Today we received an email from the Headteacher setting out the plans for the coming school year. Clearly he is being hamstrung by both government rules and the lack of any clarity on those rules. But currently this is the plan.

  • Each year group will be largely kept apart from other year groups.
  • Each year group will return to school on a different day. For our sons new year group that will be September 11th.
  • School buses will run but each child will have a named seat and the bus will be split into year groups. That will mean son will have to sit with 3 girls and separate from the boys he would normally sit with. All pupils will need to wear a mask on the bus and use hand sanitizers when they board the bus.
  • Masks will not be worn at any other time during the day.
  • Corridors will operate as normal but pupils will be encouraged to maintain as much social distancing as possible.
  • Social distancing will not be enforced within the classroom, so room layouts will remain unchanged.
  • No catering facilities will be available at break times.
  • Access to the canteen will be restricted at lunchtime. Pupils will only be allowed to have lunch within narrow timeframes.
  • More hand sanitizers will be available but it will be up to the pupils when they use them.
  • Toilets will be restricted to only 3 people at a time.
  • Year groups will be kept where possible in there own area of the school. Sons area would mean that he does not have access to the quiet room which is set aside for children with autism.
  • Parents will be given details of mental health services available to those children struggling.
  • No onsite temperature checking will take place, that is the responsibility of the parent.
  • If any child is showing a Covid symptom then they should be kept off school. They are also encouraged to undertake a virus test.
  • Class sizes may have to be increased to take account of increased teacher sickness.
  • Pupils will be encouraged to avoid meeting with friends who are not in their year group.
  • School will not be closed if virus cases are recorded.
  • Online tuition will have to be abandoned with the government dictating a full return to normal schooling.

So that’s the plan. I’m so hoping son decides to opt for homeschooling. Frankly opening up large schools during a pandemic with only the minimum of additional safeguards, appears reckless. So many unanswered questions, which the headteacher openly refers to. Why would you shutdown online tuition in schools which are actually up for awards on the quality of that online service. What do families do when they have several children in different year groups. Most people with the virus show no symptoms yet testing is being restricted. Why masks for buses yet no masks for classrooms. How do kids with autism access the autism services which are in a restricted parts of the school. It’s ok giving out mental health service details but those services are already overrun with significant service backlogs (waiting lists of up to 12 months) – kids need help now….. And on and on.

It’s all a bit of a mess really.

74 thoughts on “Schools out for now”

  4. It’s certainly a mess and I wondered why no masks on in classroom, when classroom layout remains unchanged, yet they have to wear them on bus.

    Your son would be best at home, being schooled. I can see access just being worser for him.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. If he chooses school, I can imagine it’s going to set off huge anxiety and goodness knows what else. Just me reading their plans would set my anxiety off, if I had been in his shoes.

        Liked by 1 person

  7. This was so sad to read. I hope your child opts for homeschooling. We, as a world, are not ready to move forward in this fashion. It seems extremely ill-advised to me.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. That sounds scary and not enough safety measures for My taste. We haven’t received our plan for September yet, but I worry it will be similar. Homeschooling might be in the the tutu for us.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. It doesn’t sound like your sons school is taking the virus seriously and are rushing to do what they can. I live in the US. From what I heard, schools here are doing more than this

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  17. More than a bit! It’s interesting to read your school’s plan. Our schools were all about daily temperature checks, smaller class sizes to accommodate social distancing, masks required all day… until the governor shut it all down and pulled the plug on Classroom learning altogether. Still trying to navigate how I am supposed to be a teacher from home doing online learning with at-risk kids and oversee three different grade levels (my own kids) all at the same time.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  19. Agree with the above. this is like all the stuff on everything opening. A bloody mess. Gonna tell you something which causes me to question what the hell is actually going on. My older girl has to shield for two weeks for two weeks from today because of surgery…surgery we’ve been lucky to get her to the top of the queue for. So she asked what about her husband and toddler, The wee one is in nursery one day a week and her hubby is a dog walker…enough said re the houses he is in and out. Would they have to do the same? Would you like to guess the answer. Yep. It was no.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It’s madness. Son had his operation at York Hospital and was not told to isolate at all. His uncle had an operation in the same theatre this week and he had to isolate 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after. As does anyone in his house. It was never mentioned to me……

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      3. Well I dunno what we are agreeing up here. Our rules are diff…but I did see the other day that Boris the Clown was putting nails in the coffins of publicans down south re the non smoking and the smoking areas outdoors. Up here takeaways are mask exempt.. I think a sandwich shop is a takeaway. Look at the day when the cretn said I think, in reply to some question re childcare. A goddamn lie if ever I saw one since he has not a brain cell to think with. But he should be thinking something is okay he should know when asked. He’s hoofed his big bahookie up ehere today to selected places..ie a fishing boat, prob a coo field, but meet the masses??? That would be asking for a milk shake fest. But he’ll trot home and spout more lies about his successful visit, having met some of the few tory voters who are left. .

        Liked by 1 person

  20. I guess someone thinks they have reasons for all the rules, but they sound TOTALLY ARBITRARY to me. A kid can’t wear a mask in a classroom, even if he wants to, yet they MUST ON THE BUS! So they go to school travelling safely, spend all day mixing viruses, then get back on the bus to (hopefully) safely travel home? Sounds to me like the most protected person is the busdriver, after all, if he or she get sick the whole process drags to a halt?

    Can someone please send in the psychiatrists! Not for the students or teachers, but FOR THE RULEMAKERS! They are all megalomaniacs.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  22. It is a mess. I think we find out tomorrow what our districts plan is. I know they are doing their best having never done something like this before and then it is up to us to decide if we plan to go along with it. So much uncertainty!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  23. I really cant see Hawklad choosing to go back to school under those conditions. Just sitting with the 3 girls would likely make him faint. If he cant leave your property and has all these rules about things coming into the house, and no one will be wearing masks at school???!! Good grief Charlie Brown, there’s just no way. I think his anxiety would be more dangerous than even the virus.

    Looks like you & I at least will still be on lockdown😂😂💌💌

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  24. The separation of year groups is mind-numbing. Do germs adhere to strict age limits?

    And masks only on the bus? This makes me anxious.

    Sounds like these guidelines came from a certain white house in the U.S. capital because this makes about as much sense as a chicken playing the piano.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  26. it;s just getting worse here. As a nurse we went from cloth masks, to surgical, and now we have to add face shields. This is for private duty nurses who only care for a single client and i find it ridiculous as it is coming on the heels of 2 other things. One: they have got back to making up silly rules about eating out and alcohol , which varies by state.Get this- you can order a drink with a meal but cannot dink without buying a meal. Once done you meal you can buy no more alcohol. Two: they plan on reopening the schools fully this fall yet no plan has been put into pace like the one you listed above…seems like it will be “business as usual” and most parents are either freaking out or seem happy to get their now kids out of they hair finally( yeah- who cares about the risks?) i hate living here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. It sounds the same here. It seems to be if we just ignore it then things will work out just fine. Are the masks starting to make you face sore. So many photos from nurses here with really sore faces. They always carry the same message, we are doing this for you so stop arsing about and follow the rules. Problem is that the worst offenders for breaking the rules are the government. x

      Like

      Reply

      1. not mine…i am lucky..in private duty on night shift you really only have to wear it wending direct care and my little dude sleeps really well.i only put it on when i am within 6ft of him so not most of the shift..on with alarms, diaper changes, giving meds, and then once he is awake and we are interacting.It’s been tough on the autistic kids with the masked caretakers and i assume the face shields will make that even worse though…

        Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment