No More Tiers (Enough is Enough)

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Here it is - thread 365 - was getting too twitchy....

Nothing i wasn't expecting,but so depressing.
Doubt the DC will get any meaningful education this year
And as for businesses,...........
Is it too early for gin

She really is getting quite grumpy.

Have you READ the book I set for homework.

Sounds like me!

"hissy fit" and nothing to do with playing politics

Somebody pass the gin please.

No surprises but it's still grim reading/ listening.

I’m not sure the 11th would count as mid Feb so can’t see Glasgow schools retuning then. Surely now there is an argument for kids repeating school year. Or my p2 child will be going into p3 in August and has missed nearly a year of schooling. They have spent the last few months doing the things they missed in p1 .

No way is there going to be a national 'repeat the year' that just can't work, practically speaking. My kids are both primary and I don't see how there won't be time ever for them to catch up. I mean, the entire country will be catching up. I don't think a six year old will be eternally disadvantaged.

I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had older kids facing exams though.

I remember reading that the Pfizer vaccine, aside from needing stored at -70C, is really fragile once defrosted. So as well as needing to be used quickly once defrosted, it can't be moved around multiple sites. Oxford one is much easier logistically.

I'm a left handed dyslexic. My ability to spell is terrible, but I always loved reading. I can't decide whether it would have been easier to be young and dyslexic now. Spell checker/ predictor and using tech to produce written work, without hundreds of mistakes and awful handwriting, verses possibly never mastering reading, due to all the tech and media, meaning books wouldn't be such a source of information or entertainment.
My brain doesn't seem to retain how to spell words. Spelling tests were a special kind of torture. Spelling tests in French were horrific and way past pointlessness.

Starting to think she will keep schools closed as long as possible so we don't have time to process the extent of the damage before May. There is also the risk of being shouting at by everyone with any sort of differentiated reopening. There is no upside to opening unless they are almost guaranteed that the situation is and will continue to improve. The last thing they want is a wrangle about safety measures etc, similar to the one from October-December, while campaigning.

If I am already annoyed about schools being shut opening them in the run up to an election won't persuade me. It would just look cynical.

I think you might be right. Our kids are due back on 19th April from Easter break. I can see that being the actual return date.

Repeating the year isn’t a starter

@IncludeWomenInTheSequel

No way is there going to be a national 'repeat the year' that just can't work, practically speaking. My kids are both primary and I don't see how there won't be time ever for them to catch up. I mean, the entire country will be catching up. I don't think a six year old will be eternally disadvantaged.

I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had older kids facing exams though.

A "repeat the year" wouldn't work for older kids either. My eldest is 18 at the beginning of March and already has his UCAS application in for October. He can't just repeat S6 and leave school when he's 19.

The whole thing is indeed an utter shitshow but repeating a year is not the answer.

It's not, I don't know what is, but repeating isn't an option.

Our Feb school hols meant to start on the 15th and then Spring Break starts on appropriately-enough April 1st, so that will be a feckin joke if we’re still at home then.

Agreed. And I'm not usually a harbinger of doom but I'm not seeing any urgency at all from the govt.

I really only trust Nicola's book recommendations.

One of mine is in exam year and in the back of mind I just think if it takes an extra year at college to get grades for the next step so be it. I'm trying not to stress about any of it.

I do feel for people trying to manage little ones at home.

It's nice that she's a reader.

she'd probably recommend only scottish books of course, and they'd need to be woke, so not JK Rowling.

I do feel for people trying to manage little ones at home.

I don’t have any preschoolers, but I feel for anyone impacted by nursery closures- which seems to have been lumped into the schools category, despite the very obvious differences of the two settings. My colleagues and friends impacted by this all have grandparent support for up to three days a week, where they had nursery places before, as it’s literally the only way they could keep their jobs. Go figure🤷‍♀️

The other thing about the 'mid-Feb' point is that blended learning was mentioned. I just don't see how that works with the current way home learning is being delivered unless you have have the class in and half the class at home getting the same lesson streamed by the same teacher, as otherwise there aren't enough teachers to support both in school and home learning to the same level. That was always the problem with the blended approach.

I had steeled myself for a return on 1st March so mid-Feb is no worse than what I was thinking (although beyond shit for the kids I have to say). But if, at the start of Feb, she isn't beginning to talk about March I'll find that really hard to take. My DD is (supposed to be) doing Nat 5s and I just fail to see how grades are going to be fairly awarded.

Numbers are falling (many hundreds fewer today) and hospitalisations/deaths WILL follow in a few weeks so at start of Feb surely there has to be recognition of that??

Also wanted to say groovee thinking of you - I've been reading your updates and hope you are all bearing up

have half the class in

@WaxOnFeckOff

Surely at some point in this ramping up, they will have to start doing 2nd doses for the first dose folks and this will slow down the overall plan?

My husband has a date in March for his second dose.

@Iwillneverbesatisfied

she'd probably recommend only scottish books of course, and they'd need to be woke, so not JK Rowling.

I'm ok with the Scottish part there. I'm not on the slightest bit woke though. Far from it. Middle aged and crabbit!

I think the 2nd of feb needs to see some sort of exit strategy. Even if it is not till April (fucking hate that idea tbh) but none of this we will review nonsense. This is where she went wrong last summer, kept us in too tight restrictions when cases where really low.

I will be really interested to see how the campaign goes, surely if they keep schools closed they can't use education as part of their campaign? Any of the parties that have supported it? I will be interested to see how the structure of the campaigns vary from previous years.

I think blended learning could work in Primary school for a couple of reasons.
One you’d get more work covered in less time with a small class
Two the teacher could teach the awful stuff like maths and assign easy tasks for home.
Also part of primary school is just learning to work together and socialise and also play. All of which is important for development and is being lost just now.
I do think it would be hard to work it for the teachers at high school though 😬

I agree, I would be happy for my kids to be in two days and do other tasks the rest of the week.