Coronavirus (COVID-19)

[Cardinal Richelieu]

17 minutes ago, Tynierose said:

I've still got winning the sack race back in primary 4 highlighted on my CV.

Reminds me of Rimmer's CV in the Red Dwarf books. Under qualifications he put BSC and SSC - which turns out to be Bronze Swimming Certificate, Silver Swimming Certificate. 

[Todd_is_God]

2 minutes ago, stumigoo said:

We’ve not been measured on Uni rates for years, which is great. Our school is very far removed from that kind of pressure (I certainly remember it when I left school in the early 2000s). It’s a much better environment now and the options available to young people are genuinely brilliant.

 

That is good then. I left school around the same time as you it would seem.

[super_carson]

1 minute ago, stumigoo said:

 

Our authority are panicking a little bit because I think they now realise they have been behind the curve with this. We are all getting training on Teams etc next week to plan ahead for August. I’d say that most staff are very comfortable at using it but there are always areas for improvement.

The big thing I’ve noticed is that the kids haven’t had much training themselves and they are often not used to accessing online materials in this way. They are obviously tech literate but in their own social media/gaming way.

 

My school got on teams pretty early, but as it's primary there's been huge emphasis put on parents to help with getting their kids used to it.  It's quite good now, being able to set and mark assignments each week and upload teaching videos instead of them having to go on to wider social media as well as speak directly to my class.  The downside is there are always a couple of kids who do nothing to engage, no matter how many phone calls home.  Th

One good thing about all of this is that teams can be a more permanent fixture.  We plan to use it as part of the blended model, but I'm keen to keep it as a permanent feature so that kids have access to materials at home if they want/need to practice. 

[stumigoo]

That is good then. I left school around the same time as you it would seem.

And now I’m teaching kids who are leaving S6 who were born the year after I left!

It’s great sitting with kids and talking about options now. My Guidance Teacher just wanted to know how many Highers I would get and what Uni courses I had to then apply for. We talk about so much now and there are dozens of different paths they can take.

[Todd_is_God]

13 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Fraser Nelson is putting it about that the lockdown wasn't needed and didn't really do anything. I think it's bollocks.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/new-study-shows-covid-infections-were-falling-before-lockdown

I am inclined to agree with you.

The lockdown here was certainly far too late to be effective in it's primary goal of reducing the number of people dying, but it has, at least in Scotland anyway, been effective in rapidly reducing the spread and getting it under control.

Now that it is under control, it is no longer needed (in its current form) to keep it declining.

[stumigoo]

My school got on teams pretty early, but as it's primary there's been huge emphasis put on parents to help with getting their kids used to it.  It's quite good now, being able to set and mark assignments each week and upload teaching videos instead of them having to go on to wider social media as well as speak directly to my class.  The downside is there are always a couple of kids who do nothing to engage, no matter how many phone calls home.  Th
One good thing about all of this is that teams can be a more permanent fixture.  We plan to use it as part of the blended model, but I'm keen to keep it as a permanent feature so that kids have access to materials at home if they want/need to practice. 

Teams can be excellent but one downside is that the parents don’t have their own login, that is something we’ve had some call the school about. I know some authorities were also well ahead by using PEF money to secure laptops and tablets but we didn’t so much of the last few months has been trying to find devices and ask for money from charities etc to help with that (although some are now arriving via the government).

The vulnerable ones are definitely struggling to access everything, but despite an earlier poster suggesting that this is down to teacher negligence, the reality is we are fighting against much larger issues and challenges that we are struggling to cope with. These kids struggled to access the curriculum pre-Covid so this is only making it worse.

[super_carson]

Just now, stumigoo said:

The vulnerable ones are definitely struggling to access everything, but despite an earlier poster suggesting that this is down to teacher negligence, the reality is we are fighting against much larger issues and challenges that we are struggling to cope with. These kids struggled to access the curriculum pre-Covid so this is only making it worse.

 

Absolutely.  I've had parents hang up on me when I've tried to call them to ask why their child isn't engaging and if there is anything that I, or the school, can do to support.  The attainment gap is going be a chasm once this is all over. 

[stumigoo]

Absolutely.  I've had parents hang up on me when I've tried to call them to ask why their child isn't engaging and if there is anything that I, or the school, can do to support.  The attainment gap is going be a chasm once this is all over. 

A real concern. Plus the physical and mental well-being of some. We’ve tried to get food parcels out where appropriate and we have a good team of support workers who have started doing socially distant walking with some of them, just to get them out the house. We’ve sent packs of work out but without someone there to support them it is really difficult. I see my role, in Guidance, being very different in August as it will be heavily focused on either getting the disengaged kids back in school or trying to support those who’ve basically been isolated since March.

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, DeeTillEhDeh said:

Doing little or no work?

 

You really don't have a fucking clue.

 

Are you genuinely saying that myself and other colleagues are doing, little or no work?

You never did.

[super_carson]

1 minute ago, stumigoo said:

 

A real concern. Plus the physical and mental well-being of some. We’ve tried to get food parcels out where appropriate and we have a good team of support workers who have started doing socially distant walking with some of them, just to get them out the house. We’ve sent packs of work out but without someone there to support them it is really difficult. I see my role, in Guidance, being very different in August as it will be heavily focused on either getting the disengaged kids back in school or trying to support those who’ve basically been isolated since March.

 

It's going to be a very tricky start to the term, definitely.  We've been signed up for bereavement training, as well as emotions talks.  Normally we would change classes each year but that's been kept to a minimum to help the kids with some consistency and pastoral care next session will be more important than normal. 

[welshbairn]

6 minutes ago, MixuFruit said:

*everything* in the spectator is drive by an agenda that has hee haw to do with public health

Used to be much more diverse years ago, before the Barclay weirdo twins bought it. Sheer right wing nutter fodder now.

Edited June 12, 2020 by welshbairn

[ICTChris]

I don’t want to say too much about this but it does strike me that everyone has been very quick to acquiesce to schools being closed for a huge amount of time. When schools return in August, part time, they will have been away from school for five months. Who knows when they will go back full time but pupils will have lost a significant proportion of their contact time with their teachers. I think I’m right in saying that this is the longest time away from school of any country during the current crisis.

How much was virtual teaching looked at as a potential solution?

[stumigoo]

It's going to be a very tricky start to the term, definitely.  We've been signed up for bereavement training, as well as emotions talks.  Normally we would change classes each year but that's been kept to a minimum to help the kids with some consistency and pastoral care next session will be more important than normal. 

Today’s task is splitting our entire cohort up, with the junior school being disseminated into groups of about 10, to facilitate the timetable in August. We’ve got some P7s visiting the school next week for a tour but mainly just the young people who need a high level of support.

I really hope that we can return to normality as soon as possible. The thought of next term running into the October - December term isn’t what anyone wants or needs. We will be finding out more today and Monday about arrangements but we’ve already been sent a document that we need to discuss next week, outlining all the physical changes to the building (one way system etc).

[stumigoo]

I don’t want to say too much about this but it does strike me that everyone has been very quick to acquiesce to schools being closed for a huge amount of time. When schools return in August, part time, they will have been away from school for five months. Who knows when they will go back full time but pupils will have lost a significant proportion of their contact time with their teachers. I think I’m right in saying that this is the longest time away from school of any country during the current crisis.

How much was virtual teaching looked at as a potential solution?

I think as has been mentioned, the huge variation in authorities has meant that some have been well prepped for a long time to allow for virtual teaching, but some are miles behind.

The sooner we get back the better, we are not where we need to be in terms of pupil contact and the longer it goes on the bigger the issues.

[dirty dingus]

These poor weans are getting left behind, it's going to lead to poor attainment and problems in the future.

How do you not do a few extra shifts to help the kids catch up?

That will be fucking right, call the Union.

[stumigoo]

These poor weans are getting left behind, it's going to lead to poor attainment and problems in the future.
How do you not do a few extra shifts to help the kids catch up?
That will be fucking right, call the Union.

We will get these kids back on track without the need for ‘extra shifts’. It’s our job to ensure that happens.

[super_carson]

3 minutes ago, stumigoo said:

I really hope that we can return to normality as soon as possible. The thought of next term running into the October - December term isn’t what anyone wants or needs. We will be finding out more today and Monday about arrangements but we’ve already been sent a document that we need to discuss next week, outlining all the physical changes to the building (one way system etc).

 

It's a lot easier in the Primary schools, so I don't envy the high schools.  I spent most of this week in school trying to arrange the class furniture and set up classrooms and it looks very strange and not very welcoming at all.  All the hygiene practises, individualised everything  (no shared reading books, textbooks etc). 

I'm not sure how long this approach will be with us - I can see us being back as "normal" in August.  The SG have already sacked off the distancing for childminders and they may face pressure from parents with childcare issues.  Added to that, the fact that number of cases could be negligible by then.  I think they may start with scaling it back in the primary schools by September.   Purely speculation, of course. 

[Todd_is_God]

10 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

I don’t want to say too much about this but it does strike me that everyone has been very quick to acquiesce to schools being closed for a huge amount of time. When schools return in August, part time, they will have been away from school for five months. Who knows when they will go back full time but pupils will have lost a significant proportion of their contact time with their teachers. I think I’m right in saying that this is the longest time away from school of any country during the current crisis.

How much was virtual teaching looked at as a potential solution?

Greenied for the use of the word acquiesce

[coprolite]

45 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

Fraser Nelson is putting it about that the lockdown wasn't needed and didn't really do anything. I think it's bollocks.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/new-study-shows-covid-infections-were-falling-before-lockdown

It's Fraser Nelson. Of course it's bollocks. 

[dirty dingus]

5 minutes ago, MixuFruit said:

As a pinko leftist commie radical demagogue instead it sounds to me like this is a perfect opportunity to properly invest in teaching so that teachers only need to work their contracted hours and are well rested and better at their jobs. I mean we've had 40 years of newspapers telling people unions are bad so I can understand why the mean spirited attitude in the post like above will percolate through. This is of course completely fanciful in our current political reality but we've just witnessed that problems like homelessness can go away at the stroke of a pen and the only things stopping good things happening in society are unpleasant men with blue rosettes who don't like the idea of people being happy.

I think if it's the crisis in education that many are saying they could do what they done with the crisis in healthcare and ask the retired teachers to sign up for a coupe of days a week for say 6 months and get on top of it right away.

Edited June 12, 2020 by dirty dingus