Schools Close Shock

[Peter Pedant]

The govt has announced that schools will close on Friday
No exams but assessments will be used to issue certificates

what do people think

(a few are going to complain this q is ever so long)

[Mamyalynne]

I don't know anything about large scale closures of the past and was too young to recall much of the fifties Peter.

[maggiebee]

Shouldn't come as a great surprise. My daughter works in a primary school and 120 pupils were absent on Monday. Parents making choices.

[rowanwitch]

Cheek, I said 1960s... I know because I was kept at home for a few days

[sp1814]

PP

I suppose it had to happen, but I don't understand how the logistics are going to work.

Fine, if you work in an industry where you can work from home, but what about parents who are not key workers and have jobs which won't allow them to work from home?

It's going to be complicated, especially as the Prime Minister has said that children "should not be left with older grandparents or older relatives who may be particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus".

[Peter Pedant]

// I don't know anything about large scale closures of the pa//
well '58 and '67 were the two obvious choices
and I cant remember being kept at home ..... perhaps I was and didnt notice. 57 I remember people weating useless masks and collecting at street corners gossiping
whereas the 1959 election my brother got a day off - school as polling station and we didnt !

[Bobbisox1]

My grandson was due to take his GCSEs this May but I’m not surprised this is happening, the dental practice where my daughter is a manager may have to close too x

[douglas9401]

Nice to be elevated to 'key worker' instead of 'that git in the van using the loading bay when I'm trying to park my car right outside Greggs'.

Wonder if my new status comes with extra moolah.

Yes, of course I jest, be back to lower than low soon enough.

[Theland]

People in Birkenhead were shocked when they learned the local library had closed.
That didn't know they had a library :-)

[maggiebee]

An oldie but a goodie Theland. All libraries and community facilities closed here in Dundee too.

[Ken4155]

2 of my grandkids already been sent home with minor complaints and I know of at least another dozen kids who have been sent home. One Burnley school has had to suspend Year 9 pupils because of a staff shortage. So it was only a matter of time before schools were officially told to close their doors.

[cassa333]

My daughter is devastated.

She has Aspergers and school gives her the structure she needs.

[pixie374]

My youngest is 16 and at college, and I have had an email today, that they will be working from home for at least the next month, with online support.
My friends, who still have children at schools, have received emails today, to say that if there are staff shortages, due to the virus, those in GCSE and A Level years, will still go in, as they will be prioritised.

[woofgang]

cassa if she has a care plan she can still attend school

[cassa333]

Oh Just read a reply that said supermarket workers are classed as key workers?

That will make my children a little happier. Well one of them at least lol

[cassa333]

She doesn’t have an ECH plan just an IPE. Mainly because the school didn’t tell us she needed one.

I will contact the school in the morning and see what they say.

[Gromit]

// grandparents are advised NOT look after grandchildren //

Another bit of advice that will be widespread ignored.

[fiction-factory]

Not a shock. Parents were voting with their (their children's) feet - attendance was falling. And teachers/support staff were off in growing numbers either ill or looking after ill children so some schools had insufficient cover. Pupils were also getting hyper about it and finding it funny to cough, claim to have the virus and continually asking when the school would shut, so it was hard to make lessons productive. We were never going to get through to exam time.

[jourdain2]

Not a shock. I had hoped that they could stay open until the end of next week, but there we go.
Eldest grandsprog (14) can be home alone, but she has worked so very hard because she has been accelerated to taking French and History GCSEs a year early and got '8s' (old-fashioned 'As')in her mocks. I would expect (as an ex-teacher) that assessment would include the result of the mocks. Hard on those who use the mocks to discover their weaknesses and then work to amend them, but I would, again, hope that teacher assessment would take account of improvements as well.

Lower down, it becomes more woolly. Grandson (Yr. 6)has been an absolute pillock (am I allowed to say that?) and has thought that whatever he produced would 'do'. Last week, I finally managed to disillusion him by setting him a SATS paper and marking to the mark scheme. Deflation resulted, thank goodness, and an understanding that such things as spelling actually matter. He accepted that I would have to work hard with him, and he with me. Trouble is that his teacher will have to work on his efforts so far, which really are rubbish, believe me. I will be long-distance keeping an eye on him, but we will probably have to appeal for a re-assessment in Sept. Tricky one.
Junior granddaughter is in tears because I promised her a pretty fountain-pen if she got on to the 'Hot 100' i.e. knew all her tables. I've telephoned to say that I'll still buy it for her if she can recite all her tables accurately to me over the phone - and she's much happier and working at her 12 x. :)

[Peter Pedant]

I sympathise Jourdain
my brother took around 50 y to realise that his wasted years had materially disadvantaged him

[Cloverjo]

Well done with your grandchild Jourdain. I learned my times tables by rote but it didn’t go up to 12x. I feel a bit dim when I’m with older people (including Husband) who can recall it without thinking.