So when are we going back to school?

[RaraRachael]

I was under the impression that NS had announced that all schools in Scotland would start back on August 11th. I have had surveys from my local authority asking when we would like the week's holiday in lieu and if we want 1 or 2 in-service days before we start back in August.

Last night a colleague posted a piece showing all the start dates from the different authorities - some were 10th August, !1th, 12th up to the 18th and 19th.

I am totally confused

Today's daily briefing seems to have been a rebuttal to the JS comments yesterday: apparently the intention is to ramp up to 100% normal schooling as quickly as possible once term restarts and all parties have confidence in the safety of it.

That's not the case: it does describe what most countries are planning come their schools re-opening post the summer break.

Eg, Spain: On Wednesday, Spain’s education minister, Isabel Celaá, said the government was working towards the reopening of schools “for all students” in September. Draft plans include physical distancing of 1.5 metres between students, and masks obligatory for children over the age of six, while children aged 10 and under could be taught in “bubbles” without the need for distancing

Italy: ... the education ministry is working to establish under which criteria they will reopen from September.
Italy was the first European country to close schools and universities on 4 March, days before the national coronavirus lockdown.
A definitive date for the reopening of schools is yet to be set, but when they do reopen they will probably need to maintain a 1-metre physical distance rule in classrooms, ensure that children over six wear masks, and deny entrance to anyone with a temperature of more than 37.5C. School opening hours might also be reduced and lessons staggered.

Ireland: Schools in Ireland are to start reopening on a phased basis from late August, more than five months after they shut – and well after the reopening of shops, pubs and cafes.

There is no detail about the percentage of in school time though there @prettybird which is what most councils have published here, eg Edinburgh, 33 percent.

Yes, lots of "as soon as possible" and "maximise time in school" type phrases from NS today but no firm commitments about what percentage of time should be spent in school and when they are aiming to return to normal.

Personally I cannot see how exams can go ahead as normal when some DC will be getting significantly more teaching time than others and some (mainly private schools) will be getting full online lessons even when they're at home.

I wonder if the SNP isn’t getting such a bad reaction because they’ve rushed out up front percentages for in school time with no definite end points. It’s tricky as finishing so soon and the holidays forced this timeline and the situation re the virus is fluid.

@AudacityOfHope

Today's daily briefing seems to have been a rebuttal to the JS comments yesterday: apparently the intention is to ramp up to 100% normal schooling as quickly as possible once term restarts and all parties have confidence in the safety of it.

Yes that was a relief to see. "It is absolutely not the case that we are planning for blended learning to last a year or anything like it."

(but... why's the EIS bloke been going round the media saying this has been decided by the Education Recovery Group already? And why was Swinney when asked about it seeming to agree? This is all a bit muddled.)

But there can't be firm commitments when nobody knows how the pandemic will play out. I sometimes think people want some sort of superhuman foresight from politicians. I would much rather have someone who is able to say 'we don't know yet' than Boris and his fucking 'yes/no/maybe/oh look everyone's bored now so just head back to Primark and you probably won't die' nonsense.

Radio Scotland had a union leader from Denmark on. Pupils back with 1m distancing (in our schools, that would mean still needing a rota) and using outdoor spaces as much as possible including parks. Bit easier in Copenhagen in June than Glasgow in September. And those not in school (she didn't say how many that is) are being taught by other staff not the ones teaching in the schools.

Just to add to this, I have just been told by primary school (Edinburgh) that children are going to be divided into three groups and in for full days so that equates to 1 day at school per week.

Fridays are allegedly for deep cleaning (don't see the point of this when every day is going to see new people in the classrooms) It would make more sense to deep clean on a Wed.

I just want to cry - this is not an education. And women are being disproportionately affected by this whole thing. Interesting research from the Fawcett society www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/coronavirus-making-women-visible

I'm off to write to my local Councillors and MSPs quoting said research.

@SockYarn
Good idea about writing to the children's commissioner

For me the point is that it is not clear what needs to happen for schools to reopen.

It was very heartening to see a briefing dedicated to education (for the first time ever I think), as it shows that the letter writing and group organisation is cutting through. Clearly John Swinney has caused a lot of anger amongst parents with his pretty clear expectation yesterday that blended learning would last a year, and she felt the need to rebuff it. It’s probably why he wasn’t there today despite the focus being education.

It was less heartening to see that there are still no practical solutions revealed, just more waffle about unprecedented times and being flexible. Also, no clear indication of how ‘as long as necessary’ is to be defined, just lots of waffle about not having a crystal ball. Surely they have criteria in mind (level of infection, R at a certain level for a given amount of time) even if they can’t say exactly when they’ll be met.

I did think she undermined herself a bit though, on the one hand saying she needed to build confidence with parents that it’s safe, while simultaneously talking about major out breaks in schools (at least twice that I counted) and implying that scientists didn’t know the impact on children (that is the one thing they do all agree on, children are extremely low risk). There did seem to be a degree of fear mongering going on there.

I’ve lost all confidence with the Scottish government regarding education. Talk is cheap.

I think there is a desire to keep us living in fear, i can’t quite figure out her agenda.

She speaks a lot of ‘I’ rather than we.

Good that she talked about education, not so great that she didn’t discuss a plan or commit to anything at all.

The kids have only been of school for 3 months but she’s finally got round to noticing education 🤦‍♀️ When she first became First Minister she swore that education would be her priority. What a load of crap.

It's all so vague. I know that in my school they're planning 'blended learning' (wtf does that even mean?) till Christmas. I'm hoping they're just going for the worst case scenario so they can pull it back if they need to.

@SamSeabornforPresident, probably because they expect to shut the schools again just after Christmas...

It looks like there is some pressure on Edinburgh council to up their education provision from the paltry 30% to 50%. It's a sad state of affairs when you hope that your children will get at least 2 days a week of school...

@sweetpotatoaddict I thought this too. There was something she said last week about going round to each other's houses and how you don't want to be grieving. Thought it was a bit much!

COSLA will be on drivetime on the bbc scotland radio to discuss council plans for returning to school so we can text our questions in to 80295

It won't let me text though

'Let me be clear..'

Most overused expression. Talks to us like we're 5 year olds.

It's maybe to contrast with BJ, where nothing he says is clear, ever.

It fills in some time too in a speech

@pigoons, how on earth do they think people will manage to work & pay their bills if their child is in 1 day per week🤦‍♀️

@SudokuBook

They will be screwed at the election if this madness goes ahead for a full year. They already don’t have a majority and even if they lose a small amount of their support they won’t get one. No majority and no support of other parties - Indyref kicked into the long grass for at least another 5 years.

I also suspect that laurel and hardy will magically pull an improvement out of their arse so that everyone thinks how amazing they are, maybe not by August but perhaps the October week

Have already lost support and members over the gender madness.