Has the DofE taken leave of their senses.......

They get bored with endless "fun" and films anyway.
Who said endless fun? It's a matter of days at the end of term. About 5% of their learning time. They get bored with hot housing too.
I believe you're currently a private tutor growstuff. That's different. You can hardly set up group activities involving the swapping of ideas in a fun way. Also my main experiences are with children up to 13. Let them have a childhood above all.

Ellianne

Gwyneth

Same here Lucca and growstuff . We had to teach up to the last minute and senior staff would even do spot checks to ensure no one was breaking the rules! Thankfully I am now retired .

But what if you had already "taught" everything that needed to be covered up to that point? Did the Head or senior staff not think that a good teacher knows when to stop "instructing" the pupils and allow them a bit of fun time?

How can you ever teach everything which needs covering? Teaching doesn't equal learning and students will always benefit from revision and practice. They get bored with endless "fun" and films anyway.

I'm taking a two day break from tutoring this year. My students have themselves requested that I keep going.

Ok. I’ll dig out a thing you may find amusing.

Lucca

Ellianne did you teach French?

Naturellement.

Gwyneth

Same here Lucca and growstuff . We had to teach up to the last minute and senior staff would even do spot checks to ensure no one was breaking the rules! Thankfully I am now retired .

But what if you had already "taught" everything that needed to be covered up to that point? Did the Head or senior staff not think that a good teacher knows when to stop "instructing" the pupils and allow them a bit of fun time?

Ellianne did you teach French?

Lucca

Ellianne obviously my last line should read “would not” know what we were doing.

Yes, I guessed so.

Luckygirl, yes, totally barmy!

Ellianne obviously my last line should read “would not” know what we were doing.

Same here Lucca and growstuff . We had to teach up to the last minute and senior staff would even do spot checks to ensure no one was breaking the rules! Thankfully I am now retired .

Williamson is a little man trying to look big.

And I cannot see what is gained by the DofE locking horns with local authorities who are simply trying to protect pupils and teachers in their area. They clearly have no nefarious motive.

Irrespective of our opinions about whether children should or should not be in school for these last few days of term, I think the main issue here is that Education Authorities and Headteachers are being told that their opinion, their professional evaluation of their individual situation does not count. It has been clear for some time that the current Education Minister, young Williamson ( don't tell 'em your name Pike) is totally unsuited for the job and has no idea what he is doing.

Lucca

Ellianne I agree with you on all counts.. Interestingly though in my last few years of teaching (secondary) the Headteacher always told us we had to “teach proper lessons” right up to the last minute !
Being a linguist meant we could watch the odd short foreign film plus learning about xmas customs in other countries. I loved doing word games or quizzes with my students. With older students we had a pretty much unspoken deal that if the head were to pop in unexpectedly we would all instantly natter away in Italian so he would know what we were doing.

Fantastico! Splendido! Lucca. I hope you had all the pupils stuffing themselves with panettone and that other dough ball Italian cake(?) behind their desks ........... all in the interests of learning about Christmas customs, of course!

So, if teachers can't finish a week early and if they can't be at the front of the queue for the vaccine, the least they can be offered is a covid test on Friday when they break up and one again on Monday next week. That's the least they deserve.

Lucca

Ellianne I agree with you on all counts.. Interestingly though in my last few years of teaching (secondary) the Headteacher always told us we had to “teach proper lessons” right up to the last minute !
Being a linguist meant we could watch the odd short foreign film plus learning about xmas customs in other countries. I loved doing word games or quizzes with my students. With older students we had a pretty much unspoken deal that if the head were to pop in unexpectedly we would all instantly natter away in Italian so he would know what we were doing.

Same here, Lucca. There was an extended end of term assembly, but we had to teach proper lessons right up to the end.

Ellianne I agree with you on all counts.. Interestingly though in my last few years of teaching (secondary) the Headteacher always told us we had to “teach proper lessons” right up to the last minute !
Being a linguist meant we could watch the odd short foreign film plus learning about xmas customs in other countries. I loved doing word games or quizzes with my students. With older students we had a pretty much unspoken deal that if the head were to pop in unexpectedly we would all instantly natter away in Italian so he would know what we were doing.

maddyone

growstuff since the scientists don’t know whether vaccinated people can pass the infection on, I don’t know how you apparently do know that they can. Apparently you know what the scientists don’t know.

No, I don't know, but it hasn't been established that having the vaccine stops people infecting others, so I would err on the side of caution.

The country only has vaccines for 400,000 people at the moment (and nobody knows when any more will arrive), so the priority must be to vaccinate directly those who are most likely to be badly affected.

TBH if my four children were of school age I’d probably keep them at home this week. I feel much more comfortable then with them mixing with elderly relatives over Xmas.
Usually the last week of term is spent on concerts, parties and other ‘non educational’ activities’. My friends who are still working in school are on their knees. So many staff absences and trying to teach a class and make sure there is work online for pupils who are self isolating. They need a rest. ??

"Just close the *** schools and give the teachers the vaccine now!"

merlotgran

When I saw the thread title I thought Prince Philip had been out in his car again.

I did wonder the same

A teacher from the local senior school just came round with a bag of presents for a pupil.
A similar address to ours but not the right house.

I thought that was lovely.

(I did direct him to the right house in case you were wondering.)

Looking at things from a different angle: I worked in the Education department at our local council when Gove was Education minister.
I visited a great many schools in the county and their feelings for Gove were unanimous. An absolute disaster!
Maybe he and his advisors should keep quiet if they haven't got anything helpful to say

Couldn’t agree more, Ellianne. The Gradgrinds are taking over primary education.

Me, too, Merlot!

I have very mixed feelings on this issue. I’d say my younger friends are divided half and half about schools. Some want schools closed so they can isolate before Christmas while others say their children need to be at school for their mental health and because they have exams coming up.

Parents of younger pupils want to know where they're supposed to magic up childcare from, in order to continue working at their own jobs.

It’s all very difficult.