The Sixth Republic - Will we or won’t we? That is the question! #solidarity

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff. Baiters and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

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Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the toffee vodka is hidden.

In the other staffroom, there is rhubarb & ginger gin, along with tea and coffee.

Surely for year 12 they could go some UCAS type stuff in bubbles instead?

Who's DC was doing Animal Farm? Just had email from my DD's HO English saying they're covering it this term too. Quite pleased about that, however doesn't make it clear if they're providing the text online or if I have to buy it? Amazon here I come. No mention about if Y9 are going into school at all.

No word from my school either about plans yet. Hoping today!

This return 1st June thing really as just chosen because of half term wasn't it? Not ' the science'.

I teach it. LOVE IT!

Unless new guidance is released, Y7,8,9 non-keyworker children won't be back in until September. One thing the guidance is reasonably clear on is that secondary schools are only allowed to open to Y10/12.

@Piggywaspushed I think so, probably with the thought that people could work over half term getting schools ready too.

Although I think originally, 1st June was the date track and trace was supposed to start.

There will only be one yeargroup at a time, full year 12, and 2 different half yeargroup of year 10.
Social distancing is supposed to be enforced, with all pupils remaining 2m away from each other, and teachers actually roped off at the front of the room.
But the pupils will be going to their normal timetabled lessons apparently, if the plan goes ahead, and if it fits with government guidance when it is clearer for year 10 and 12. Teachers should only be in for the lessons they teach the yeargroup that is in that day (on 3 days a week I teach both my year 10 classes, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon, so I'll have to be in school all day those days)

Plan B (which I think it's more likely to fit the guidance) is to get the priority pupils into school and working under the supervision of some teachers (who, and what they'll be doing is still unclear)

The email is full of if and maybe, and I can feel his exasperation at the lack of clear guidance coming through in full force.

Oh joy, that's my two. Y7&Y9. What fun. And we're moving into a smaller house next week, we'll have such a long, lovely summer together ha! Can't really complain, they've been pretty engaged (with the odd nag) and have got on together amazingly well.

@MossWalk - I agree that the older children would have been the better choice too. For 2 reasons. They are older and more able to understand the requirement for distancing measures, therefore would lead the example for the younger ones returning. And also, the younger ones have so much longer to catch up on gaps in their learning. At the moment I know there are year 2-5 pupils in primary school who can barely read and at home they won't be receiving the same interventions as they would at school. Heck, I know a year 6 pupil who was still reading at a year 2 level when I was a volunteer parent reader. These children are going to be the ones most affected by this gap in their education and the longer it goes on for part time schooling, the harder it is going to be to plug that gap effectively. My Manager told me that by the time they get to secondary school, if they haven't filled the gap by the end of year 9, they won't progress further than they are because there just isn't the scope to achieve massive gains. Effectively writing these children off for GCSE's because of poor reading and writing skills.

Pink it’s my year 8 son who’s doing Animal Farm next half term. I found out after I bought a copy that the text is embedded into the pdf workbook she’s using but I prefer not to read off a backlit screen so that’s fine. Looking forward to re-reading it as an adult.

As for older or younger I personally don’t think any of them should be going back so soon. I think it’s nothing more than full steam ahead for herd immunity plan now there’s room in icu for the next tidal wave

I think so, probably with the thought that people could work over half term getting schools ready too.

Yes - that was the assumption. They then said they wouldn't actually say yes or no until the Friday before - so presumably we're expected in at the weekend to make final plans.

We've just been through our plan. It's as good as it can be. It doesn't feel 'fair', in that only staff who have been allocated to a bubble will be in school, and that's not everyone being exposed to the same risks.

Unions aren't getting us anywhere with this. We'll be open on 1st. Well some schools will.

The arbitrary date this has been a problem with all of their things. It's not about dates, it's about when x and x align. But this government are a bunch of lying see you next Tuesdays, and we all know that.

So, details of our return to work plan have come out today. The Y10 stuff sounds reasonably sensible- Year group split 5 ways, then into bubbles and teachers giving some support with core subjects, but not actually teaching. They'll get 1 morning a week in school. No transport though, so they won't all be able to come.

*Ours is similar. So I will be expected to go in twice until September.

Unless DFE says to do more.*

I have more than one of my year 10 class who are reading at a year 1 or 2 level. I can only set wordy questions in maths if we have a TA available to read for those kids. When there is no TA, we can only do number questions. They get readers and scribes in their GCSEs. I have no idea how they cope with other, wordier subjects.

And yet at my school we are expected in every day. Not the kids mind! Just us! Being alert!

Piggy that's ridiculous.

Have the doe thought that headteachers would be able to read between the lines and been mistaken? Myold ht would not have understood that they had wriggle room.

It must be confusing for a 4 year old to be told they can't see grandma, or go to their friends' houses because we have to keep apart, but it's fine to be in a room with 15 friends at school.

Yes, I've just had a really complicated conversation with my 5 year old abou this. "When we go back to school, I'll be able to have sleepovers with grandma won't I?" Erm, no.

There is no way that reception children will be kept at desks and not allowed to touch each other for play. Just no way. Risk assessments can say whatever they want, schools can try to say stuff... the reality is just different. It has been different with key worker groups, and will be with this too.

I mean, adults try to SD in my school... then the bursar arrived the other day to find me and an LSA looking at the same laptop screen. She said TWO METRES at us, but really. We were working out what work we wanted kids to do, we needed to work out which sheets were which. Just not practical.

And this is why I'm annoyed that the gov has pushed it - they know what will happen.

They don’t MsDragon. I don’t really agree with our system of dragging kids up every year regardless of what they have learned. Year 10 curriculum, with the best will in the world, is inaccessible to people who haven’t mastered basic literacy. It must be crushing for self esteem and motivation to be dragged ever onwards as the gap widens

Piggy that's nuts!! What are you expected to be doing?

Apparently the Scottish plan it to start 'blended learning' (part time timetables to the rest of us) from August 11th. Either that or they might 'expand the school estate and workforce' to enable social distancing.

I'm not sure there'd be much joy in London with trying to double the number of school facilities.

If we end up on part time timetables for a really long time, but key worker children can go full time throughout, surely they are going to end up having a huge educational advantage.

Having all staff in every day seems like a really unnecessary risk.

I do think the wider public aren't aware about Y10/12 coming back at all. I've spoken to a few friends and relatives recently who had no idea that secondary schools would be doing anything at all.

A friend who teaches in a London school said their plan is to get Y10/12 in for alternate weeks with staggered days- but apparently there's no provision for the ones who will get in early due to public transport- if they aren't allowed onto school grounds until their specified start time then that's going to make social distancing pretty tricky for the people who live around the school, too.

piggy that does not sound reasonable at all! Why on earth should you be in school every day if you don't teach those kids every day, and the kids aren't in that much either? What's their rationale? Or can't you say?

Honey that's what I thought. At least in maths I am given the freedom (ish) to teach the bits of the curriculum I think they need me to teach. I vaguely stick to the topics in the scheme of work, but the bottom end only cover the bits they can understand based on their current level of understanding. There really is no point at all in "teaching" concepts those pupils can't access.

I'm not sure key worker children will be at a big educational advantage- are they being explicitly taught at many schools? We just supervise them doing whatever their class teacher has set at the moment, I thought this was pretty normal? We obviously offer help where needed, and I suppose they see a range of subject specialists throughout the week, though.

They are probably at an advantage over the ones doing literally nothing, though!

Key worker hubs and the reality of coming back is going to be different. Our KW have had much more freedom.

We didn’t have enough plastic toys to share between each bubble. We also don’t have enough staff to make sure everything is properly cleaned, plus HT doesn’t want any adult lingering in the building.

We’re going to be trying to get outdoors as much as possible but everything will be timetabled and controlled.

It’s really not an ideal environment at all.