AIBU No going back to school I’m furious.

I think opening the school for a longer day is possible. It would however need extra staff. For example, in my old UK school, my old classroom was only big enough for about 10/12 students with the new regulations. My Y10 class had 34 students in it. That would be three shifts of students. My room was only empty previously for 3 lessons a week.

If the day was extended, and if the NUMBER of lessons a week per subject were reduced (currently it is preset, the school doesn't chose how much English to teach for example), it would be possible to have morning and afternoon school.

If we started at 7.30am and ended at 7.30pm, it would be possible. But you'd need between 30 & 50% more teachers to cover the extra lessons. Not possible for a teacher to teach that much because it wouldn't allow any time to prepare lessons, marking, data entry and all of the other totally unnecessary admin teachers have forced on them.

A lesson takes on average between 30 & 60 mins to plan and resource. There is some reusing possible BUT the government keep changing the syllabus so we can't do that as much as people who don't work in education think we can.

We already have a teacher shortage in the UK, thanks to underfunding. You'd need a massive recruitment drive to staff it.

Ellianne.not to labour the point but government has said no to certain measures , it’s not all up to individual schools, those days are long gone
Schools and teachers are constrained by government decisions often made by wonderful characters like mr gove who have no idea of what it is like “at the chalk face”
Grow stuff makes a very valid point about TA s. How would you suggest they deal with vulnerable, challenging children?

Because the government have told us not to.

Why all the obstacles?
Why can't we adopt some of these measures here and get on with things.

No French. The French government have also change the distance rule to one meter.
Due to health reasons I am not back . My school have been very good to me, I am on full pay and want me back in September but if there is no treatment announced by the end of this week I feel I will have to retire. However, at the moment I am still sending in worksheets which may I add take more time to prepare than being in class.

Not everywhere in the country is the same when it comes to the virus - whereas it might be 'safe' to send children back to school in some areas, it's not in others.

Is it a UK state school mokryna?

The people at most danger in schools are probably the teaching assistants, who work closely with younger and special needs children. Sometimes those children need physical contact, either to reassure them or restrain them.

You can't put up a perspex screen between a TA and a child.

In my experience, many teaching assistants are middle-aged and some have health conditions, which is why some have left other better-paid jobs (some teaching assistants are actually qualified teachers).

I doubt if there will be any special arrangements for staff in known high risk groups. Without them, some staff will get seriously ill and, sadly, some will die. Some pupils will also take infection back to their families.

I wish people would get real and stop coming out with the mantra that schools must go back. Yes, everybody knows that, which is why the government needs to recognise the risks and provide funding for reduction of risk. It's been the same story right from the beginning - take it on the chin, shake hands with COVID-19 sufferers, positive British attitude will get us through. Absolute b****!

The face masks given by the school are of the type that protect the person who is wearing it.

At the moment my school is giving shields as the teachers requested it.

Aa reverse image search shows that picture is a stock Associated Press photo. It's very probably not an actual class in progress.

DD is back to college and is not wearing a mask to teach - she says it would be impossible.
Other DD is back as well and has several younger children whose first language is not English. They need the teacher to speak distinctly.
Not in the UK, that is why they are back and back to normal.

The idea of wearing a mask is to protect other people from the virus if you are carrying it. So unless everyone, pupils and staff, wear them there is no point.

It doesn't look like a British classroom to me either. Teachers in the UK have been told not to wear a mask!

Where's that *Elllianne? Those children aren't reception or Year 1.

They've been told not to wear face shields mokryna.

What the government needs to do is get the transmission rate right down in the community. It's going to be difficult to do that now it's let the genie out of the bottle.

If it had actually planned a long-term response, we could now have a low transmission rate and it would be extremely safe for schools to return. The fact is that it didn't plan. Schools weren't high on the agenda and it seems to rely on people "blaming" those dreadful unions and teachers.

Teaching with a mask.

sorry expect

Nothing will be perfect until a treatment is found. Things are being done the best they can under the circumstances.
Some of the teachers with the young children are using transparent face shields.
Do you except teachers not to have protection against this deadly virus?

In any case, it is still impossible to fit more than about 15 children in most classrooms with social distancing. Nobody, not even our resident "expert" on health and safety, has come up with a solution as to how classroom space and number of staff are doubled without any resources.

When was the last time you were in a classroom Ellianne? Teachers don't just lecture from the front, especially in primary schools and with special needs children of all ages.

Hijabs only cover hair, not the face.

Hijabs do not cover the face.

Why can't you teach wearing a mask?

I would have thought that was self-evident.

Hijabs in the UK, pas en France.

Why can't you teach wearing a mask? What about if you wear a Hijab?
You only need the mask when you are leaning over the child at less than 2 metres. Everyone can hear from that distance. If you are lecturing the class from your desk or at the board then there is a 2 metre tape around you, so no need for the mask.