Hot off the email. Full return is officially the expectation with blended learning being the contingency plan.
The timing of this decision (clearly deliberate) dos not allow a lot of time for discussion prior to the end of the academic year. Since we’re planning on a full return, it would seem reasonable to put back the weeks holiday that was ...*(I cannot think of the right word) ‘shifted’.
* nonchalantly?
Our council put up 11th aug as the return within a day of announcement but still hasn't indicated when the time will come back.
The hub was queued out today 00s of kids. Key worker now a very broad term. Because of time/money it won't be teachers in the hub. So no social distant at all. If kids can be unsymtomatic carriers I'd expect a localised spike in a week or so. Which might throw a pigeon in the works.
Yeah, our hub is running over the holidays and it has been folks in education ( early years/SAPSAS/Teachers) thus far but they are planning on staffing it with a wider range of council staff. We had a very broad definition of key worker that included "bairns for whom school was the safest/best place to be." So it will remain busy.Gauss, I wonder if the 7 week authorities will get the extra week back, I can think of reasons for and against.
Just reading Edinburgh's yet to be released plan which has now been made out of date.
A bit of relaxation on the restrictions.
The 5 mile limit is removed on 3rd July.
Eating/drinking outside is allowed on 6th July.
Self catering, second homes, caravans (i.e. no shared services) can be occupied from 3rd July.
The 5 mile limit is removed on 3rd July.
Was just saying to mrs Nobeer there, that's the only restriction that is affecting us right now, not getting to proper hills.
Everything else is moot*, pubs restaurants, shopping.
*Well, apart from getting my next trampstamp, sorry, tattoo done. 🙂
My Mrs will be happy when the hairdressers are open!
A happy wife is always a positive!
Looking forward to riding for the first time in a year with less skillz than usual lol
Our MSP is saying
"The tourism sector generally - and therefore all holiday accommodation - can re-open from 15 July"
and given that he's quoted all the stuff about shared services further up his page I'm assuming that includes places like bunkhouses with shared services.
Still not seeing anything about being able to share rooms with someone from another household, e.g. me and my buddy sharing a couple of hotel rooms in September, but I'm now cautiously optimistic...
also nothing so far about the ferries and the Islands as far as I have seen...
Doesn't seem to rule out room-sharing
If the 5 mile thing goes on the 3rd and self-contained accommodation is ok then presumably wild camping is ok from the 3rd too.
also nothing so far about the ferries and the Islands as far as I have seen…
Calmac are reviewing on 30th June, and will lay out timetables and how they'll work. At 2m they're talking about 20% capacity, so priority to going to islanders and then folk staying overnight at the very least.
The glorious third?
Woot! Woot!
July 3rd: Hope it's not raining 🙂
I'll be out doing the Ledmore loop from Dingwall.
epicyclo
Subscriber
July 3rd: Hope it’s not raining 🙂
guaranteed.
roverpig
Subscriber
If the 5 mile thing goes on the 3rd and self-contained accommodation is ok then presumably wild camping is ok from the 3rd too.
that's my read anyhow.
Nobeerinthefridge
Member
The 5 mile limit is removed on 3rd July.Was just saying to mrs Nobeer there, that’s the only restriction that is affecting us right now, not getting to proper hills.
Everything else is moot*, pubs restaurants, shopping.
aye, I'll leave the busy pubs etc,to the "covid test pilots" as I'm dubbing them for the month of july, see what happens! 😆
I think if I go to a pub, it'll only be if passing and it's empty, which I suspect is unlikely!
Anyhow, I don't think there's any doubt, that from here to august, everything will open up.
I just hope they've got the contact tracing etc sorted...
covid test pilots
lol!
covid test pilots
If the number of cases in the community are as low as some of the estimates i've seen - 2000 active cases across the whole of Scotland, then the risk is pretty low. But a pub does seem like the best place to catch it.
Booked a day out at Fort William as my post lockdown treat instead
Booked a day out at Fort William as my post lockdown treat instead
I'm hoping the new blue will be ready soon!
I’m hoping the new blue will be ready soon!
Not for a while yet
"Despite all of the challenges and tough decisions we are having to make as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still a mood of cautious optimism amongst the team. Whilst many of our projects have been cancelled due to funding pressures and a catastrophic loss of revenue, we are continuing with our Blue Bike Track, a new blue graded, uplift accessible, trail and hope to have that open in May 2021"
I'm hoping I've not forgot how to ride my bike and can make it down Top Chief in one piece.
2000 active cases across the whole of Scotland
Less than 5 people in hospital across Ayrshire, a population of almost 400,000 people, no one in ITU any more. Fingers crossed.
I’m hoping I’ve not forgot how to ride my bike and can make it down Top Chief in one piece.
I love a day on TC, one rolling run to get yer eye in, then hit it for the rest of the day, pieces in the gondola, no stopping for lunch, and someone esle to drive home, cos yer ****ed 🙂
roverpig
Subscriber
If the 5 mile thing goes on the 3rd and self-contained accommodation is ok then presumably wild camping is ok from the 3rd too.
that’s my read anyhow.
That's my read too, but should point out that the public toilets will be closed
For the record I think the prospect of pupils of pupils/staff returning full time in August is great.
However as a teacher, my colleagues and I were given no warning that this was going to happen. In fact it was the opposite. Local authority were told to plan for a blended approach. Schools and in particularly Senior Managers have put in a massive shift re-writing timetables, adapting classrooms, equipping gyms etc with IT ready to apply social distancing. We have endless meeting discussing the minutiae of the plans. The inspectorate are tasked with quality assuring each authorities plan. Schools send out their detailed plans to parents and kids basically this week. Then boom Swinney annouces that we are all going back in August. No hint had been given that this was a possibility.
Not sure what happened or who suddenly decided the economics trump everything else but this was a massive U-turn. Makes me think that I will not be bothering to plan anything else.
public toilets will be closed
The burning question is - has YGH got what he was missing so much yet?
He was walking with a limp the other day...
has YGH got what he was missing so much yet?
His MyHermes parcel? 😉
No hint had been given that this was a possibility.
No hint but plenty of speculation! It is shit that so much work has been wasted but there is an element of not being able to get everything right first go in this.
I get the impression the U-turn was more down to parental pressure and education worries than economic concerns but probably an element of that too as it will allow more people back to work.
I'm just a class teacher but I decided not to start planning 'blended learning' as it looked so likely to change and I'm certainly not going to plan too much else. If that means a week of winging it when we go back then so be it!
His MyHerpes parcel?
FTFY
Makes me think that I will not be bothering to plan anything else
I plan lots of projects and improvements at work that may never come off due to budgetary issues, change of priorities etc, I'd be out of a job if I had that attitude tbh. I understand it's a pain in the arse, but this whole thing is a fluid situation, no one has a ****in clue where it's going to go.
I plan lots of projects and improvements at work that may never come off due to budgetary issues, change of priorities etc, I’d be out of a job if I had that attitude tbh. I understand it’s a pain in the arse, but this whole thing is a fluid situation, no one has a **** clue where it’s going to go.
You'd be out of a job if you didn't plan things that never happen? 🙂 Obviously a pretty different industry from teaching!
I'm not saying I've given up on development just that it's folly to try to plan for a situation as fluid as this or second guess what's going to happen come August as shown by this recent change in policy. I've already got the stuff I need in place for August because it's basically situation normal and if it changes I'm pretty confident I can adapt what I do.
...However as a teacher, my colleagues and I were given no warning that this was going to happen. In fact it was the opposite. Local authority were told to plan for a blended approach. Schools and in particularly Senior Managers have put in a massive shift re-writing timetables, adapting classrooms, equipping gyms etc with IT ready to apply social distancing. We have endless meeting discussing the minutiae of the plans... ...Then boom Swinney annouces that we are all going back in August. No hint had been given that this was a possibility.
That's not entirely true is it? Yes we were ALL told schools would go back 11-Aug to a blended learning model, but it was also quite clear from the original plan that Phase 4 would then be a schools pretty much normal approach; so at some point after 11-Aug things would revert to normality. Swinney was indeed telling people to plan for a long term blended model not just a quick fix for a month - that seems the right thing to do. The FM was however clearly saying would be back to full f2f teaching as soon as possible. Anyone looking at the numbers could clearly see that the trend was going in the right direction and there was a possibility that the blended period could be much shorter than originally feared. October holidays were mooted in the media. Locally people here were saying as soon as the september weekend. All thats happened in 6 weeks has become 0 days.
I get that its a pain in the arse, you've invested a lot of time in something that is now (hopefully) not going to be needed. Welcome to the real world - this is what people do all the time, contingency planning, preparing for situations they hope to avoid and are than happy that their crisis plan is not needed or averted quickly. Its absolutely right that it was, its essential the minutia were thought through and a message from the Cabinet Secretary that it was a "might be needed" wasn't going to drive this to happen.
Look at the positives - if you get a second wave, local lockdowns, a future novel disease outbreak, a fire in a school, huge bad weather periods, etc - all schools are now better equipped to deal with them and all councils have people better experienced in planning this stuff. I'm sure its been uncomfortable for many teachers but I'm sure others have learned new skills, enjoyed a fresh look at their teaching methods and reflected on the merits of face-to-face pedagogy.
Labelling it a U turn is political posturing. Its accelerating a plan to get back to something more like normal. Rather than slating the SG for this we should be applauding them for having the R rate and infection levels low enough that they had the confidence to make such a leap. I'm no fan of Mr Swinney or indeed particularly the SNP (although the alternatives are mostly worse!) but he's done the right thing in leading education to have provisions in place, and then the whole country has done the right thing in making that provision unnecessary. Imagine if the plan had been full return on 11 Aug but then a week before they had said, not-yet, lets use a blended approach till Christmas.
The fact that parents have also had to assume a blended approach has forced employers to also think outside the box and look longer term than a few weeks of inconvenience.
That’s not entirely true is it?
It is entirely true. You might have speculated about it but no hint was given and school management were full steam ahead with blended learning planning right up to the the announcement. I was in school when the announcement was made, our senior management team was listening to it and seconds before they had been working on plans for blended learning and roughly 33% of pupils in.
Yes, there have been shifting goalposts, but TBH, what's new? As a result the school that I work at has plans in place for total-lockdown, 20% attendance blended learning, 50% attendance blended learning and full return (with as yet undecided mitigation measures). Whatever the state of play in August, we'll be able to hit the term running with a well developed plan. One of the bigger challenges is communicating all of the various arrangements to parents clearly enough that the Facebook rumour-mill doesn't distort reality to an unhelpful degree.
Maybe the "All schools return on 11 August" announcement was a wee bit premature, as with the current plan A, our scheduled return on 17 August would arguably have been better as it would mean there are fewer complications with pupil & staff pre-booked holidays (which now look like they may go ahead) and modifying the remainder of the school year to accommodate the shifted holiday week. IMO this should be moved until AFTER the next exam diet.
That’s terrible you had to work a little harder whilst still on full pay during global pandemic. Enjoy the extended summer holidays knowing you have that contingency in place.
That’s terrible you had to work a little harder whilst still on full pay during global pandemic. Enjoy the extended summer holidays knowing you have that contingency in place.
What a knob comment to make.
The person upthread commenting about the wasted work was pretty balanced in what they said which was basically, great that we're going back but the amounted of wasted work time is annoying. I'm sure you'd be pissed off to find that your last month or so's work was now irrelevant.
Oh and it's not an extended holiday, it's been cut by a week for most teachers.
My kids primary and the school I’m going to were of the opinion they were preparing for the worst. It was pretty clear to me at least that the blended learning was planing for the worst. We are still on track for blended learning so that hasn’t actually changed.
It’s 7 weeks till schools restart so assuming there isn’t a second wave the infection rates should continue to go down. I do feel that the government is playing to public outcries and starting phase 3 earlier than they planned.
I do feel that the government is playing to public outcries and starting phase 3 earlier than they planned.
I think they need to do an element of that as they need to keep the public on side. Plus with the very low levels of new infections it would be difficult to justify maintaining restricions.
Even if it is just playing to public opinion I'm fine with it!
My brother is a teacher in Berlin and schools have been back to normal since about 10th May. Maybe August resumption is a balanced decision rather than a knee-jerk reaction? Time will tell no doubt.
I do feel that the government is playing to public outcries and starting phase 3 earlier than they planned.
I'd agree if you mean UK wide, but I think ScotGov are moving forward due to the diminishing infections and deaths, and the delicate balance of getting the country and money flowing again.
It was absolutely the right thing to plan for blended learning - even multiple variants of it, but anyone in a leadership position should have been tempering the message.
I think this might shine a light on the capability of some schools' senior management function and how they have been supported by their councils.
It is entirely true. You might have speculated about it but no hint was given
What were you looking for something in black and white from the FM stating it was possibility six days before a formal announcement?
or perhaps if she has held a press briefing two days before that when she said "would open as soon as possible"
https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/first-minister-blended-learning-18420945
The hints were all there over the last two weeks if you wanted to hear them!
and school management were full steam ahead with blended learning planning right up to the the announcement. I was in school when the announcement was made, our senior management team was listening to it and seconds before they had been working on plans for blended learning and roughly 33% of pupils in.
As indeed they should have been. I can only assume that teachers don't normally experience the levels of significant rapid change that the rest of us do. It sounds like if whatever you think a hint would have looked like would have stopped you doing this which would be exactly why they didn't issue a formal memo!
