Brighton primary Schools are closed.

i’m in 2 minds about this – my wife is a teacher – she thinks schools should be open whereas i’m less concerned. But then our kids are not in a particularly important part of their school career (like A level or GCSE)

the unions are campaigning for the teachers safety only and and this doesnt necessarily reflect the wills of the actual teachers. we all rely on tesco drivers and shop staff and doctors and nurses to do their jobs – surely we can rely on teachers to do theirs – their work is just as essential?

its important to understand that teachers dont want to not work at all – they want to teach kids its just the medium of how this happens may vary from the traditional bums-on-seats approach.

quite alot of families have a vulnerable person within the family/support group be it parent, grandparent etc. therefore this will affect whether a teachers is able to attend school (due to not wanting to pass covid on) which is completely understandable

once you lose two or 3 teachers from a school, for given period then, for the school, actually organising the teacher cover and classes and providing actual, meaningful, teaching (rather than just childcare) is super tricky.

As such i can see why heads/unions want to keep schools shut in a period of uncertainty. The main issue is that teachers/schools havent really got a grip of how best to teach kids at home. and kids learning is suffering because of this.

I cant understand why thre are calls to not have GCSEs or a levels this year though – thats just daft. the kids need a purpose to do some work!

Ofsted inspectors are not currently inspecting schools because it’s too dangerous, but all school staff are otherwise expected to lump it.

Head of Ofsted was doing the media rounds this week explaining why schools must stay open to all pupils.

I cant understand why thre are calls to not have GCSEs or a levels this year though

Because many pupils have been in and out of school all last term, or have had their teachers missing for long periods, due to illness, positive tests and/or isolating. And this term is going to be worse still for many… I think everyone can see that now… or should be able to. Spending last summer properly updating the syllabus and materials and teaching approach to ensure those not always on site could face exams with the same preparation as those that are, could well have enabled fair exams this year.. but ploughing on into the autumn term pretending the school year would be close to normal has made England wide exam only assessment untenable.

I cant understand why thre are calls to not have GCSEs or a levels this year though – thats just daft. the kids need a purpose to do some work!

The calls are for teacher assessment instead. As has been pointed out much earlier in this thread – continuous assessment is likely to incentivize more than one off exams.

Were they going to get any PPE to carry out testing on school premises, I wonder?

Rumour has it the teachers are not going to be actually doing/supervising the testing – the schools have been told to recruit volunteers locally, get them screened (CRB or whatever its called now) and have all this in place for when the kids return…

I can’t imagine there’ll be a huge quee of willing volunteers?

I cant understand why thre are calls to not have GCSEs or a levels this year though – thats just daft. the kids need a purpose to do some work!

Because some kids have now missed 6+ months of school in the last 12 months.
My daughter was talking to a mate who goes to a different local school just before Christmas – this girl had been in School 7 days out of the 7 weeks between Oct half term and Christmas due to 3 separate periods of isolation.

They’re now probably going to miss another 6-7 weeks between now and feb half term – how can it possibly be fair to put these kids in for exams??

Our son’s primary is online only from tomorrow.
We are lucky that our jobs are flexible enough for us to be able to work and do learning with him. He will be allowed to watch some films and play games though as we can’t do all day with him

we all rely on tesco drivers and shop staff and doctors and nurses to do their jobs – surely we can rely on teachers to do theirs

It is FAR more risky being a teacher right now. Close contact with no masks with hundreds of other people every day. Deliver drivers here are being very cautious by stepping back before the door is opened and wearing a mask. In shops staff are wearing masks and can keep their distance.

I admire any teacher willing to go back into a classroom right now. I’m a teacher and not willing.

They’re now probably going to miss another 6-7 weeks between now and feb half term – how can it possibly be fair to put these kids in for exams??

Still better than more deaths.

this

Because some kids have now missed 6+ months of school in the last 12 months.
My daughter was talking to a mate who goes to a different local school just before Christmas – this girl had been in School 7 days out of the 7 weeks between Oct half term and Christmas due to 3 separate periods of isolation.

is because of this:

The main issue is that teachers/schools havent really got a grip of how best to teach kids at home. and kids learning is suffering because of this.

as i mentioned earlier. Also just because they are not at school doesnt mean they were not learning.

kids can be fairly resilient and some form of testing is definatley required. at present the only form available is GCSE/A Level. These are statistically graded so even if the overall standard id shit you`ll get a grade based on your knowledge. there may need to be mitigting adjustment based on days missed etc (much like when i was at school when my mate missed a chunk of school through illness).

To be fair to teachers coming up with online resources and teaching techniques, while manging your own kids and home issues must be bloody hard. alot of available online resources are not relevant to the new required teaching method.

The main issue is that teachers/schools haven’t really got a grip of how best to teach kids at home.

Maybe if they’d been given some warning that that’s what they’d be expected to do, they might be a bit more prepared. But this shower of imbeciles have been insisting that wouldn’t be happening and that all the kids would be there in person. They were even threatening legal action against schools that failed to facilitate that

Maybe if there was an education department that was fit for purpose and offered guidance, support and resources to do so, instead of flailing around in a pit of their own rank incompetence while expecting teachers and schools to just get on with it and make it up as they go along?

If you’re looking for blame for this rolling shitshow, look no further than our alledged Education Secretary. Anyone seen the hapless buffoon lately? Perhaps he’s filming?

we’ve just had to notify all parents we will be opening up the School tomorrow as planned unless things change before 8.30am tomorrow morning……..now wonder if we’ve got enough time to agree a new Risk Management protocol for tomorrow before it needs to go in the bin at 8pm

what a shambles

Spoke to the head of our school today and informed her that our son will not be attending tomorrow (or until there is clarity from the **** idiots at Westminster) due to the fact that my wife and 3 year old daughter are both considered high risk. She was great and very understanding as usual.

I also told her that, according to Mrs F, other parents on a FB group are going to pretend their kids are ill. She laughed and sighed. Why are some adults like kids? Ooh the headmistress might shout at me 😄

We are fortunate in that Mrs F is a stay at home mum with our daughter. This means the school can forward work by mail. Mrs F can then put Hey Duggee and Peppa bastard Pig on a loop so she can spend time with Funk Jr on his school work.

Why are some adults like kids?

Lying to keep kids off is to avoid legal recourse. Blame the law.

We explained the real reason when we kept our lad off for a few days last term (and he was then asked to self isolate while he was off in the end). Be honest with schools… ignore the law and threats of fines, even when reiterated by the “PM” as recently as September. Schools will not, at this time, act against anyone being honest and keeping their kids at home for Covid related reasons, if they have told them that is what they are doing.

Lying to keep kids off is to avoid legal recourse. Blame the law.

I agree with the second bit of your post. Just be honest with them. If we got in trouble with the law for it I honestly wouldn’t care under current circumstances. Safety of my family comes first. Really feel sorry for teachers and other school staff. They are being treated like shit by a bunch of incompetent buffoons

The main issue is that teachers/schools havent really got a grip of how best to teach kids at home. and kids learning is suffering because of this.

Teachers and schools haven’t got to grips with it because the government plans constantly change (see: going from “schools almost stay open” to “we must close schools” over the last 24 hours, also the three different directives that have gone out to schools over the Christmas holidays, etc etc etc), so planning is a constant firefight with goalposts that move all the time. It’s not like, say, a production line where you can have supply chain issues, notify your customers that you expect X delays and off you pop – it’s more like planning a moonshot, with a (broadly!) fixed destination to aim at, only now take-off keeps being moved to different places, then you have to suddenly cater for two smaller moonshots run in very different ways without getting any extra resource, and some of the astronaut crew have all their own shiny kit, some have bits, some have none, but you’ve still got to land them all on the moon.

Boris Johnson, 3rd January 2021: “There is no doubt in my mind that schools are safe”

Boris Johnson, 4th January 2021: “Schools must move to remote learning immediately”

— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) January 4, 2021

People’s faith in this shower of shit government has been eroded to the point it has become dangerous for all. The back and forth, inability to stick to a decision and general twattery has resulted in large swathes of the population choosing to ignore them completely. Without solid leadership and really harsh measures in place like huge, enforceable fines this is just going to drag on and on.

Binners wins the internet!!!!

Well, daughters secondary school banged an out email straight away – 3 live lessons via Teams each day, and “registration” at 8.45 each morning for which they should be dressed.

Not sure how long they can keep that up, but fair play to them.

My thought for the evening…

Time for our mobile operators and ISPs to step up to the plate?@EE @ThreeUK @bt_uk

Wave data limits for households with school kids when accessing education resources during this ongoing pandemic. https://t.co/K3Gr2p6u4z

— Kelvin Owers (@spittingcat) January 4, 2021

Like!

Well, daughters secondary school banged an out email straight away – 3 live lessons via Teams each day, and “registration” at 8.45 each morning for which they should be dressed.

Not sure how long they can keep that up, but fair play to them.

Dont think this is a good idea tbh, families need flexibility to do the work when they can if it is limited.

Exams cancelled too after that clown Williamson saying since July they definitely wouldn’t be…

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/dec/03/gavin-williamson-vows-a-levels-and-gcses-will-not-be-cancelled-in-england-covid

Waving data charges as suggested above will just swamp the mobile networks – and impact the millions of people who are already struggling to work from home in order to keep a roof over their family’s heads.

This analysis shows that children and young people are more likely to
bring the virus into the household than those aged 17+. They are also less
likely to catch the virus within the household. This is consistent with
previous analysis of household transmission (14 October).
• External exposure shows how likely someone is to be the first case in
their household. Young people (aged 2-16) are much more likely than
those aged 17+ to be the first case in their household. In particular, those
aged 12 to 16 are nearly 7 times as likely to be the first case in their
household, compared to those 17+.
• Transmissibility shows how likely someone is to pass the virus on within
the household, if they are the first positive case. The analysis shows that 2
– 16 year olds are more than twice as likely to pass on the virus within their
household compared to people aged 17+.
• Susceptibility shows how likely someone is to catch the virus, if someone
else in their household has brought it in. Children aged 16 or under are
less likely to get the virus from someone within their household compared
to people aged 17+

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/948617/s0998-tfc-update-to-4-november-2020-paper-on-children-schools-transmission.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2iy8UgPNkifOsyDH8fMO94yxYX8lSDHf7YlfKsTvnDLIgivvWqHcWc_9E

Dont think this is a good idea tbh, families need flexibility to do the work when they can if it is limited.

Families who can’t will presumably contact the school to see what alternatives can be sorted out. Or not bother at all anyway, depending on the family. Not sure the efforts made for the majority (yes, middle class privilege) should be binned for those less fortunate?

will just swamp the mobile networks

By making access to sites such as…

https://www.thenational.academy

…not count against your data allowance?

Absolutely not. And bear in mind I used to work in this sector. They can cope just fine. It’s nothing compared to making football match video streams not count against data allowances, etc.

Families who can’t will presumably contact the school to see what alternatives can be sorted out. Or not bother at all anyway, depending on the family. Not sure the efforts made for the majority (yes, middle class privilege) should be binned for those less fortunate?

I disagree.

I disagree

We’ll agree to disagree then.

I totally understand how those less fortunate will get left behind – both of us work or have worked with that demographic.

However, pitching our educational efforts to the lowest common denominator for an indeterminate amount of time may be just as counter productive at a societal level. Maybe a broader definition of “vulnerable” kids who would benefit from going into school is a better answer, I don’t know. For some schools that could mean more attending than home schooling.

So little data on this (the government keeps using the line “no evidence”, but they haven’t been looking)… there is some now though…

https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-teacher-covid-rates-333-above-average

there is some now though…

Comments from the previous page are ageing well.

https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-teacher-covid-rates-333-above-average?amp&__twitter_impression=true

Can everyone access that without logging on?
Here are some highlights

In Leeds, the rate for secondary school staff was more than four times that of the general population or 333 per cent higher.

The data shows that the prevalence rate was, on average, 1089.5 for primary staff and 1750.5 for secondary staff, compared to 404.3 for the LA as a whole. This average was taken for a period spanning from the week ending 19 October to the week ending 20 November.

And in Birmingham, the rate among school staff was more than three times higher than the local average. The data shows that, across the same time period, the prevalence rate was, on average, 1146.1 for primary staff and 1027.2 for secondary staff, compared to 312.2 for the LA as a whole. This excludes the half-term week.

In Greenwich, London, the prevalence rate was also significantly higher for school staff – at, on average, 264 for staff across primary and secondary schools, compared to 98 for the LA as a whole. However this average was taken for a longer period – spanning from early September to the end of November.

However, pitching our educational efforts to the lowest common denominator for an indeterminate amount of time may be just as counter productive at a societal level. Maybe a broader definition of “vulnerable” kids who would benefit from going into school is a better answer, I don’t know. For some schools that could mean more attending than home schooling.

Its not easy, more kids in school would mean more staff and less to do the live lessons for those not in school and you can still set challenging work without it being live. Most kids wouldnt turn up to live lessons, my school is only doing them for sixth form.