Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Scotsnet

Welcome to Scotsnet - discuss all aspects of life in Scotland, including relocating, schools and local areas.

Original poster

Educated guesses when schools will reopen

475 replies

frasersmummy · 06/01/2021 21:19

Just that really

What do you think might be a realistic re-opening date.
Am I being optimistic thinking after the February break
I know no one has a crystal ball just looking for people's thoughts

OP posts:
WouldBeGood · 07/01/2021 22:50

I have had no information at all about online learning for ds’ secondary school.

I’ve just found out that the teachers only went back yesterday to try to plan things, so this is not yet done.

I’m extremely pissed off.

kurtrussellsbeard · 07/01/2021 23:36

Teachers only went back yesterday because they were on holiday until yesterday.

Teachers are just as frustrated as you are. You never know you might be happy with what Monday brings.

Fortherosesjoni70 · 08/01/2021 01:05

@iquitelikenormalityafterall

I don’t want to be a fear monger(er?) by saying august, I think I just have the fear and hoping someone will say it’s not likely! The vaccine and the fact there’s an election gives me a bit of hope. Also the fact we were told things would be significantly better by Easter makes me feel a bit more positive. So maybe feb for nurseries/ primary school and blended for secondary. It is still far too much school for kids to miss though, they were only really there for 3 months last year!
3 months! No they weren't. They stopped in March 20th or something like that. They were closed until June. They were off for 3 months. Not in.
Fortherosesjoni70 · 08/01/2021 01:07

Also Education is devolved in Scotland. Boris and Williamson do not make the decisions here. Its swinney and his committee and N.S.

Fortherosesjoni70 · 08/01/2021 01:08

@WouldBeGood

I have had no information at all about online learning for ds’ secondary school.

I’ve just found out that the teachers only went back yesterday to try to plan things, so this is not yet done.

I’m extremely pissed off.

Fgs! Give teachers a chance!
Fortherosesjoni70 · 08/01/2021 01:10

@RaspberryCoulis

We had no live lessons. No recorded lessons. No phone calls from school. No "real time" communication at all. The only communication any of the kids had was the ability to post on Glow/Teams, in the hope someone might reply.

I very much doubt this will be changing as East Dunbartonshire have made it crystal clear that they do not approve of teachers appearing on video in any format and the unions are vetoing it too.

However, I have seen that teachers are going into school this time round rather than being at home which might assuage some of the issues. Who knows.

However it pans out, it needs to be for the shortest time possible to relieve pressure on hospitals ONLY. Not until everyone's vaccinated, not until we get cases down to some random number dreamt up by Ms Sridhar.

They are now able to do live teaching from today. It was EDC that had to approve this.
Fortherosesjoni70 · 08/01/2021 01:14

@Rasperrycoulis
That's very kind of you to consider the welfare of teachersHmm

Happylittlethoughts · 08/01/2021 06:00

Live teaching is not advocated by the main union. It should only be done on a voluntary basis.

RosesAndHellebores · 08/01/2021 08:06

@happylittlethoughts which union is that please?

Are you saying a teachers' union would rather children and young people are not taught at all. If so that's beyond disgusting and if I were a teacher and a member my sub would have been cancelled immediately. But if you tell us which union we can research it and write to them. Am sure most parents would be delighted to.

iquitelikenormalityafterall · 08/01/2021 08:09

14 weeks teaching time when you take out the holidays @Fortherosesjoni70... that’s only about 3 months!

LemonBreeland · 08/01/2021 09:11

@Happylittlethoughts

Live teaching is not advocated by the main union. It should only be done on a voluntary basis.
Why is that? I would like to know the reason for it.

I've now heard from both schools. Primary there will be no live teaching as expected. High school it says there will be some, but my S2 is on half timetable.

Mrsfeathersword · 08/01/2021 10:01

Do you think an S2 could sit an work at home on their own for the same length as a full school day? I have one at home and I know he could not manage that! Besides, I'd like him to leave the house for exercise while it's still daylight at least some of the time.

Mrsfeathersword · 08/01/2021 10:03

Are you saying a teachers' union would rather children and young people are not taught at all.
No she wasn't, she was referring to live (I assume on camera) teaching. I'd prefer the ones who did that to be comfortable doing that, to be honest. I know my S2 is refusing point blank to be on a camera, but is willing to do the work. There are other ways to do it!

Dogscatsandsparrows · 08/01/2021 10:07

As a teacher and mum of 3 I can't even deal with guessimates. I am going strictly one day at a time. This time around instead of a day a fortnight in the local hub I've also got a day a week in my school to fit into everything else. Last time NO one was in our school building but this time it is open and there are staff/pupils in, so it feels completely different. I'm rationing my time on here and have deleted Twitter and Facebook as cannot deal with the venom directed at school staff at all. We'd rather be in school too - like I can help my dc with S3 physics 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

LemonBreeland · 08/01/2021 11:35

There is no reason a live lesson needs to be on camera though. Our LA provided all DC aged P5 and up with Ipads. On Teams the camera is disabled for the DC, the teachers can choose whether or not to be on camera. Live lessons are so much better for the children. Even of it's just 10-15 minutes to get them started.

RaspberryCoulis · 08/01/2021 11:37

They are now able to do live teaching from today. It was EDC that had to approve this.

Yes! I saw that after I posted yesterday. Amazing news. But the communication we had was that it would be down to the individual teacher to decide what they wanted to do. Will see what pans out on Monday.

iquitelikenormalityafterall · 08/01/2021 12:34

Could phone call appointments with a teacher be an option if children are struggling?

Original poster
frasersmummy · 08/01/2021 17:48

we were told today that the school were considering some live lessons but not all subjects and certainly not every class

Its all very last minute its almost like the sg didnt think they would need a contingency

oh well just need to wait it out to see how it pans out and for how long

OP posts:
PastaPins · 08/01/2021 17:54

After Easter at the earliest. We are in a worse situation than last year. Likely May.

Happylittlethoughts · 08/01/2021 19:20

EIS
The main issue is vulnerability to professional scrutiny . There is no control over recording or distribution of lessons.
Groups such as Us for Them have advocated evidence gathering /note taking/ scrutiny of quality of teaching .
What if untrained people are scrutinising me lessons or professional calibre?

Educated guesses when schools will reopen
kowari · 08/01/2021 19:24

Hoping it's brought forward and they get at least a couple of weeks before February half term, but it will probably be Easter Sad. Worried sick that my year 10 child is going to fail English, it is SO hard compared to maths and science and I can't help him, he desperately needs to be back in class.

kowari · 08/01/2021 20:00

Didn't realise this was Scotsnet!

Lockdownbear · 08/01/2021 20:12

Happy thoughts - probably not very much really happens if someone untrained scrutinises your lessons. They form an opinion you are better or worse than the teacher they had. Nobody of any real importance will do or say anything unless, its exceptionally good or poor and by then it's not a untrained individual who's scrutinizing the video.

What do you think could happen?

Kowari It doesn't matter Scotland/England I think the schools will go back around the same time.

MrsAmaretto · 08/01/2021 21:21

I don’t understand why they don’t look at resetting the school holidays? 2020 was a joke my kids disengaged with school, covid rates improved, kids were still off school. Rates were negligible so the kids were on holiday for 6-7 weeks 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️ Wtf?

Can we not have some of the summer holiday just now - they are not going to get a decent education at the moment and then when the rates improve they need to be in school.

Groovee · 08/01/2021 21:35

I really hope they don't change the school holidays. My summer holidays were for supporting Dd post jaw surgery this year after it was postponed last year.