Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
School opening plan in Haringey - who's calling the shots?
Is it down to individual head teachers or is there a single point of decision making in the Council's Education dept? Am a bit worried that schools are being used by the council to strike a blow at the government.
Tags for Forum Posts: coronavirus council services
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by SoToBro on
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Is it unions stoping the kids back to school? They got no love for big bad bozza eether
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No, unions aren't stoping the kids back to school. Unions are trying to facilitate a situation where schools can be opened to more children gradually, in a safe and responsible manner that ensures the safety of children, teachers, school staff generally and the wider community. Head teachers are doing their best to navigate the right course between government guidelines, union advice and parents worried about their children's and their, and their families safety. Schools are liaising closely with borough support and advice, often discussing plans with nearby schools to find consensus. I don't think any school, board of governors, head teacher, class teacher or TA is factoring "striking a blow at the government" in any of their plans, they simply want to do the right thing.
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Permalink Reply by PeterPiper on
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The school governors have a role to play don't they? Also, Health & Safety legislation must be adhered to, so each school is presumably treated individually owing to it's unique situation & characteristics. I don't think it's a 'one size fits all', situation, but each school needs to be judged on individual merit.
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I’m a school governor. The council is working incredibly closely with one of my schools to ensure a fully risk assessed reopening takes place next week. They have provided solid (and apolitical) support throughout, in my opinion. I’m sure there are some exceptions but your concern is, in my experience, wide of the mark.
A governing body would only intervene if they felt their headteacher was acting detrimentally to the best interests of the school, which the body is legally obliged to uphold. I can’t envisage a situation in these bizarre times where that would need to happen - headteachers and business managers are doing all they can in dire circumstances.
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Permalink Reply by Christina Davis on
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As far as I can tell from my own personal experience it's the headteachers. My son attends St Mary's in Hornsey. They are opening next week and have worked with around ten of the other local primaries on the best joint practice (Coleridge, Rokesley, Weston Pk, St Gildas etc). All of the schools then issued all of us parents with a joint statement about the reopening on the 8th and then individual schools have done their own customised plans for their own classes and premises. It's all been very well organised and clearly communicated. My son is delighted to be returning next Monday. The council has largely left it to the discretion of headteachers I think. Hope that helps.
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Comms is key. I know exactly what my son's day will look like. He goes in for four days and they deep clean on the fifth. They give him a stationery set which stays at school and which no one else touches. Nothing comes in or out of the school except his own personal water bottle. I know who is in his pod class of 15 and what staggered time he starts and finishes. I know what he can and cannot play on in the playground etc. They have really been exemplary.
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I agree that comms are really, really important, but do you think comms are any better in academies as opposed to borough-led schools? Academies were far more likely to open to more children on June 1st, against the advice of Independent SAGE and many of SAGE's own experts. Covid deaths in the UK on June 2nd was 324. Academies don't require parents to sit on boards of governors, so there's generally far less agency for parents whose children attend academies. Of course this is not *all* academies, but they are far more likely to tow the government line because that is their ideology and obviously why the government created them in the first place. Two reasons it's been difficult for schools to manage their wider opening are of course that the government gave no notice about the wider opening, or discussed it with schools or unions (despite the unions writing to the government three times over the lockdown), hence the absolutely arbitrary choice of Years 6, 1 and Reception, and the Department of Education have changed their official advice to schools 41 times since deciding June 1st was the best option (ignoring the nine possible opening scenarios suggested by their own scientific advisors). We are still at alert level 4, meaning we haven't met the government's own criteria for safe opening of schools. Heads, teachers and unions tried to open a dialogue with the government about the wider opening of schools, to do it in a collaboratory manner, working together. The government chose not to engage, and instead mandated arrangements. I understand your frustration, but this is a result of a global pandemic where the UK has one of the worst responses in the world, not teachers being militant. (Most private schools are still closed.)
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Not sure what comms are like in academies. I can only talk about St Mary's which is a borough and faith-led school like the others in the joint working consortium. And they've been really great. I guess Year 6 are back because they are about to transition to secondary and that goodbye to primary school friends and learning and preparation for secondary is really important. Years 1 and Reception because they are learning to read and write and that time is utterly crucial and delays in that year are going to be very difficult to get back and will impact ongoing. So not sure I would agree that it is arbitrary.
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Most heads and teachers would have reintegrated from the top of the school down, as older children are more likely to be able to follow social distancing rules and systems could have been tested and improved before trying to reintegrate younger children, who are more of a challenge. It's become apparent that social distancing is impossible in primary school (everybody knew this), which is why children are put in "bubbles". If children are only interacting with 8-10 other children and 1 or 2 adults, any spread will be contained to within the bubble. Lots of people are, fairly, I believe, wondering why social distancing is mandatory for the wider population, but not at all in schools. It sounds like your school is responding admirably, Christina. Well done them!
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Well the children are customers/clients, but I think maybe a little more empathy/understanding of the pressures heads and governors are under might be appropriate here.
Schools closed to all but key worker children with two days' notice from the Department of Education. Schools then had to work out how they were going to provide provision for key worker children (with staff working through Easter holidays and half term) while introducing social distancing measures in school for the pupils who were there.
While this was going on, schools also had to plan, create and enaction distance learning schemes with no advice or support from the Department of Education and no budget.
Heads also had to create procedures for sending out food vouchers or hampers for children qualifying for free school meals to make sure those vulnerable children could still eat outside of school, with many staff having to personally deliver hundreds of hampers directly to families.
Child protection officers had to try to support vulnerable families with no face-to-face interaction with children or parents, in very stressful lockdown situations.
Teachers had to try to remote teach children while trying to safeguard their mental health. And now have had three weeks notice to replan their whole education offering for three year groups accounting for social distancing, available teaching staff and support staff who are not shielding or have existing conditions, to an incredibly strict risk assessment regime. Without PPE. For some reason.
The Department of Education changed their advice regarding the new organisation 41 times, so it's been a moving target throughout planning. This then had to be approved by governors and rolled out to teaching staff. Many schools have had to plan and provide inset training to teachers to help with their return.
To then approach parents for their opinions may well have been the right thing, but there would likely be no consensus at all amongst such a large and diverse community and how long would this consultation period last and what would it look like? There just hasn't been time.
Again, I don't think many/any academies planned consulation periods with parents. There is just no academy/LA split here. Most heads haven't had a single day off in 12 weeks and have been working under intense pressure meeting all these targets while being pulled in every different direction.
Honestly, school heads have been absolute heroes throughout this difficult period without complaining or asking for special treatment, and I wouldn't want their job for all the tea in China.
You're now experiencing the end of an incredibly complex and fraught journey and really, I think the most appropriate and helpful thing to do is help accommodate the transition of your children back to school with the least friction possible.
I'm hoping your instinct is to help your school wherever you can. I've tried here to explain a little bit about what has happened behind the scenes in schools during the pandemic, hopefully without being confrontational, in the hopes that a bit more understanding might temper a rush to decisions or negative reactions.
I'm sure schools have done a lot of things wrong and made a lot of mistakes, but there's been no playbook and heads have had no experience of this situation before. When the next pandemic comes, schools will certainly be better prepared.
I think schools have done absolutely incredible work over the last three months, and recogntion, rather than criticism would go a long way to ease return to more mainstream schooling for everyone: children, parents, heads, teachers, LA schools and academies.
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