Return to Education

[farleigh]

I wasn't advocating schools should be closed but there exists a risk of transmission, especially in later years pupils, occurring and thus the Dept of Education should have had a plan to mitigate that risk. It didn't it sent back complete classes had them all moving around the school between lessons as well as large congregations outside of schools (have a primary and a secondary on my doorstep as well numerous contacts with education staff). This is where Dept of Ed failed to put in place any sort of risk management nor contingency arrangements for a lockdown. So we end up with the rest of the economy being sacrificed to deal with that failure. The irony is the pupils will find as a result there opportunities will be somewhat diminished in the future as a result.

Why is there a greater risk of transmission in later years pupils?

I think you have made that up.

 

[johnnychips]

Why is there a greater risk of transmission in later years pupils?

I think you have made that up.

I think there is a greater chance in evident transmission, as older students may show symptoms, rather than transmission by younger students who are symptomatic. I do stand to be corrected.

 

[yorkie]

I wasn't advocating schools should be closed but there exists a risk of transmission, especially in later years pupils, occurring and thus the Dept of Education should have had a plan to mitigate that risk. ...

I'd argue they did all they reasonably could and more, to the point where they have made things difficult for schools.

Why is there a greater risk of transmission in later years pupils?

I think you have made that up.

Younger children appear to be and are believed to be less likely to get it and to pass it on. However it might just be that they are much more likely to be asymptomatic.

 

[farleigh]

I think there is a greater chance in evident transmission, as older students may show symptoms, rather than transmission by younger students who are symptomatic. I do stand to be corrected.

Yes - that I understand.

 

[Bikeman78]

I wasn't advocating schools should be closed but there exists a risk of transmission, especially in later years pupils, occurring and thus the Dept of Education should have had a plan to mitigate that risk. It didn't it sent back complete classes had them all moving around the school between lessons as well as large congregations outside of schools (have a primary and a secondary on my doorstep as well numerous contacts with education staff). This is where Dept of Ed failed to put in place any sort of risk management nor contingency arrangements for a lockdown. So we end up with the rest of the economy being sacrificed to deal with that failure. The irony is the pupils will find as a result there opportunities will be somewhat diminished in the future as a result.

My kids' school made the overcrowding worse. They closed one entrance which makes the overcrowding on the pavement and road at the remaining entrance much worse.

 

[johnnychips]

Yes - that I understand.

Oops, younger students who are not symptomatic. Autocorrect!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

I'd argue they did all they reasonably could and more, to the point where they have made things difficult for schools.

what have they done for schools other than dump the problem on teachers without giving them support. Our friend is primary teacher and now she has been told to teach online without any guidance about how to do it. There should have been more help given to teachers over how to do this and provide appropriate material and equipement.

 

[Cdd89]

The tiering system was a reasonable compromise but they never applied it as they proposed. ie they set a threshold to intervene then never acted when areas breached the level.

I’m not sure I understand this - why would Tier 2 work when the cases are low, but not when they’re high?

 

[yorkie]

My kids' school made the overcrowding worse. They closed one entrance which makes the overcrowding on the pavement and road at the remaining entrance much worse.

As long as it ticks a box, these sort of things can be seen to be doing something, which is apparently the most important thing!

what have they done for schools other than dump the problem on teachers without giving them support. Our friend is primary teacher and now she has been told to teach online without any guidance about how to do it. There should have been more help given to teachers over how to do this and provide appropriate material and equipement.

Schools have been placed in a difficult position, but it is up to School Leaders to procure an appropriate solution and to arrange training.

During the first lockdown many schools did not do online lessons because they did not have the infrastructure and/or had not had the training.

The theory was that any such schools were supposed to train staff up between September and December last year, on top of the usual tasks and extra work created by Covid and kids being off school for lengthy periods.

I am aware of schools in York that have done a great job in this area but it sounds like your friend's school has not.

I can talk much more candidly and in much more detail to anyone who is interested who joins us at a forum event in a few months time, when things get back to being a bit more normal!

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

As long as it ticks a box, these sort of things can be seen to be doing something, which is apparently the most important thing!

Schools have been placed in a difficult position, but it is up to School Leaders to procure an appropriate solution and to arrange training.

During the first lockdown many schools did not do online lessons because they did not have the infrastructure and/or had not had the training.

The theory was that any such schools were supposed to train staff up between September and December last year, on top of the usual tasks and extra work created by Covid and kids being off school for lengthy periods.

I am aware of schools in York that have done a great job in this area but it sounds like your friend's school has not.

I can talk much more candidly and in much more detail to anyone who is interested who joins us at a forum event in a few months time, when things get back to being a bit more normal!

Some schools have gone above and beyond and adapted well to this situation but I suspect they are in better off areas with pupils who are already well motivated and receptive to being taught. Trouble is there are many many more who aren't in this situation and with pupils who need to be in a controlled environment to ensure they get the best out of the education system. This group have been abandoned by the govt and society will pay the price down the years like we did in the 70/80's.

Williamson is a disgrace and should have fallen on his sword after the exams fiasco but thats problem with politicians they have no humility or integrity for there actions its always someone else's fault.

 

[yorkie]

A rare good article from the BBC:

Covid: The devastating toll of the pandemic on children

The virus poses little risk to them, but young people are being harmed in many other ways.

www.bbc.co.uk

From increasing rates of mental health problems to concerns about rising levels of abuse and neglect and the potential harm being done to the development of babies, the pandemic is threatening to have a devastating legacy on the nation's young.

...the pandemic has caused a range of harms to children across the board from being isolated and lonely to suffering from sleep problems and reduced physical activity.

The experience of this 16-year-old is typical of the calls that come in. "I feel really sad and lonely. Most days I find myself just lost in my own thoughts and feeling numb."

...more than half of young people were always or often feeling anxious - the highest level ever recorded. Jonathan Townsend, of The Prince's Trust, fears young people are "losing all hope for their future".

This video is well worth watching; I challenge anyone who supports school closures to watch this video to fully understand the effects of what they are advocating:

We spoke to teachers and one former teacher, now MP, to find out: what is the reality on the ground? What is the impact on children’s lives? At the end of it do we think it was the right decision? Katharine Birbalsingh, Headmistress of the Michaela Community School in northwest London. Miriam Cates MP, Conservative MP and former science teacher and Alex Gutentag, a public school teacher from Oakland in California.

Each of them comes to a different conclusion but they agree on one thing: the impact on children of such an extended period of school closures is very grave.

(edit: just to add, on a light-hearted note, keep an eye out for the Met & Jubilee Line trains at Wembley Park in the background of one of the interviewees)

I knew back in March this would be devastating for children; those who are in denial have no idea what goes on in schools.

And that includes some kids in school; when you are at school you may not be aware of what other children are going through. I was speaking to someone who was in my year at school who told me what he went through, and how he was mistreated by his parents and what the school did for him and how grateful he was. At the time, being from a rather different background, I had absolutely no idea what other kids my age were going through. I didn't realise what went on in our special educational needs department.

Don't be fooled if kids from backgrounds where the parents are willing, capable and able to support their children, say they enjoy online learning and are doing well: that does NOT mean there isn't a big problem affecting children who are disadvantaged. The problem isn't confined to those who are disadvantaged though; I am aware of children from loving caring families who are really struggling and their parents really want to help them but just don't know how. I've seen requests for mental health support for children from all backgrounds including for children who I know were previously happy, content, sociable and strong academically.

People who want schools closed are either selfish (e.g. a small minority of teachers or other school staff who are absolutely not at all representative of the majority) or have little comprehension of what really goes on in schools and the gravity of the situation.

Anyone who works in education will know that neglect can be unintentional. And that is what is happening here, on a massive scale, state-sponsored neglect by our society towards an entire generation! If anyone cannot see this, they need to wake up!

 

[brad465]

The IFS is predicting that the damage to education will cost the economy £350 billion in future (and as much as £100bn in tax revenue) and suggests this generation will be subjected to losing earnings of as much as £40,000 over their career:

The crisis in lost learning calls for a massive national policy response | Institute for Fiscal Studies

By the time the pandemic is over, most children across the UK will have missed over half a year of normal, in-person schooling. This observation sets out the economic case for a massive national plan to address this crisis.

www.ifs.org.uk

By the time the pandemic is over, most children across the UK will have missed over half a year of normal, in person schooling. That’s likely to be more than 5% of their entire time in school. Absent a substantial policy response, the long-run effects of this learning loss are likely to be slow-moving and substantial. We will all be less productive, poorer, have less money to spend on public services, and we may be less happy and healthy as a result. We will probably also be more unequal, with all the social ills that come with it.

So far, there has been a large focus on how to approach GCSE, A-level and other exams given the large average and differentiated loss in learning time. This makes sense as these exams matter. The potential devastating effect of the crisis on educational inequalities and mental health are starting to be recognized. In what follows, I set out the economic case for a massive national plan to address this crisis. It’s likely to be expensive and hard, but it’s also worth the time and money.

The scale of the problem ​

By February half-term, the total loss in face-to-face schooling time will amount to around half a normal school year for children right across the UK. That’s before accounting for lower-than-normal attendance rates in the 2020 autumn term, especially in disadvantaged areas. If most schools don’t go back till after Easter, then children will have lost about two thirds of a normal school year.

The difficulties and inequalities in accessing high-quality remote learning are well documented. Pupils from more disadvantaged backgrounds often lack the required digital equipment and study space to participate in effective remote learning. Younger pupils have found it more difficult to engage in remote learning. Schools, teachers and charities – not to mention parents – have gone to huge efforts to do what they can, but there is no substitute for time with a qualified teacher.

The unprecedented nature of the current crisis makes it hard to predict the actual effects. Some high-quality, yet depressing, evidence is already beginning to emerge. The best study comes from the Netherlands, where schools closed for 8 weeks last Spring. Despite some of the best digital infrastructure in the world for home learning, the empirical evidence shows that the test scores of Dutch primary school children were significantly lower than previous cohorts. The magnitude is almost exactly equivalent to 8 weeks of normal educational progress, suggesting little educational progress was made during the period of school closures. The negative effects are over 50% larger for disadvantaged children. Reviews of the relevant literature and early evidence on test scores in England also point to big losses from missed schooling and widening inequalities.

Further testing and data will be required to fully understand the scale, geography and inequalities in lost learning. The initial evidence already suggests this could be enormous.

The negative effects are also likely to extend beyond educational attainment. We are already seeing clear evidence of reductions in mental health among young people, with 27% of young women showing potential mental health problems. Such evidence has already led to calls for an inquiry into the impact of the pandemic on children’s welfare.

What will be the long-run economic consequences? ​

An extensive review of the returns to schooling finds that a year of schooling increases individuals’ earnings by 8% per year, on average, across advanced and high-income countries. By the time children go back to school, most will have lost at least half a year of normal schooling. The lifetime costs of this could be very large indeed. Imagine someone earning £1 million over their working life (not far off the likely average in the UK). For this person, losing half a year of schooling will mean losing £40,000 in income over their lifetime.

This equates to an astronomical £350bn in lost lifetime earnings across the 8.7 million school children in the UK. Whilst this is just an illustration, rather than a precise prediction, it is important to be clear on the mechanisms that could drive such an effect. All learning is dynamic and builds on skills and knowledge gained at previous stages. Without sufficient catch-up, children will leave school with less knowledge and skills that can be applied in their job or a lower ability to gain further skills. With reduced skills and knowledge, there is also a risk that technological progress and innovation will slow.

Even much weaker assumptions about the returns to schooling still result in enormous estimated costs. If by some miracle we managed to mitigate 75% of the long-run effects of learning loss, the total loss would still be nearly £90bn. Getting a precise estimate of the likely long-run economic cost would be practically impossible, but such illustrations do help show the massive scale of the problem. The long-run costs are likely to be in the hundreds of billions.

There are very good reasons to believe that the effects will not be equal across children either. Remote learning has been particularly hard for young children and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Parents with higher levels of education are likely to have been better able to help their children and, potentially, pay for expensive tutors to help them catch-up.

There is therefore the clear possibility that the effects of lost learning could be neutralized for those from well-off families and the long-run negative effects could be concentrated amongst those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The net result would be a widening of existing inequalities. These are hard and costly to close once children reach adulthood.

The long-run risks to the public finances are also severe. If 30-40% of future lifetime earnings ends up as taxes, then lost earnings of £350bn would mean over £100bn less tax revenue over the long-run to spend on public services or paying down the debts we are currently accumulating.

The inescapable conclusion is that the lost schooling represents a gigantic long-term risk for future prosperity, the public finances, the future path of inequality and well-being.

 

[yorkie]

If anyone can spare 4½ minutes, please consider watching this video:

Teaching 'anxious children' in lockdown

A school in the Wirral is helping families struggling to get by during the national lockdown.

www.bbc.co.uk

The school teachers helping families struggling in Covid lockdown​

The school teachers helping families struggling in Covid lockdown

A school in the Wirral has been helping families that are struggling to survive during lockdown.
Egremont Primary provides food parcels and clothes to those who are finding it difficult to get by.

This gives an insight into how caring and hardworking school staff can be, and also the scale of the challenges and how the restrictions are affecting children and their parents.

In this primary school in what appears to be a deprived area, a third of the children are in school, and this does seem to be typical for schools of this type.

In secondary schools this figure will be far lower, even in deprived areas. In some schools there are dozens of students who don't 'show' for any online lessons whatsoever. Not all children have access to devices though many schools are working really hard to change this.

Whatever people's opinions on whether or not schools should be fully open or not, I would encourage people to try to find out the full facts regarding what goes on in schools and the overall risks to young people from all causes, before trying to put forward any particular case.

 

[ChrisC]

If anyone can spare 4½ minutes, please consider watching this video:

Teaching 'anxious children' in lockdown

A school in the Wirral is helping families struggling to get by during the national lockdown.

www.bbc.co.uk

This gives an insight into how caring and hardworking school staff can be, and also the scale of the challenges and how the restrictions are affecting children and their parents.

In this primary school in what appears to be a deprived area, a third of the children are in school, and this does seem to be typical for schools of this type.

In secondary schools this figure will be far lower, even in deprived areas. In some schools there are dozens of students who don't 'show' for any online lessons whatsoever. Not all children have access to devices though many schools are working really hard to change this.

Whatever people's opinions on whether or not schools should be fully open or not, I would encourage people to try to find out the full facts regarding what goes on in schools and the overall risks to young people from all causes, before trying to put forward any particular case.

Thank you for posting that video. At last the BBC reporting on what actually is happening in many of our schools. It’s a video that so many people at this time need to see instead of uninformed criticism of schools and teachers.

I can’t comment on Secondary schools because I have very little experience of them but I would say that is typical of a large majority of primary schools, especially those in deprived areas. From my experience of teaching for 36 years in a primary school, it actually made me feel quite emotional, and after 6 years of retirement wanted to get back in there and help the children and colleagues I used to work with. Even though I’m now retired I have been going in voluntary one morning a week working with special needs children during their first year in school in the Reception Class, but since last March I have not been allowed in as they are not having any visitors into the school during this time.

In a primary school teachers do build up a very close and hopefully caring relationship with the children and often their families. The teacher has the same children all day and teaches all subjects and so during term time probably spends far more time with the children than do their parents. Certainly where I taught the staff were like one big family, the majority had been at the same school for most of their teaching career, and we knew our children and their parents and often also their grandparents. I remember going through the miners strike and the closing of all our local coal mines and how we all went through that together as a school and a community. Certainly, where I worked teaching was not just a 9 till 5 job, for me it wasn’t just a job, it was a very important part of my life. I think too many people see teachers in the news at the annual teachers union conferences and think all teachers are like that. To be quite honest, most of those I worked with were at times ashamed of the attitudes portrayed by some of the more active and vocal members of the teachers unions.

 

[6862]

The BBC Live News stream (can't attach a link as it's just part of their rolling news at the moment) is reporting that there has been a rise in children attending schools (from 14% last week to 15% this week), and that head teachers have described this as 'worrying'. What a messed up and bizarre world we live in, where a developed nation is actively trying to reduce children's access to education!

 

[Mills444]

The BBC Live News stream (can't attach a link as it's just part of their rolling news at the moment) is reporting that there has been a rise in children attending schools (from 14% last week to 15% this week), and that head teachers have described this as 'worrying'. What a messed up and bizarre world we live in, where a developed nation is actively trying to reduce children's access to education!

If they hate children that much then I wouldn't want to be going to those schools.

 

[yorkie]

They are a trade union for headteachers.

As a member of a trade union myself it's abundantly obvious that trade unions are overwhelmingly disproportionately representative of extremist individuals and not the majority of their members.

I would take anything any trade union says with a pinch of salt and likely unrepresentative of the majority of their members. This union is no different.

The vast majority of teachers/ headteachers do not have such views.

I could talk about unions in even less diplomatic terms but I will resist the temptation

 

[londonteacher]

They are a trade union for headteachers.

As a member of a trade union myself it's abundantly obvious that trade unions are overwhelmingly disproportionately representative of extremist individuals and not the majority of their members.

I would take anything any trade union says with a pinch of salt and likely unrepresentative of the majority of their members. This union is no different.

The vast majority of teachers/ headteachers do not have such views.

I could talk about unions in even less diplomatic terms but I will resist the temptation

Completely agree. I have left a teaching union because of the way they have conducted their business over the last year.

Don't listen to the unions!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Feb 2021 ==

The BBC Live News stream (can't attach a link as it's just part of their rolling news at the moment) is reporting that there has been a rise in children attending schools (from 14% last week to 15% this week), and that head teachers have described this as 'worrying'. What a messed up and bizarre world we live in, where a developed nation is actively trying to reduce children's access to education!

As a teacher I agree with you that it is bizarre. But, we have had over the last few weeks parents saying they cannot cope with their child's behaviour, their child is not listening to them so can they come in to school. That goes against the current rules set out by the government.

 

[Richard Scott]

They are a trade union for headteachers.

As a member of a trade union myself it's abundantly obvious that trade unions are overwhelmingly disproportionately representative of extremist individuals and not the majority of their members.

I would take anything any trade union says with a pinch of salt and likely unrepresentative of the majority of their members. This union is no different.

The vast majority of teachers/ headteachers do not have such views.

I could talk about unions in even less diplomatic terms but I will resist the temptation

Had an interesting meeting last night on union front, can't say much but was amazed how sensible and balanced it was. Think sometimes there are some outspoken people in Union who also don't represent the view of majority.

 

[brad465]

Having seen Scotland announce school reopenings earlier than the 8th March, the CRG chair now wants the UK Government to follow suit in England:

Tory MP wants England's schools open before March

The chair of the Covid Recovery Group wants the government to follow in the footsteps of Scotland and open schools.

www.bbc.co.uk

A Tory MP is calling for England's schools to re-open as soon as possible, saying closures were affecting pupils' mental health, education and future prospects.

Boris Johnson has said schools in the country could open from 8 March, although it "depends on lots of things going right".

But Mark Harper, who chairs the lockdown sceptic Covid Recovery Group of backbenchers, tells BBC News he wants the government to follow in the footsteps of Scotland, who will see some pupils returning after the February half-term.

He says the harm to children in not attending school is “really quite significant” and he wants the government to “try very hard” to get them open before 8 March, starting with primary schools.

 

[Tezza1978]

Coronavirus: Full NI school return 'unlikely for some time' - BBC News

A full return to school by all pupils "may not be possible for some time", one of NI's teaching unions has said.
The National Education Union's (NEU) Education Recovery Plan said new coronavirus variants would limit how many children could attend school.
The newly-published document said class sizes should be capped at 15 with children attending on a "rota" basis.
The executive has previously agreed that most pupils will not return to school until 8 March at the earliest.
In Scotland, pupils in P1-P3 are due back in the classroom from 22 February, and there is a similar target date in Wales.

The National Education Union trying to shout loudly and demand a movement of goalposts again. Its about time they advised their members to quit education and become full time activists because frankly they clearly are doing anything to avoid a full return to education. Full of the usual demands - masks at all times for all pupils no matter how old, rota systems, class sizes capped at 15 and a healthy dose of scaremongering thrown in around new variants....

 

[takno]

Coronavirus: Full NI school return 'unlikely for some time' - BBC News

The National Education Union trying to shout loudly and demand a movement of goalposts again. Its about time they advised their members to quit education and become full time activists because frankly they clearly are doing anything to avoid a full return to education. Full of the usual demands - masks at all times for all pupils no matter how old, rota systems, class sizes capped at 15 and a healthy dose of scaremongering thrown in around new variants....

Personally I don't think I could stay in a union like the NEU. Most people I know who are in the union are fairly disgusted with the attitude of management, and are largely completely disregarding it.

This particular plan is obviously obscene - it's clearly the work of somebody who sees their moment in the sun disappearing, and wants to make some kind of mark before it's gone. Unfortunately for them, they've timed it wrong by a couple of months and nobody is going to take any notice of this, except possibly in the internal union elections

 

[yorkie]

Coronavirus: Full NI school return 'unlikely for some time' - BBC News

The National Education Union trying to shout loudly and demand a movement of goalposts again. Its about time they advised their members to quit education and become full time activists because frankly they clearly are doing anything to avoid a full return to education. Full of the usual demands - masks at all times for all pupils no matter how old, rota systems, class sizes capped at 15 and a healthy dose of scaremongering thrown in around new variants....

They are a disgrace.

2 minute video here; highly recommended:

Covid: 'I don't want a holiday, I want to go to school'

How pupils with additional educational needs are dealing with the challenges of lockdown.

www.bbc.co.uk

All Piers says he wants to do is go to school every day. He does not even want a holiday - just school, school and more school.
But Piers, who has a form of autism, has not been able to finish the final year of his maths GCSE full-time in the classroom with his friends and teachers because of lockdown.
"I really love school," said the 18-year-old. "It's my favourite thing."
But Piers, like some of his friends, has only been in class one day a week.
The head teacher at his south Wales school, for children with special educational needs, says that while missing large parts of their education has the "biggest impact" on children with additional needs, school is a "safety net" for both pupils and their families.

This includes an interview with 19 year old Amy who has autism and 18 year old Piers who has autism, learning difficulties and sensory issues.

I think many people would struggle to watch that video without feeling emotional.

The people who go on about how students should not be in school during a pandemic tend to think of a utopia of a family where everyone has adequate equipment and well-educated parents with plenty of time on their hands to assist with online learning and ensure all their child's needs are bet and where everything is wonderful and good. The reality for many families is quite different to this vision.

Those who call for lengthy school closures are an absolute disgrace.

 

[ChrisC]

Personally I don't think I could stay in a union like the NEU. Most people I know who are in the union are fairly disgusted with the attitude of management, and are largely completely disregarding it.

This particular plan is obviously obscene - it's clearly the work of somebody who sees their moment in the sun disappearing, and wants to make some kind of mark before it's gone. Unfortunately for them, they've timed it wrong by a couple of months and nobody is going to take any notice of this, except possibly in the internal union elections

There are alternatives for teachers other than the NEU. Perhaps the current attitude of the NEU may lead to some teachers with more moderate and sensible views to look elsewhere.

In the early 1970’s, following lots of militancy and strike action from the main teachers unions, especially at that time the NUT, a small group of teachers founded The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT). Quite a number of teachers, especially in less militant primary school teachers, left the NUT and joined PAT following industrial action during the early 1980’s. They were always a small organisation but I think they at one point had a membership of over 40,000. I joined them as a student member whilst on Teaching Practice in Derby in the late 1970’s as I was in a school where every teacher belonged to PAT. I remained with them for the whole of my teaching career as I didn’t agree with the political attitude of the NUT. They are still in existence in some form and I think they are now called Voice the Union.

 

[takno]

There are alternatives for teachers other than the NEU. Perhaps the current attitude of the NEU may lead to some teachers with more moderate and sensible views to look elsewhere.

In the early 1970’s, following lots of militancy and strike action from the main teachers unions, especially at that time the NUT, a small group of teachers founded The Professional Association of Teachers (PAT). Quite a number of teachers, especially in less militant primary school teachers, left the NUT and joined PAT following industrial action during the early 1980’s. They were always a small organisation but I think they at one point had a membership of over 40,000. I joined them as a student member whilst on Teaching Practice in Derby in the late 1970’s as I was in a school where every teacher belonged to PAT. I remained with them for the whole of my teaching career as I didn’t agree with the political attitude of the NUT. They are still in existence in some form and I think they are now called Voice the Union.

I think the issue is that we aren't talking about "moderate" members here. We're talking about people who could expound for half an hour on what a pathetic shell of an organisation they think the PAT is, or the NASUWT for that matter. They're just fed up of the way the NEU management have weaponised a national crisis to focus attention on themselves and how "useful" they are, rather than on the children their membership are professionally dedicated to.

 

[DorkingMain]

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1357375771011145728

Ministers are considering extending the school day. If the Nation Education Union objects, then the extended hours would be covered by volunteers rather than teachers.

The latest on schools reopening.

Needless to say a spectacularly bad idea on many levels:

- Obviously the unions are going to object. I get this is presumably an attempt to needle them and make them react, but it comes across as a terrible idea.
- What volunteers? Education is not just something anyone can do, which is the exact reason we have staff qualified to do so.
- Are kids realistically likely to benefit from this? Their attention span is not infinite.
- The extra time being compensated for by extended lunch times rather renders the whole thing pointless.

 

[Richard Scott]

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1357375771011145728

The latest on schools reopening.

Needless to say a spectacularly bad idea on many levels:

- Obviously the unions are going to object. I get this is presumably an attempt to needle them and make them react, but it comes across as a terrible idea.
- What volunteers? Education is not just something anyone can do, which is the exact reason we have staff qualified to do so.
- Are kids realistically likely to benefit from this? Their attention span is not infinite.
- The extra time being compensated for by extended lunch times rather renders the whole thing pointless.

Why do we need all this? We have dropping rates, more people in vulnerable groups vaccinated. Manag d most of September to December with increasing rates. There is getting less and less reason to impose restrictions on education.

 

[DorkingMain]

Why do we need all this? We have dropping rates, more people in vulnerable groups vaccinated. Manag d most of September to December with increasing rates. There is getting less and less reason to impose restrictions on education.

Government wants to needle the teaching unions because they exposed the mess they were creating with COVID spreading in schools, is my guess.

The whole DOO push on the railways over the last 11 years was entirely the same - it hasn't saved any money or made anything better - it just irritates the railway unions and turns the public mood against them.

 

[Jess Clark]

So I got ASD and I have to goto school. But I can't right now because I'm at my mums stuck in the snow and my school google account got locked. All I been doing to learn was cycling, learning routes, drawing routes, and cooking. And I have this feeling that I'm (far behind my learning). And it's worrying me, my school doesn't have a 1 way system as well. People have been mucking around in school but I kinda did extreme by cycling my bike inside the school.

 

[Jamiescott1]

I dont think you're alone, there are lots of pupils who are at the same stage of learning as you. What year are you in ?
Can the school unlock the account for you, and have you spoke to your form tutor or head of House?