Is there any reason why children should not repeat a school year?

And which parent would be happy with random people volunteering to 'teach' their child.
I am happy to volunteer to look at peoples electrics and plumbing if they wish. I have no skills or experience in these but what the heck

Trisher ???
Show me a teacher who doesn’t think children engage with learning and behave better in a structured setting, however ‘relaxed’ the structure is. Just dropping in and expecting them to be excited by something different is not guaranteed in any age group.
I (being mean) stopped the ‘last day of term bring in your own toys’ routine because they cried over lost or ‘stolen’ pieces, dead batteries, not sharing etc.

As for repeating a year, I can think of several children who would have needed that, but not necessarily benefitted from it because they’d have felt belittled.
In a way, ‘repeating time missed’ is what happened from September. We allocated time and staff for catch up for those children who hadn’t engaged with online learning and the rest of the children also did revision of what had been covered. What will happen if we stay in lockdown now, I don’t know-but we’re already discussing it in SLT.

Universities and Colleges could reduce their courses to two years again. It would help those struggling to pay tuition and accommodation costs. I know of several students who have limited tuition ( one hour on a Tuesday and three hours on a Friday for example) and we know a few students with free time who don’t use it for study but go to the pub or stay in bed all morning. Those who work hard work hard anyway.

Ellianne

Well I for one would cover for the stressed teachers during those extra weeks voluntarily.
Provided I could do things MY way, no following the curriculum, just getting back social skills, letting the kids re acclimatise and reigniting their love of learning.

Other jobs are also very stressful with long working hours. Many employees have only 4 or 5 weeks holiday in the year.

I've always wished that those who imagine they could teach a class could just be dropped into one, I'd give them half a day in the nice ones and half an hour in some of the rougher ones. Even the nicest children in a class will play up when they sense inexperience and there are many very experenced teachers who have been on supply and cried in the loo because the class was playing up. It ain't as easy as it looks!

paddyanne

Can someone explain the English system to me ? Here children go to the school local to them both primary and secondary .Why would a primary age child be able to choose what school they go to? Why would parents be able to decide what school unless its state v private ?

Paddyanne in England the parents have ‘parental choice’ and can in theory choose which primary and secondary to attend.

It doesn’t always work!
The educational authorities have certain criteria which have to be met in order for you to get a place. E.g. special-needs, siblings at the school, distance from the school and order of choice -you can put three schools.
If your school of choice is already full then you will be offered another school on your list. If they are also full, you will be offered a school regardless of proximity to where you live.
For secondary schools, you can add into that, schools that have their own entrance criteria, e.g. exam, religion or gender.

Surely no teachers in their right mind are already booking holidays abroad for this summer? Or families for that matter, unless it is carried forward from 2020?

If I, when in my late 50's, could endure a 24hr flight and return to work next day, I'm pretty sure that most in their 40's/ 50's can do the same on a 4hr flight.
I might also add that I had a responsible job at the time.

Which is more important, school/ work or holidays ?

Well I for one would cover for the stressed teachers during those extra weeks voluntarily.
Provided I could do things MY way, no following the curriculum, just getting back social skills, letting the kids re acclimatise and reigniting their love of learning.

Other jobs are also very stressful with long working hours. Many employees have only 4 or 5 weeks holiday in the year.

EllanVannin

How about 2 weeks off during the summer holidays instead of the 6 for starters ?

This would effectively mean that teaching staff would not have a holiday. Most spend days after the year finishes clearing paper work and the classroom. They are then usually back in school during the last week of the hols to prepare for the next class/intake. I

EV That is putting the cat amongst the pigeons!

I remember once when annual holidays were only 3 weeks telling a teacher friend about a spring break in Crete. She said she would like to go to which my response was that she could at half term. Oh no was the response. I need time to prepare and then time to recover. This week long holiday was taken over a May bank holiday so that I only used up 4 days of my entitlement. I finished work on a Tuesday, we flew out the next day, back on the following Tuesday and back to work the next day.

EllanVannin

How about 2 weeks off during the summer holidays instead of the 6 for starters ?

I'm not sure that would go down very well, but definitely try reducing it to 4 or 5 weeks.

How about 2 weeks off during the summer holidays instead of the 6 for starters ?

A repeat year is not a good idea in my opinion for all the reasons mentioned above.
I assume this is being suggested as schools may stay closed all this term.
For starters, get the children back a week early straight after Easter and back a week early in September. It's not a lot in the bigger picture but better than nothing.

grandtante Not all children need to repeat a year. Some of them have already developed independent learning skills and will be just fine. To be honest, they're the ones who will cope best with the demands of higher education anyway. Forcing them to do an extra year would be frustrating for them and possibly create an even wider attainment gap.

Its barking if that's any help paddyanne. But the system is as a parent you can name your schools in order of preference, up to 4 I think, if there is space you can go to school in the village with the better school than the one in your own village.

Peasblossom

Hmm, dare I suggest this might be the moment to question the Curriculum altogether? How much of what is missed is really that important? Could they catch up with what they really need if a lot of other stuff was dropped?

Does anyone really need 11 or 12 GCSEs?

With you on this idea ! Also keen on the idea of a broader type of education but sadly there’s always going to be funding issues and too much proscriptive stuff (sorry I’m struggling for vocabulary today) in the world of teaching !

Can someone explain the English system to me ? Here children go to the school local to them both primary and secondary .Why would a primary age child be able to choose what school they go to? Why would parents be able to decide what school unless its state v private ?

If all children repeat the year that they started in the autumn, then good and well.

If only children who are judged as needing the extra schooling because they or their schools have not coped well with online tution, then no. This would stigmatize these children as being less clever than others.

I doubt whether repeating one year of school will do much good, after all the first lockdown was the spring of 2020 and thus in a different academic year.

And what are private schools supposed to do? I doubt many parents will be happy to pay an extra years' tution.

It sounds easy, saying let them all repeat a year, but it will cause staffing problems and problems finding space for the eldest class.

GagaJo

I have been saying this for a few weeks now.

The key issue is that state funded education ends at 18. I absolutely think for school children of the pandemic, that this should be extended to 19.

I work in private education now. I have an 18 year old starting a course for 16 year olds. I have a 15 year old who has a VERY difficult past stepping back a year to give her more time to aclimatise to school, before hitting IB Diploma (A Level equivilent). At my previous school, I had a 20 year old in a class of 17 year olds.

It would certainly be worth considering extra funding, so that pupils could resit A levels. Currently, schools do not have the resources to allow pupils to stay for an extra year and only allow it in extreme circumstances.

There is already growing support to abolish GCSEs anyway, which give secondary schools an extra term of teaching time.

Peasblossom

Hmm, dare I suggest this might be the moment to question the Curriculum altogether? How much of what is missed is really that important? Could they catch up with what they really need if a lot of other stuff was dropped?

Does anyone really need 11 or 12 GCSEs?

A very valid question to dare to ask.

I don't think it's necessary at all. Nowhere does it state that pupils need a defined body of knowledge by a specific stage in their lives.

The logistical problems would be horrendous.

If this year's Y6s stay in primary, what will happen to the little ones who need to be in Reception next year. They'll be no teacher and no classroom for them.
If the Y13s retake their A level year, what will happen to the 1st year of undergraduates next year. It'll be empty. Universities are run like businesses these days. Will they just sack lecturers because they're missing 30% of their students? Those taking their finals this year are desperate to graduate, and can't afford another year at uni anyway.

If any of these extreme measures were going to be introduced it would be necessary to do it now. Schools begin planning the transition of children from one stage of education to another in February and March. It's not something that just happens. Most primary school children will already have chosen their secondary school. Many parents will be deciding which primary school they want their child to go to. The process is complicated and there are always appeals to deal with.

If the curriculum and school entry/leaving age is to be overhauled.

I would prefer to see much discussion, focus groups with all agencies involved rather than a knee jerk reaction to a global pandemic.

Hmm, dare I suggest this might be the moment to question the Curriculum altogether? How much of what is missed is really that important? Could they catch up with what they really need if a lot of other stuff was dropped?

Does anyone really need 11 or 12 GCSEs?