First ministers briefing

[Trichford]

Is there one on today? If so what time will it be? Thanks

Sorry, didn't realise you knew more than the scientists.

To be fair, the Scottish government have published their scientific advice and the decision does seem to be pretty marginal. The R was not predicted to go above 1 with schools opening, but the worry was that other measures as well could knock it over 1. There was a split in opinion in the committee about whether full opening should go ahead, and you get the impression they're just being very cautious because of the relative weakness in the transmission data (although they accept the evidence to date shows lower transmission from children).

Report can be found here.

I have not read the doc, but all the countries in Europe that have reopened (or not closed), plus the US have not seen a resurgence of cases and that seems to support the idea that the virus is seasonal, so perhaps we ought to get a move on now before it is too late and it is Christmas again.

There again, of you do it would look as if we are following England and that is a no-no.

Bloody hell. German children who are taking their school leaver exams this year or next are back at school. This year's exams are going ahead. But my DC, who has not been allowed to take Nat 5s, may miss out on Highers as well? If they can go back to school, then they can sit exams. Socially distanced.

It's easy to be statesmanlike when there are no negative outcomes to your statements. As long as the Westminster money flows all is good.

Thought I’d revive this thread as a John Swinney is now stating that next year’s exams may well be scrapped. Which is an absolute disgrace.

That is a fucking joke.

I have a child in S5 who has now not done his Highers. He tanked one of his prelims and is now very worried about grades for Uni. We've taken the line of it being OK, worst that can happen is a conditional based on S6 results. And now they're saying no exams then either.

And what about my child going into S4, who will be dropping subjects at the end of the year? She needs a solid pass in Nat 5 maths for the courses she's thinking of, and isn't planning a Higher.

This is a fucking joke and anyone who votes SNP after this fiasco needs their head read. Blended learning is not happening and won't happen, although the private schools appear to be managing fine. A teacher friend was trying to justify it by talknig about narrowing the attainment gap, which really just means dragging everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

And the BBC say the majority of Scottish people think Nippy Nicola is doing a great job???

From friends in local gov, I hear that the blended learning is in place from August until new year. When you think of the usual bugs that will be about- and the process in place that your whole ‘bubble’ isolates if anyone shows symptoms, I’m assuming weeks of closed school through Jan and Feb based on this model. I think it’s why there’s been a vague statement on exams for next year.

I suspect that the SNP will sneakily use this to "narrow the attainment gap" - with teachers saying that everyone has done well, so there will be little difference in predicted grades.
The best way to head towards possible Scottish independence is apparently to make sure that all children achieve little, academically speaking.

That's EXACTLY what they're doing. Not providing any education to anyone, so that they can show that every child is achieving the same level.

A very low level, but details, details. Eye on the prize. INDEPENDENCE. Look at how different we are to those nasty English schools, sending the poor little lambs back to school when it's so dangerous.

That is extremely offensive to teachers who were involved in the estimation, refining and ranking process.

Unless you were involved (or were involved as part of the most unprofessional school in the country) in the heartbreaking and painstaking process of submissions to SQA for this year's cohort you have no idea how much effort was put into being aspirational but fair.

On behalf of all teachers who spent hours poring over evidence, data to make that horrific submission have this

There's now a fair chance that my hard-working DC will leave school with zero real qualifications. Employers will probably look at predicted grades type grades very cynically.
Why can't they use churches / church halls / village halls to hold lessons and exams? You can pack a lot of socially distanced children into a cathedral, for instance.

It will be interesting to see what private schools do.

@spottedelk I said that very thing, but was told it involves too much insurance, risk assessment, transport to locations, blah, blah which councils don’t have the capacity of staff to carry out? Really, for the sake of their education? Perhaps some people currently furloughed thanks to payments from the UK government could be brought on to help with logistics?

II have S5 and S6 DC this year. I trust their teachers to make fair estimates of their potential achievements.

I remember the first year of Standard Grade "employers won't understand them". First year of Higher still "employers won't understand them" . First year of Nationals "employers won't understand them". They understood fine! And will manage this equally well.

Universities and FE are allowing progression with "no detriment" .

You are spouting glib conjecture without any evidence.

And schools are in discussions with community buildings for use in August.

They should at the very least use those types of locations for exams. All those children leaving school with no real qualifications. What a betrayal. Just put the work in, FGS.

Children need to know how to work up to and how to take exams. The closest my DC may come to this is Nat 5 Prelims.

Lots of generalising about schools and what they are doing on here.

Yep! And when I (someone who has been and continues to be involved) give knowledge not opinion the point gets changed.

Bu some people would never let truth get in the way and all that ...

Lidl - i am talking about next year. With nobody getting full time education, attainment is going to slide for EVERYONE. Because parents are not teachers. That's a fact. It's no reflection on the teachers - if children are not in school the outcomes will be different, and lower. And it appears that is exactly what the government wants.

I don't think anyone would argue that estimated grades for THIS YEAR were the best they could do in a bad situation and with about 5 minutes to come up with a plan. There's no point getting all professionally offended on behalf of teachers because that's not the point.

Going forward though, parents aren't going to put up with this wishy washy blended learning, some schools doing loads, others doing fuck all, kids being short changed and parents being expected to teach and work at the same time. It's totally failing our children for the sake of scoring points against Westminster.

Spain are still going ahead with their school exams. They were never cancelled.

If teachers want me to think of them as professionals then they need to start acting like a profession and step up to what is asked of them. I hear all the time, and agree, that teachers have such an important job and a pivotal role in children and young peoples’ lives: so come on show the nation.

Stop putting obstacles in the way. Most folk across the whole employment spectrum, not just in a few sectors, are working really hard at the moment under these difficult circumstances. No one likes change but the success and the prosperity of our lives in Scotland depends on how well we adapt to changing situations. We have shown that we can do this.

Other professions (doctors, vets, engineers, architects etc.) largely do not give up or whine (well some do) when things get hard and obstacles are put in their way or treatments don’t go to plan. The most successful find a way round these problems without much disruption. Whether or not this is actually happening with Scotland’s school education sector I haven’t a clue, but the impression the education sector is giving is one of inconsistencies in standards across the nation and a profession very resistant to anything which does not favour teachers and staff.

It is not offensive nor disrespectful to question teachers’ commitment and performance, especially in these uncharted times. Parents are understandably anxious about their children’s futures, getting back to work so that they can pay their bills and remember if they are at home furloughed most are on 80% of their wage not 100%. Please remember parents are not the professional teachers, so is it really appropriate to place so much of that task upon them?

As a profession they should be robust and open to criticism, like all good professions are, so that we all can give our children and young people the best possible future (because it’s our future too). We need to work around these problems not just delay or give part time blended learning, which would fail our young people and children.

I wish I could like your post sock yarn. You echo my thoughts. It isn't about this year it's the yeah ahead. There is no reason for blended learning come August other than a contingency plan.

They should be aiming for back to normal in August but have a plan in place. I can't teach at home 2 days a week because I'm expected to be completing my uni course.

John Swinney is shockingly bad. It's a real worry.

It just feels like the Scottish government have given up on education. They clearly think it’s not all that important.

It is also very much "public sector" thinking. No consequences. No risk of redundancy. Unlike private schools who are pulling out all the stops and thinking of new ways of doing things to justify the fees, or businesses in the private sector who have completely transformed the way they have operated since the end of March. The state sector schools have been exceptionally slow - and that's down to the government and councils, and individual heads. A few teachers may have "gone rogue" with YouTube channels and whatever, but most are sending out worksheets and asking the kids to email them if they are stuck.

That's been bearable - just about - for April, May and June.

It's just not acceptable for a whole school year.

Italy are doing exams online.

It’s not acceptable for next year and If Swinney can’t sort this out he should resign. He’s not up to the job.