Solent&Wessex
Established Member
- Joined
- 9 Jul 2009
- Messages
- 2,685
Covid: Gavin Williamson hopes England's schools will reopen by Easter
The education secretary says schools in England will be given two weeks' notice before reopening.www.bbc.co.uk
Someone has just realised that telling schools on 15 February whether or not they will open on 22 February may not be a good idea (for anyone who doesn't already know, w/c 15 Feb will be the half-term break for many schools); I could have told them that weeks ago!
So this leads to two possibilities
1) They will bring the 15 Feb review forward by 1 week; or
2) Schools will be further delayed opening on 1st March
Sadly I predict 1st March for schools reopening.
I also predict school staff (among others e.g. police) will be prioritised for the vaccine from around that date, ahead of over 50s.
The same report quotes Williamson as only "hoping" schools can go back before Easter.
There is probably a separate discussion to be had as to whether the closure of schools has helped reduce case numbers (and, in reality, I suspect it will be very hard to tell either way).
I strongly suspect, sadly, that we are probably looking at after the Easter break till schools go back in earnest, not least because of the increasingly cautious sounding messaging from ministers about when lockdown might be eased and how long it will take for the effects of vaccination and lockdown to reduce the impact on the NHS.
That's not to say I necessarily support that approach. Personally I am not affected by school closures as I have no children, I also have no family relatives with school or university aged children. That said I do have a good friend who is studying at college. The course is a very specialist course which requires use of specialist machinery, tools and equipment and training in practical tasks and craftsmanship. There is a substantial theory element to the course too, obviously. Last term before Christmas the workshop and practical time was reduced due to social distancing and other covid rules which meant fewer people could use the workshops at any one time meaning the course had to be split and different groups going in on different days. Theory learning was done from home remotely. This term, obviously, all practical on site tuition is paused. My friend has reported that the tutors are concerned that if they don't return in late February then there will be insufficient time remaining after Easter to be able to complete all the practical training and skills before the end of the educational year. Due to the nature of the qualifications (Year 1 is a separate qualification to Years 2 and 3 and is basically a stand alone course and qualification in it's own right - you can do year 1 on it's own, you can also join and do years 2 and 3 without having done year 1) it means that carrying stuff over in to later years isn't really possible. There is no end of year assessment either with the qualification being gained by ongoing assessment of (aside from the theory work produced) the practical outputs you have manufactured and developments in your skills and use of the various equipment and machinery. My friend is concerned that if the college remains closed then the course may not be completed and may mean he cannot progress to the next stage as planned. This obviously affects his future career prospects, in addition to his finances as he is living away from home to complete the course as only a few places in the country do it.
I feel there has been very little publicity given to vocational qualifications and colleges in particular, with most focus recently being on traditional academic subjects at GCSE and A Level. Whilst totally recognising the impact on young people's educations and mental health by not being in school, the fact remains that it is still possible to teach - albeit not fully - most GCSE and A level subjects remotely via computer as they do not require as much, if any, practical assessments or use of specialist equipment.
If there has to be a staggered return to education then I would prioritise those subjects - at all educational levels (GCSE, A Level and College vocational subjects) - that require practical handling, practical on site tuition, use of labs or workshop equipment etc. It is far far harder for students on those subjects, of all ages, to complete their educations or qualifications in any meaningful way as in most cases you simply can't do it at home or in your own time.