests, home school the next day and everyone with a negative back to school the day after.
So not closed. But trying to start the term with minimal covid.

@LethargicActress

I doubt they will close at all, but if they do I expect it will be much more like the end of lockdown 3 where heads were told to encourage every child that could be eligible to go in, rather than lockdown 1 when they were told to try and keep all but the most severely in need children away.

Were they told this? I don’t think that was passed on to many parents…

Dps cousin and wife called with us today and she was telling me that theyve received a letter from school saying to prepare to move to homeschooling again🙄🤬
We are in ni.

Thank you for replying to the thread. I'm terrified as our ds with SEN was violen (not usual behavior for him).
School admitted he should have attended full time from the start of lockdown but by then the damage was done

Say they wont close as much as you like bit if a varient is bad enough to risk NHS overwhelmed or is serious to children. Schools will close or if they still dont close, parents will remove them.

My kids school have sent a message home about home learning. But not been specific when this will happen. I really can't cope if they shut schools again.

OP it sounds like you don’t need to worry. Schools would always have to open for key worker and vulnerable children anyway.

@Covidworries

Say they wont close as much as you like bit if a varient is bad enough to risk NHS overwhelmed or is serious to children. Schools will close or if they still dont close, parents will remove them.

I agree, unfortunately.

I really don't think the wish is to close them - but my DS asked me yesterday and this week I could not hand on heart say no. I had to say I hope not.

@FutureHope

It would be lunacy if they close.

I hope to God the education minister stands up to the unions this time. Mental health effects of the closures were so damaging last time, not to mention the educational hit.

The government made all the decisions about closing/opening schools, not the unions.

@Covidworries

Say they wont close as much as you like bit if a varient is bad enough to risk NHS overwhelmed or is serious to children. Schools will close or if they still dont close, parents will remove them.

Re serious to children what proportion of cases in London are the new variant?

It’s not small anymore

If schools close it’s the whole lockdown with furlough again

We’ll do high numbers first before that - hence the big wave comments

Schools will stay physically open.

There will be no sensible mitigations in them.

It really doesn’t matter that the Maths teacher might be out for 2 weeks, then just as that teacher is back and is starting to sort out the mess made as the class was covered by the PE apprentice, the English teacher is off, closely followed by the Science teachers who between them give 3 weeks of interrupted learning. Then the child themselves is ill. Then when they get back, they find that as a result of all of this the majority of class time is either spent on material that they do not have the previous learning for, or on desperate catch up of what different people have missed.

Which will all add up to a brilliant education, especially for exam years...

There is no point in simply saying schools must be open, if we spare no thought for how to protect the quality of education provided....

@fizzypop100

Thank you for replying to the thread. I'm terrified as our ds with SEN was violen (not usual behavior for him). School admitted he should have attended full time from the start of lockdown but by then the damage was done

If I was you I would speak to school NOW about will there be a place if there are closures. Make it very clear you will need one. There will be a place for vulnerable children.

I am worried for mine as they do not need a place but they will be very sad if schools shut again. But I would not begrudge you having a a place as it sounds like you child will really struggle more.

I think they have to set up the remote learning in case they are a school with an outbreak and insufficient staffing etc. I don’t think every school in the country will close again. I’m not sure of the effectiveness of that anyway, especially as there will be even more keyworker/ vulnerable kids needing to go in. What is the benefit of shutting the schools that don’t have covid cases? If they’ve had outbreaks this term (and how many schools haven’t?!) there could well be some immunity there anyway

We have been asked to make sure that we are ready for online lessons from January 'just in case'. I know teachers in 5 other schools who have had the same message.

It's about being prepared in case we get it dropped on us in 24 hours!

Honestly last time my kids school had 80% of kids in as 'key worker' kids. My kids couldn't go in because although we both work full time in really stressful jobs that can't really be done at home, we don't qualify as key workers. my kids just had covid. if the school closes and let's all the key worker kids in and not mine, i don't know what i'd do. i had a proper mental breakdown in march because of this and not sure i could cope again.