Unhappy about primary schools re opening

[Bitterglitter]

Is anyone else unhappy about primary schools being re opened as part of the lockdown easing measures?

I keep thinking about the kids who have underlying health conditions that aren't yet diagnosed.

My DS1 (5) was diagnosed with a benign heart murmur in feb this year. It was only picked up because he has a lot of follow up Paediatric appointments because he was premature. I don't even know if it's an issue as far as covid19 goes. But what about all the kids out there with undiagnosed asthma, diabetes etc?

Primary age kids can't and won't maintain social distance. And they will act as super spreaders too. Doesn't matter how well their parents maintain distance if all these kids are mixing it up in schools.

It just seems crazy when so many parents can continue working from home. Am I being hysterical?

@LIZS i don’t think they will. loads of people on other threads have already stated they want to visit family and friends, go camping etc. but school is apparently too dangerous...

I get that. School has potentially tens to hundreds of contacts daily. Camping with friends has far fewer contacts. Teachers can’t keep 30 kids distanced etc, a mum can with a few.

@LavenderLilacTree i disagree. quality of life is most important. and for many kids, that is going down rapidly- being in long term prison (potentially with abusive parents and siblings)is a substantial risk, compared to a relatively low risk

@Greenpop21 10 untraceable people sharing facilities including cooking snd shower is epidemiologically speaking way worse than 30 perfectly traceable ones doing the same.
The worst spreader events have so far been weddings, birthdays etc, not work and school!

Depends where you camp obviously!

I think many of those saying they won't now will cave to social pressure. Their dc friends going to school, out having fun, having to turn down invitations or going on trips. Fomo could eventually override concerns, especially if there is no rise in cases a few weeks on.

As a parent of a child in the highest risk group, we face possible extension of the existing 12 week shield, which incidentally, affects the entire family..and potentially not having this lifted until a vaccine is found. However, that’s a choice we will have to weigh up with an element of pragmatic rationality, and I like many others we know in this position, are keen to get our children’s lives back to some degree of normality. It’s also become quite apparent from the many irrational comments I have read and heard throughout this past few weeks; that it’s the people who have least to worry about, often worry the most. Nothing in life is guaranteed, all we can do is make our own assessment on what risks we are comfortable with, and having some form of official guidance on this, can only help towards keeping society on broadly similar tracks.

Home schooling is surely the solution for those who are scared?
Schools have to open soon. The risk of Covid to most children is extremely low and to most healthy adults also very low.
If people want to keep their children off school once they are reopened, they must deregister their child and home school them. Many people home school already and there are plenty of resources.
Those concerned about schools opening should start preparing to home school now so that it is not too rushed and stressful once the time comes.
That might also help calm the anxiety around schools opening - anxiety can get worse when things seem out of control. Once parents have home schooling in place, they might feel happier and calmer about other people's different choices.

Home educators, (they don't say school) because it isn't a school environment) do this because they want to, though.
it isn't suitable for all families and being forced into it because of shielding might not be the best choice for that family.

I'm not sure of the answer, but just as you can't force into schools, I don't think you can force out, either.

Maybe the answer is for children to still be on roll, but working from home. So they still get the teacher input, even if it's just setting the same work as the class, with resources downloaded from school website.

Maybe the answer is for children to still be on roll, but working from home. So they still get the teacher input, even if it's just setting the same work as the class, with resources downloaded from school website

The Sutton Trust research shows that only a third of children are following online lessons right now. Many parents are already struggling, some due to their own challenges with language or academic skills, others due to balancing needs of multiple children, working from home, or physical or mental health issues. Others are home on furlough and so can manage for now but will not be able to in the long term.

Vulnerable (children at risk, not shielded) children can go in but fewer than 10% are.

If I have the choice and it's a 1 June start, I'll keep my kids off for longer, because we are privileged to have the support and that they are doing ok academically. I'd rather wait until we see kre outcomes from Denmark and elsewhere. However I understand if there's not a choice - because often the children most in need of school support will be the ones kept home, often with families then struggling with conflict, or being cast (further) into poverty. There has to be a balance, we cannot sacrifice the futures of our vulnerable children for this.

“Maybe the answer is for children to still be on roll, but working from home. So they still get the teacher input, even if it's just setting the same work as the class, with resources downloaded from school website”

My planning when I’m in school generally looks something like this: Teach children to do long division. Page 53 of textbook followed by reasoning sheet.

I could send home a photograph of the textbook page and the sheet, but the way the children actually learn is the sentence that says ‘teach children to do long division’. Putting that sentence in to some sort of video (or finding a suitable one online) or PowerPoint takes longer than you might expect. That’s what I’m currently doing, but I wouldn’t have time to do that if I was also in school all day teaching. The other important part of children learning is me wandering round the classroom while the kids work and noticing that a child has got the first 4 Qs wrong, sitting with them , re-explaining, watching them do another one to check they’ve got it. Marking a sheet they’ve completed at the end of the day doesn’t have the same impact on learning.

I cannot see how teachers can be expected to provide any kind of meaningful online learning AND be in school to teach those who come in. I suspect this may be the expectation though.

@Devlesko our school
has switched to full online curriculum. poor teachers are working like crazy, and that is without any kids at school
(no families with 2 keyworkers). Impossible to do “on the side“.
And it still requires a lot of support from home for primary school children.

modgepodge

I understand I have a PgCE but, Further Ed, I'd have struggled with this too.
I think it's what will happen to those with families still shielding, there doesn't seem to be another way.
Unless they are made to deregister and the shielding group forced into H.ed
Perhaps there could be a halfway like links for resources on the website, not specific lessons but what needs to be covered that term, so parents could work alongside you. Maybe submit work for marking as the rest of the class.

If there are members of staff shielding, could they work from home to provide work to those children in homes where someone is shielding? It would of course depend on staff numbers etc, but it seems very unfair if the expectation is likely to be to teach and also set work remotely. There aren't enough hours in the day anyway (or there weren't when I left, it's worse now from what my ex colleagues have said).