What is the education provision for rec3ption and year one children in your child’s school from June 1?

[MGMidget]

I am interested to find out how my Dd’s school compares to others in what they will be offering to reception and year one children from the return date after June 1. We have been offered bubbles of 15 with an ‘adult’ supervising (probably a teaching assistant) whilst they follow the remote schooling provision on a tablet. Obviously some of this is necessary to meet goverment requirements, so they must stay within the same bubble all day and not mix with other bubbles which I am happy with. However, I am concerned about the idea of 15 of them following online/video lessons with one ‘adult’ supervising and doubtful this will enable much learning to take place. Is this what other schools are doing? It feels to me like nothing more than childcare to free up the parents to work (like the keyworker provision in many schools over the past few weeks). I thought the intention was to get young children back in the classroom because they needed the teaching as well as the socialisation or are they just supposed to be getting socialisation?

Bubbles of 10 with a teacher and TA per group

Five days a week, full days. Teacher and two assistants per 15 person bubble.

Y6 from 1st in groups of 10 with teacher & TA in each bubble. Y1 & Reception from 8th June in groups of 10 with a teacher and at least 1 TA.

@cabbageking @TheLastSaola @penguinsbegin these arrangements imply that the school will need at least three times the normal number of staff for these year groups. Where are they finding the staff? If they're going to use Y2-5 teachers, who's going to provide remote teaching for those year groups?

@user149799568

It's two times the normal staff for reception because they normally have 3 staff per class.

For remote learning - we were getting good remote learning resources - three activities per day, plus maybe a short video every other day. But we're a three form entry, so that's not actually a huge amount of work split across three teachers plus the SLT plus TAs.

Maybe they've already got future weeks in the bank. Maybe SLT or teachers who are not back teaching will be taking it all on. I really can't speak for other years in terms of how much the teachers have been doing. Obviously for reception is wasn't much because you can't expect a 5yo to do much at home.

User149 : is that an independent school your DC are in? The provision seems very good!

Pud2, yes I know it wont work too. 85 per cent of reception parents confirmed they would send children back before being told it would just be online learning with an adult. I am wondering if any will drop out now they know this. I think the school are making it as unattractive as they can. Their main objective seems to be to continue charging as much as they can get away with so they need to offer equal provision to all children in case pRents complain. At least that’s what I am assumimg they are thinking. Therefore lip service paid to the return to school for selected year groups and the same provision offered to the minimum possible standard they can get away with! This is a time when state school provision is probable better than private by a long way for many children so it seems. We are considering how long this might last and whether to try for a place in the local state schools.

We are not taking 6 year back. We are not providing online learning for the two years coming back. We have therefore 6 groups with teachers and a TA and one TA with the key workers. Two of the TA's are actually teachers which is helpful. The Senco and Head will be teaching a couple of days. We have an apprentice and with only @ 72 in school everything is covered. Dinners are our normal outside provider and we have 2 dinners ladies and the apprentice covering. Those working from home cover all online learning and and videos posted. You can't furlough people from public money and hence they are working on full pay. All staff have volunteered to be in school except those at home with health concerns. Friday is a half day. We feel this is manageable until we break up in July.

Full time with staggered start and finish times. 3 classes in total (year R, 1 and 6). Max 15 but actually up to 10 as some children not coming back. Proper teaching with online learning for year 2,3,4,5. Lots of outdoor activities and each child thermal checked. Toilets cleaned 3x per day. Separate play areas. No whole school activities and no parent events. Focus on maths, English, wellbeing, p.e. and transition. I’m impressed.

Full time table/curriculum - all children back, 15 in each class

Independent prep school

Ours has said nursery, reception, yr1 and yr6 back full time from the 8th alongside the key worker and vulnerable dc who have been going all along. Staggered starts and finishes and cancelling all before and after school provision for all dc, including get key workers dc. They sent a basic straw poll about if we're going to send them last week or the week before and I'm assuming most parents said no which is how they can manage to open all 4 year groups full time?

Nursery, Reception, Y1 and Y6 are going back at my daughter’s school. The classes are split into groups of up to 15 and will use the free classrooms to keep them separate. DD will be in her normal Reception classroom, but some toys have been removed, and they are planning staggered starts/ finishes etc.

Reception are having a teacher and a TA for each group (possible as only a third of the class is going back), and teachers for the year groups that aren’t returning are covering the smaller groups or doing online learning for children who aren’t returning to school.

I’m not sure what work the reception class will be doing, but as we’ve had no work sent home from school, I have to assume it will be better than nothing! Though I’m mostly sending DD in for the social side - she’s lonely and unhappy at home.

Mine's lonely too. Relies on Tele too much now.
Not happy with our new life cos I sorted her life so it suited her ie brought out the best in her.
Her behaviour's worse.

DD's school: Bubbles of up to 15 with a teacher (presumably teachers from other year groups) and TAs where necessary. Y1 & 6 will be in 4 days week. Reception will be in 4 half-days a week because they're not used to desk-based learning.

The MAT where I teach are not going to open any of their schools, including primaries, until 8th June "at the earliest". The Trust/SLT are being even more uncommunicative than they usually are.

Ours is doing:

R, years 1 & 6
Starting June 10th
Groups of 10
Full days, but only 2 days per week, concentrating on Maths & English, with work set for the other days at home.
No school bags, packed lunch only

Nothing's been said on uniform, might ask about that (knowing the school I'm assuming they'll say uniform has to be worn).

@SandieCheeks, gosh that is outrageously unfair isn't it?

Key workers who have worked harder than anyone now find their children are excluded from accessing learning.

[quote RaggieDolls]@SandieCheeks, gosh that is outrageously unfair isn't it?

Key workers who have worked harder than anyone now find their children are excluded from accessing learning. [/quote]
No more or less fair than for any children in other year groups not back yet.

My kids are starting at a new school on Monday (We moved house just before lockdown) so I have been getting the letters and updates from two schools, it's interesting to see how the two schools have taken a totally different approach to returning.
Former school- really negative letters encouraging parents not to send children in unless they absolutley have to, pictures of reception class cleared of all toys, with bare desks. Children most remain 2 metres apart at all times, teacher cannot approach the children under any circumstances, they remain at their desk all day other than for short breaks in a designated area of the playground. It will be childcare and teaching will be minimal. Some classes will have a TA not a teacher. It all sounds awful and I would not be sending my 4 year old as she would not cope.
New school- children in bubbles of up to 15, not expected to socially distance within the bubble but can't mix with other bubbles. Reception children still have toys, craft activities, mud kitchen, sandpit etc. They will be with their usual reception teacher and a TA. Outside learning wherever possible. Bubbles will take turns in main playground but receptoon and yr 1 both have their own seperate outside space they can access any time. Lunch in classroom or outside. It is not just childcare, they will be learning, although due to all of the disruption the teaching will not be exactly as it was - focus on basics and getting the children back into a routine.
I think the main reason between the huge difference between the schools is space. Former school has 60 children per yr group, one small hall plus a fairly big playground and field. Juggling 180 kids plus key workers all using the same entrance etc is incredibly difficult. New school has 15 children per yr group, a big hall and loads of outside space. Each child can go back to their own classroom with their own teacher for now.
Of course when the other year groups go back both schools will have to change again- I can't see how it could possibly work in any school - classes of 30 are the norm nearly everywhere.

@Sandiecheeks

It sounds unfair.

Kids at home have learning materials sent home and hopefully there's a parent who can have a stab at it with them for half an hour here or there. Not so for key workers - we cannot work from home so the fair option would be for schools to put the same learning resources in front of our kids while they're at school.

Unfortunately lots of children don't have an adult available to do home school with them as they're working full time or have other children to care for, or they don't have sufficient technology available. It's unfair for a lot of children.

Yeah true. It's a bit of a mare for everyone.

For us, between 8 and 15 kids per bubble, each with teacher and TA. 5 full school days.
Nursery, reception and year 6 back.
The rest still on full online schedule, but already distributed into bubbles, so they are ready to go in asap.
Kids who don’t come in (but where year groups are in) get access to some lessons via zoom, and otherwise get the content send home.

No social distancing within bubbles

Our school is having years 1 and 6 back on Monday and Reception the next Monday, in bubbles of 8 for only 1 day a week. They will be sitting at individual tables and expected to work independently even in Reception (my DC2 is in Reception and this seems wildly optimistic that she could work independently, she certainly doesn't do any independent work at home), no uniform, can't bring anything except water bottle, lunch of sandwiches provided, can only go to toilet at allocated time and won't be helped if they have an accident, staggered start and finish times, no breakfast club or after-school club. The information from the school made for very sad reading. I am a keyworker so my DC will be in a separate bubble in the hall, not with their friends or teacher. Apparently, keyworker children will be doing the same work as their class, but I don't know how when there are children from all year groups there.

Is anyone’s school grouping the bubbles by ability rather tha friendship groups or previous class groups? We havent been told who will be in which bubble yet and I am worried they will split fiends up by doing ability groups and there will be no mixing allowed at playtime!

Friends not fiends! 😄

We've been told it will be mixed ability groups

Our bubbles are grouped according to ability, with the lowest ability group significantly smaller than the others.