Union say schools won't be fully open in September. Goverment say covid will be here till spring, so will schools fully open in spring 2021?

[947EliseChalotte]

Goverment say s hooks will be fully open in sept 2020 but unions are saying no they won't ! Goverment say covid we need to livewith covid and prepare for another wave, it's likely to be here till spring. So will schools reopen in spring 2021 when covid has gone?

@OxfordMum1983 Really ? time off? 😂

You can have the prize for best comedy moment on this thread. Well done.

No point debating this on a thread. We are all parents. We all have direct experience of what our children’s schools are doing or are not doing. Most people will base their whole opinion on that. And possibly from other parents with children in other schools in the same area.
It’s not abstract for parents. They are living it.

I have don't think it will be safer in September because of course it will be circulating again. This mixed in with usual respitory issues in autumn will be a nightmare.

We can't test it seems efficiently, we can't get ppe.

We've got one of the worse death rates.
Many schools cannot split classes or move out rubbish to create more room.

I can't see how it will work except to literally forget about covid risks really and carry on as normal.

Having said that, in my own area provision has been so patchy, so different from each other... That unfortunately I can't see any other way than to open schools and try and ignore covid.

If all schools had managed to get on line and teach I think there would be less pressure on them to return.

@LyndaLaHughes

* Is it not more the case that teachers are so overworked and stressed that prolonging their time off reduces their burden to some extent? That is nothing to do with covid*

FFS how many more times. Teachers have not had "time off". It's so insulting to keep hearing that.

Yes they have. DH is a Head, I was a teacher and know lots of teachers. Many teachers have had a huge amount of time off.

Yes they have. DH is a Head, I was a teacher and know lots of teachers. Many teachers have had a huge amount of time off

SOME teachers YOU know allegedly.
Still doesn't make it ok to go around saying teachers I know have had time off. No one I know has. I, my colleagues and the teachers I know in many, many other schools have not. And quite frankly if your HT has had nothing to do then I question exactly how good a HT he is. My HT and those in my local authority are on their knees having NEVER worked so hard in their lives and that's saying something given what they usually do.

Sorry that should say "teachers have had time off" as in not ok to make that statement as a rule as it just isn't bloody true for the majority of teachers.

I think September will see School’s being business as usual with firmly crossed fingers. There'll be a fair few local school shut downs before it's over but at this point I think we've got to try to get everybody back.

oxfordMum1983 doctor? Then you know there’s no such thing as ‘a bit of asthma’. You know that teachers have been working doubly hard in schools for keyworker children? Your children? Your colleagues children? As well as supporting home learning to your children? Your colleagues children? Their own children? Everyone’s children? They’ve not had their feet up at home. You also know it’s a good idea to protect the vulnerable, which includes vulnerable teachers too? In fact, you know it’s a good idea to want & help ALL teachers and students to be safe as possible when there’s a rather hideous virus doing the rounds?

luluJakey your DH is a lazy arse then! I wouldn’t be boasting about that. The teachers I know are run ragged.

@NotDonna

luluJakey your DH is a lazy arse then! I wouldn’t be boasting about that. The teachers I know are run ragged.

I didn't say DH had done no work, I said he was a Head (and tells me about his school). He has been in or working from home every day, even holidays- but has definitely had more flexibility about when he does the work on the whole.

Many Heads have had real problems with staff who are doing the bare minimum at home and have a whole range of excuses for not being able to take part in the in-school programmes. A good friend of ours who is also a Head has just discovered her Deputy- who went off immediately claiming she had been told to shield- was never told any such thing. She is now claiming mental health issues and our friend has been instructed by the LA not to pursue any disciplinary action.

I am not saying all teachers but I know many have not pulled their weight and have done as little as possible. Others have done more than they have been asked.

DH is a Secondary Head and at a zoom meeting of Sec Heads in the LA last week, a colleague said he has had to instruct staff that they have no choice about returning because some were not keen to teach Y10 groups and did not want to enter the building. He could not staff the curriculum range with just the numbers who were willing.

Lulu hard to believe and goes against all LA guidance I'm working with around isolating staff members and not being disciplined for supplying false information. (Which of course is all highly confidential, so not sure why you would even know about the medical status of your DH's staff members... that's a definite indication of poor leadership and disciplinary action)

My headteacher has no idea how much work I have or haven't been doing. I suppose he might be told by a parent if I hadn't put work up or marked it, but he certainly wouldn't know himself and would have no idea whether I stuck on a random sheet or spent hours perfecting a PowerPoint with audio instructions. He also doesn't know how life at home is going in terms of access to ICT or anywhere quiet to work.
But in the normal run of things he doesn't know exactly how much effort I put into my job either, fortunately HTs in general trust their staff's professionalism and have too much of their own work to do to micromanage their teachers.
I suspect your view of staff not working enough comes down to who is up for the in-school rota and who isn't, which is only one small part of what has been asked of us during lockdown. (Where I am, the rota is voluntary).

It's been a lot easier overall I'd imagine for staff who have a SAHP to do childcare duties, leaving them free to work.
I'm sure your dh can imagine that it is harder for many members of his staff, especially females or those with smaller dc.

ListeningQuietly
Define "safe"

a strong fireproof cabinet with a complex lock, used for the storage of valuables

Happy?

FrippEnos
Actually that is the sanest definition of the word I've seen so far

*I didn't say DH had done no work, I said he was a Head (and tells me about his school). He has been in or working from home every day, even holidays- but has definitely had more flexibility about when he does the work on the whole.

Many Heads have had real problems with staff who are doing the bare minimum at home and have a whole range of excuses for not being able to take part in the in-school programmes. A good friend of ours who is also a Head has just discovered her Deputy- who went off immediately claiming she had been told to shield- was never told any such thing. She is now claiming mental health issues and our friend has been instructed by the LA not to pursue any disciplinary action.

I am not saying all teachers but I know many have not pulled their weight and have done as little as possible. Others have done more than they have been asked.

DH is a Secondary Head and at a zoom meeting of Sec Heads in the LA last week, a colleague said he has had to instruct staff that they have no choice about returning because some were not keen to teach Y10 groups and did not want to enter the building. He could not staff the curriculum range with just the numbers who were willing.*

Again I will take issue with your language. I don't dispute what you are saying about your own experiences and no doubt there are examples of lazy teachers but to repeatedly use the word "many", a word which means a large amount or
a majority is incorrect when you cannot possibly make that assumption based on your personal experience. By all means talk about your experience but the implication is that what you are saying is the norm and you cannot possibly make that assumption based on the information you have shared. That's why people are getting offended and annoyed because it's never "some" teachers or "a minority of" on these threads. It's "teachers" or "many teachers" and that is why people are getting offended and upset when it is not true of their own experience.

You're in luck if you live in Wales!

Coronavirus: All pupils in Wales 'back in school full-time' in September www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53349005

@UmbrellaHat

You're in luck if you live in Wales!

Coronavirus: All pupils in Wales 'back in school full-time' in September www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53349005

This is the third thread so far where you've posted this. So unnecessary. Put your wooden spoon away.

LyndaLaHughes. Please just fuck off.

I’ve worked non stop since lockdown. It’s been absolutely insane. And if your dh is talking about stuff like this to you, he should be disciplined by the governors. If you tell me who they are, I’ll alert them.

Just appalling

You can blister and try to control the narrative on a thread, but you can’t control what parents are seeing with their own children.

Theemoji just to say that Lynda was quoting (clearly unsuccessfully) another poster, it isn't Lynda whose dh is a head.

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince

LyndaLaHughes. Please just fuck off.

I’ve worked non stop since lockdown. It’s been absolutely insane. And if your dh is talking about stuff like this to you, he should be disciplined by the governors. If you tell me who they are, I’ll alert them.

Just appalling

I think you've got the wrong person! 🙈

@Pleasance

Lulu hard to believe and goes against all LA guidance I'm working with around isolating staff members and not being disciplined for supplying false information. (Which of course is all highly confidential, so not sure why you would even know about the medical status of your DH's staff members... that's a definite indication of poor leadership and disciplinary action)

Read my post. Not DH's staff, a friend's member of staff. Heads discuss things, she discussed it with us. Neither of us know the name of the person. The LA are not pursuing disciplinary because she is claiming stress and mental health made her do it. They don't want the battle for whatever reason. DH does discuss school with me though. I don't know the staff.

The worst headteachers have the least loyal staff. So, if someone has experience of many of their teachers having lots of time off and being workshy, I think that says a lot about their leadership and their specific school.