Coronavirus: General discussion (see opening post for rules)

[Ditto]

My sons primary school is only opening for year 6 and my mate who works in a London uni was told he would be working from home until January at he earliest.

Was that the heads decision? Was it one approved by the governing body? Is the school an LA one or an academy/part of a academy trust?

I'm interested to see if academy trusts are, on the whole, less likely to reject the government advice and delay opening as some LA schools are. My sons primary is part of a small primary only trust. The school is clearly targeting a June restart for R, 1, and Year 6. It also appears the decision making is being driven by the central trust. Local GB's are not going to be responsible for approving plans.

[mikeprice]

My local council has said they will not re-open schools on 1st June - they have given a date of 6th June but say it could well move further back

[stevejp]

Was that the heads decision? Was it one approved by the governing body? Is the school an LA one or an academy/part of a academy trust?

I'm interested to see if academy trusts are, on the whole, less likely to reject the government advice and delay opening as some LA schools are. My sons primary is part of a small primary only trust. The school is clearly targeting a June restart for R, 1, and Year 6. It also appears the decision making is being driven by the central trust. Local GB's are not going to be responsible for approving plans.

 

Many academy trusts (Not all, I freely acknowledge - but a lot of the bigger ones) were set up to siphon public funds off to rich Tory donors - so hardly a surprise that they are now more willing to toe the party line.

[Norphy]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/20/global-report-covid-19-brazils-deadliest-day-as-trump-calls-us-cases-a-badge-of-honour

 

[psydii]

FWIW The earliest date we can safely open more widely (we've always been open for children of Key Worker households) is the mid-to-late June.

 

However 'open' looks nothing like before lockdown. We are ramping up remote learning capabilities, moving from a 'holding pattern' to re-working courses and teacher skills. We will see how things pan out up to July, but our current preparations are based around remote teaching being the primary platform for the rest of 2020, and face to face on site being extremely limited, primarily focusing on the pastoral side and coaching students on how to better engage with the online provision.

 

If there is some dramatic breakthrough in terms of testing/immunity/monitoring we're ready to pivot back. There is no indication that this will happen any time soon.

Edited May 20, 2020 by psydii

[caffrey]

Went into school today, there's tape everywhere

[LeMarchand]

Went into school today, there's tape everywhere

 

 

Like this?

[caffrey]

Well it's yellow with black stripes so close

[6Foot2]

There's no such thing as common sense. That was proven when people called 999 about KFC running out of chicken.

 

Compliance with clearly stated instructions, and common sense:

 

 

[caffrey]

This is terrifying

 

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-israel-mask/mask-in-a-restaurant-this-one-can-gobble-like-pac-man-idUKKBN22U200

[elsiegee40]

 

A reminder to be extremely careful about the sources you link to and the political message these are trying to convey.

 

This thread is in General Chat and is thus fully accessible by the search engines. We have no desire to fan conspiracy theory or any other political flames in this this thread... or associate EduGeek with being a place to promote them.

 

Please read the opening post of this thread if you need to remind yourself of the rules of this thread.

Edited May 21, 2020 by elsiegee40

[paulkerton]

We have no desire to fan conspiracy theory or any other political flames in this this thread... or associate EduGeek with being a place to promote them.

 

Yes! Thank you for removing it long before I came into the thread to report it from my email alert.

[witch]

Need some advice

Our school is opening Jun1 and I received a long email detailing how this will work - the children will be in class bubbles of 12 to 15, 2M apart, where they dont mix with any other people over the course of a school day. Apparently the HT spoke to teachers, support staff, office staff, the site manager and the cleaners. Hand sanitizer outside all office/classroom doors, etc etc

Guess who wasnt spoken to?

I am not that worried generally about schools as I have been reading up on the risks, BUT for me it is slightly different as I am designated "Clinically vulnerable" due to my asthma (not bad enough to warrant shielding but still a concern)

Most of my job in school is firefighting - going into many classrooms over the course of my day, sorting out laptops and whiteboards etc. For a start that rather ruins their bubbles, doesnt it? Also I am concerned about staying 2M away from everybody as my particular health risk requires me to do

 

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

[LeMarchand]

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

 

"Main" school: Pretty much the same as before and matches what you normally do. Have been in recently and few of the staff seem to understand social distancing, let alone the pupils. Not 100% happy about the situation!

 

"Secondary" school: Bit more self-sufficient, but suspect that social distancing won't be great.

 

"Tertiary" school: Working from home unless something I have to do on site. Head is pretty good and calling me and attempting fixes with guidance. Only there a few hours/week, alas.

 

If the virus is as transmissible as the 2 metre rule seems to suggest it is, I don't see how many working environments can possibly adapt to such distancing; and many people just don't seem to grasp the concept, either.

[robyholmes]

Need some advice

Our school is opening Jun1 and I received a long email detailing how this will work - the children will be in class bubbles of 12 to 15, 2M apart, where they dont mix with any other people over the course of a school day. Apparently the HT spoke to teachers, support staff, office staff, the site manager and the cleaners. Hand sanitizer outside all office/classroom doors, etc etc

Guess who wasnt spoken to?

I am not that worried generally about schools as I have been reading up on the risks, BUT for me it is slightly different as I am designated "Clinically vulnerable" due to my asthma (not bad enough to warrant shielding but still a concern)

Most of my job in school is firefighting - going into many classrooms over the course of my day, sorting out laptops and whiteboards etc. For a start that rather ruins their bubbles, doesnt it? Also I am concerned about staying 2M away from everybody as my particular health risk requires me to do

 

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

 

We're seeing the same idea here. Although thankfully I've been somewhat involved in planning.

 

One thought I'm having is doing a 'Pre-Check' of all rooms at half term. Just switching on PC's and boards to make sure all is well before classes return.

[Ketlane]

Eton remains open - but not for its normal pupils. It's offering free education for children of key workers. It's also offering free accommodation for key workers, and making its online curriculum available free to other schools, while continuing to teach online. That's quite a serious commitment.

[mikeprice]

Need some advice

Our school is opening Jun1 and I received a long email detailing how this will work - the children will be in class bubbles of 12 to 15, 2M apart, where they dont mix with any other people over the course of a school day. Apparently the HT spoke to teachers, support staff, office staff, the site manager and the cleaners. Hand sanitizer outside all office/classroom doors, etc etc

Guess who wasnt spoken to?

I am not that worried generally about schools as I have been reading up on the risks, BUT for me it is slightly different as I am designated "Clinically vulnerable" due to my asthma (not bad enough to warrant shielding but still a concern)

Most of my job in school is firefighting - going into many classrooms over the course of my day, sorting out laptops and whiteboards etc. For a start that rather ruins their bubbles, doesnt it? Also I am concerned about staying 2M away from everybody as my particular health risk requires me to do

 

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

 

I would suggest the first stop should be your unions - they should have advise on hand

 

maybe a solution would be to change you work pattern so that fault/problems are logged during the day and you fix them after the kids have gone home (plus a bit to allow the air to clear)

I did hear of someone who worked early - then went home - then came back late afternoon to do more work - I would hate it but .......

 

In any case I would put all that in writing and specifically state that you are not prepared to wander in and out of classroom all day

if that doesn;t work then you should at leats have proper PPE - and I don't just mean a sock made into a face mask!

[LeMarchand]

maybe a solution would be to change you work pattern so that fault/problems are logged during the day and you fix them after the kids have gone home (plus a bit to allow the air to clear)

 

I think the problem for

[mikeprice]

I think the problem for

 

I know - spent 3 years trying to get they to use a system at my last school (primary)

 

but in these circumstances then professional teacher need to start acting like professionals and SMT need to recognise that 'special people' can;t be allowed to put other people at risk just so they can do things the way they want

 

which may take some doing!!!

 

but it is also a good chance to get a loggng system into the 'new normal' - and then let it drift into being an accepted way of working after things calm down (OK - hopeless optimism but anyway)

[ADMaster]

My apologies I forgot this was in general. I like to look at things from all sides of an issue.

 

I’ve avoided the pond for 8 years I guess it was my turn.

[TwistedHelixis]

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

 

The Governments advice is still to work from home if you can, and being in IT and able to remote onto any machine in the school from home covers that requirement with a great big tick.

 

I have said that if I am really needed I can pop in by arrangement.

[psydii]

Not helpful for @witch, but we're a large site, so in the event of classroom IT failure people will be able to decant to an alternative room, and IT staff called in (perhaps the following day) to resolve after a clean.

 

As mentioned earlier, our current planning has the onsite provision supporting the online delivery. We'll have made it 3 months without any hands-on IT support, we expect to be able to continue.

 

We're moving online with all resources and projecting that reprographics use is going to remain close to zero until at least September, again reducing the need for onsite technical support.

 

The IT Team are coming in to help convert classrooms to the post-lockdown configuration, but the school will basically be empty at that point.

[ADMaster]

We are still waiting on official advice from the gov and dfe as to what next fall will look like.

I’m making plans to get better remote support in place and the three scenarios we have are

Back to normal, unlikely

Fully remote / online

Some sort of rotational blended model where some students come on onsite M W and online T TH and the reverse for other groups.

I just glad I’m not in charge of scheduling.

[StevieM]

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

I, too, am asthmatic and when the lockdown first began, I had emails from a few members of staff asking if I was working from home as they were concerned about my welfare.

 

Our LA has advised 15 June at the earliest for re-opening. When/If that happens, I'm hoping to continue to work mostly from home, even if it means going in some evenings and/or weekends (like I already have done on the odd occasion). In case of a real emergency, I can get to school in about 15 minutes, if absolutely necessary. I'll cross that bridge when it comes to it, though.

@witch - Have you contacted the school to explain your position and ask them what they expect from you?

[LeMarchand]

What are others expecting their jobs will look like when the schools go back?

 

Thinking about it, haven't the Big Brains at your MAT drawn up rules for opening?

 

(I suspect that i know the answer to this one!)