Will private secondary schools be able to reopen to all year groups in Jne

[MrsFogi]

If the principle of schools opening is approved by the government does this mean that private schools will be able to have all their year groups back (subject to social distancing being in place) whilst state schools will need to follow the year group guidance?

I think someone on a different thread said their private school enquired if other years could go back on 1 June and were told no!

It is slightly ridiculous that y5 isn't going back in private schools.... y6 is "done" as they all took their exams in January and this is supposed to be the "fun" part of school....

I think the rationale for year 6 going back is to ease transition to secondary school.

@Bakeachocolatecaketoday in 3-18 schools it makes a lot of sense for year 6 to be back for transition purposes. Not personally sure timing is right though

Our eldest is at a private school which is bringIng back its prep classes (so years 3-6) on 1 June but has been told it can’t bring back its secondary classes except maybe 10 and 12.

That’s weird @PickWickPaper, my understanding was only the government mandated prep classes can go back? Have they definite checked with authorities?

I don’t know who they have checked with. My kid isn’t in the prep, she is in the secondary, but the letter from the Head said all prep classes were going back.

Our private secondary is going strictly by government guidelines, year 10 & 12 only and unsure yet what form this will take. Unlikely to be any sort of normal as they have said they want to avoid a 'mixed economy' of some staff/students in school and some still at home. We live in an area with a lot of private schools and all are following government guidance as far as I know. Why wouldn't they?

DD is Y10 at Private school and we've heard nothing about them going back, we've also been given a discount for this term.
DS is due to start Y7 there in September and we have been told that all his transition will be virtual.
All this makes me think that they wont reopen to any Senior years until September and probably not the Prep years either.

I'm just reading through DD's school plan and they are intending to follow government guidance on this.

“ We live in an area with a lot of private schools and all are following government guidance as far as I know. Why wouldn't they?”

I can think of several reasons why they might want to go further than Gov guidelines if it’s not illegal to do so. I don’t think they should but if I were a private Head I would be thinking (a) I have to justify my fees or I will be forced into further discounts (b) I can’t afford to risk results in future years or I will lose my fees long term (c) I have more flexibility because I have more space and fewer kids per class so could have more year groups back in bubbles of 15 than the average state school could fit (d) my work force isn’t unionised like the state sector so I have more flexibility.

Our prep was told that they cannot open for other school years other than those prescribed by the government. Reading between the lines this is a political thing - the private school kids getting back to normal and being at further advantage whilst the state school kids have to wait and even then still receive a restricted education because of the limits on class sizes.

In state schools, Year 6 is an important year. Whilst children staying in the independent sector have done their exams, are streets ahead on the curriculum and are doing the nice stuff, it’s not the same in state. Sure, they are winding down but the curriculum needs to have been taught to the expected level for Year 7.

Our local private schools are now closed til September!

All fair points PickwickPaper. Maybe I'm naive but I think that would open schools up to negative criticism and so reputational damage they can ill afford. I may well be wrong, we shall see!

We're waiting to hear what our secondary are doing, though I'm assuming they'll only have 10s and 12s back before the summer. I think one of the complications for them is the boarding element - at the moment the remote learning is working well for everyone, but it would be hard to keep it equal for all the students if the day kids were back but the boarders weren't.

DD's senior school has an attached prep and they are only allowed the govt approved year groups to go back on 1st June. The HT has written and explained that Y6 has been prioritised because there have been no SATs in state primaries and some state seniors may be looking for some testing to enable them to set DCs starting in September. It does seem very unfair that it is just Y6 especially because very few private schools sit SATs.
This schools has extensive grounds, numerous school halls and sports halls which can easily spread out the small number of prep pupils. The senior school is desperate to get Y10 and Y12 back as well.

If the principle of schools opening is approved by the government does this mean that private schools will be able to have all their year groups back (subject to social distancing being in place) whilst state schools will need to follow the year group guidance?

No, I don’t think they will.

No, they will not. From a risk management and possible liability perspective private schools will follow government guidelines. Even assuming they would be allowed to act outside of the government guidelines and reopen early, they would be exposing themselves to possible legal action if anything went wrong.

Those I'm familiar with are strictly following government guidelines. I don't know what they are saying internally of course but outwardly they are positive about welcoming pupils back and making changes to comply with the Covid safe requirements.

My children’s headteacher told me their insurers had said they would invalidate their insurance Policies if they opened for years outside those allowed by the Government.

Govt guidance specifically states that independent schools are meant to follow the order of year group return in state school.

It's a shame for my Y7DD, whose school could probably manage sooner, but I think it's fair enough. Private school children are already at an advantage this term for having had structured learning and returning when their peers do not would just compound this further.