AIBU No going back to school I’m furious.

Callistemon

These girls and boy are back to school. Are they keeping an appropriate social distance?

Priti Patel is rather gorgeous, Callistemon

How shallow of me!

Back to the topic in hand

My daughter is a Year 1 teacher down south.

My daughter in law teaches Reception up north

Daughter has been working for a couple of weeks now. Her school seems to have been able to get Reception, Y1 and Y6 back

Year 5 are returning next week

The vast majority of teachers and TA's have returned

My DIL is at a small primary school up north. They have tried to get classes back but only 7 children have turned up. That's 7 in the whole school

My Y6 grandson is also up north and has been unable to return due to 'the council' My daughter isn't sure what's going on but has had regular phone calls from her son's teacher who has been hoping for a return to school ASAP. But it's not looking likely now.

There are so many reasons why getting schools up and running again is easier said than done.

And we're reaching the point where it doesn't seem worth it.

Work colleague has a child in Reception. He won't be going back. She doesn't think there's any point. Her choice.

So it's unfair to berate the teachers when much of this is out of their hands.

Oopsminty interesting comparison between your 2 family teachers in different parts of the country. Good to see several schools are accommodating additional year groups.
I'm concerned people don't think there is any point in returning to school or that it isn't worth the effort now. On the contrary there are five weeks left of the summer term. Pupils need to return to re establish a routine, to consolidate past learning and to plan for their future education, but most importantly to re engage with their teachers and to socialise with their peers. 25 days just grabbing every opportunity has to be worth it.

Lucca what a lovely moment, it was for those moments we were teachers.

Ellianne I saw one of those structures being used as an outdoor classroom on the news, and I agree they’re lovely. However, in the cold, wet, winter British weather, they would be unsuitable. As a temporary solution they’re great, but long term, probably not.

They're used a lot in Australian schools, essential to keep the very hot sun off pupils and staff but the children don't tend to spend the whole day outside under them.
I agree, they wouldn't be very practical in wind and rain.

I don't know how many the school has Elegran but it shows what can be done to keep the pupils outside as much as possible. I believe several of the big window companies are leasing them. Marquee companies are offering all sorts of structures too for hire. If you have ever attended a wedding or an event in a marquee you will know they come with electricity and toilet trailers and that they are warm too, several degrees above outside temperatures. AV equipment can be easily installed.

Boris Johnson seems to have started to notice that the schools need money. £1bn catch-up tutoring fund for England's pupils "The most disadvantaged pupils will have access to tutors through a £350m programme over the year from September." a glimmer of light at the end of a dark tunnel.

Plans for the subsidised National Tutoring Programme have been developed with a group of social mobility organisations and academics led by the charity Education Endowment Fund (EEF). (so the "educational establishment" HAS been working to accomplish something!)

This still doesn't help with the costs of re-organising the physical and operational environments of education NOW to take into account the disruption caused by social distancing and hygeine rules for the 8.2 million pupils attending 24,372 schools in England (including nursery schools, state-funded primary schools, state-funded secondary schools, special schools, pupil referral units and independent schools.) or the costs of recruiting enough teaching staff to double the 506,400 full-time teachers, the 263,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) teaching assistants and 232,000 FTE support staff in the UK.

The other £650m in the £1bn package will go some way to paying for it all - when it becomes reality.

"Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests the £650m pot represents about £80 extra for each student.

That is a rise of about 1% but would leave total spending still 3% below 2010 levels in real terms."

£80 per child - fifteen children per new teaching space, either built or hired by schools with no spare rooms, equals £1,200 available per split class for the whole of however long it takes.
What is the cost of hiring a large enough room for one morning or afternoon session? Multiple that by ten for a week of morning and afternoon sessions.
What is the cost of a qualified teacher for a week? Include employment costs, which can be as much again as their salary.
Add an week of extra cleaning costs. I think you will reach a sum far in excess of £1.200.

To return to that £350m tutoring grant. Any estimates on how many tutors could be hired for that amount, to share round all those pupils needing "catch-up assistance" among the 8.2 million pupils in the country?

It costs a great deal more to educate all our children than is apparent at first sight. A billion pounds sounds a hell of a lot, but when it is distributed round all the schools, 24,372 of them, there isn't a lot for each of them.

They would only be needed temporarily, maybe up until October when when we have more of an idea how things are progressing. I just hate to see valuable time wasted now.

Lucca, it isn't important how big the progress is. What is important is how it makes the student feel. That wonderful, eureka moment. Achievement.

Of course, the teacher also feels it. Incredible. Better than money or adulation, any day!

I can’t believe this thread is still going on! Last time I looked there were 16 pages or something. Why are you all STILL indulging someone who knows nothing about the subject but appears to be enjoying just winding you all up? Leave him to stew in his own juice and let your blood pressures calm down.

It's only page 8 if you ask for 100 messages per page.
It doesn't look as bad then!
710 posts (711 in one second)

Could the difference between the schools of Oopsminty's grandchildren in the North and South be explained by the R rate being higher in the North than the South, so that both Councils and parents are more nervous?

Sorry to do a 'when I was young' post but - when I was young our school building had to be closed temporarily. I don't know why. However, all the classes were dispersed locally to all sorts of places. Our class was in a basement room of an ordinary local house. Desks and mobile blackboard and all. It was exciting and fun for us at first then we just knuckled down to work as usual. It was quite disappointing when we had to move back to the 'proper' school. Mind you, even there, I doubt it would meet today's requirements.

I find the thread interesting for the information it offers not just on education but on logistics and compliance issues. The odd dig at the system and the government is all part and parcel of the discussion too.
Maybe that's true Ilovecheese but doesn't the South West have the highest R rate, so north/south in that case doesn't apply?

The current government scrapped funding for one-to-one tutoring for those who had fallen behind.

I know the tutors at the time were being offered £30 an hour. I read this morning that tutors for the new scheme will be paid £12 an hour. I wonder what kind of quality they're expecting.

I hope it doesn't become a tick box exercise.

I tried to find info on "hiring temporary classrooms" and filled in some time looking at some quite attractive solutions - made me wonder about a crafting cabin in the back garden - - but everyone was very coy about actual prices, unless I sent for an actual quote.

What a delightful memory Jane10!
When I come back I am going to be a pupil at a Rudolph Steiner school so I can swing from the trees and choose all the outside activities!

One thing that apeared on Facebook was a video compilation of heavy goods vehicles coming to predictable grief because they hadn't followed health and safety precautions. I nearly posted a link, as an example of a sector whose members are not ALL paragons of virtu.

Ellianne

I find the thread interesting for the information it offers not just on education but on logistics and compliance issues. The odd dig at the system and the government is all part and parcel of the discussion too.
Maybe that's true Ilovecheese but doesn't the South West have the highest R rate, so north/south in that case doesn't apply?

There was a blip with Weston Hospital which has now reopened.
Added to that a couple of weeks ago everyone was pouring down to the south-west from other areas, as seen on TV. Could that have anything to do with the R rate rising?
We thought at the time that it did not bode well.

My sons school is using gazebos to teach to ensure as much outside teaching as possible . The forest school area is also being used.

Good for your son's school * Galaxy*. A big tick!
So what about PGL and Outward bound type centres opening their doors to schools? Also agricultural colleges?
Education doesn't all have to be about academic achievement. Instead of Centre Parks opening on July 4th they could give 2 or 3 weeks of activities to local kids who can't fit into their schools. They have heaps of outdoor space.

I dont think you will find many people will want to use PGL at the moment. They are refusing to cooperate around refunds for cancelled holidays. They owe me over £500. I will never use them again and neither will some of the school I know.

That's bad of PGL. I guess because it's because group holidays are not covered by ABTA.

They may be squeezed for funds after being closed. That would account for the reluctance to part with any of it for refunds, and would stop them giving away time to schools. (I am presuming you meant them giving these weeks free. I don't think there are any spare funds in schools to pay for them any more)

Yes Elegran, I assumed if school trips were cancelled the centres could still offer activities to children in the area or to those who could be transported there and back in a day. At least their premises and equipment would have undergone a fair few checks already, also their staff. It seems unfair that our children are bring deprived of so much.

They are also refusing to come to an arrangement with schools, in terms of moving the holidays already booked which we cant use to later in the year. They were the subject of Martin Lewis moneysavingexpert blog last week, what they are doing is within the law but not moral apparently. But think this is for another thread!