What are we doing to our children 1?
Why no debate about re-opening schools? Belfast NEWSLETTER 12th June 2020
We need to talk about getting children back to school.
Not since the strikes of the early 70s have our schools closed and this time children will go some 4 months without schooling and who knows what September holds
Education is either important or it isn’t.
Numeracy and literacy levels will not have stayed level during this time, they will have fallen by close on a full year ( in rough terms an average child who is aged 9 will read at the age level of a 9 year old, will now read at the level of an 8 year old). Catching up will take a huge effort. Where are the resources for this? Reading scores for example affect exam results and from there access to higher education and employment. This is serious.
I can only imagine the stress and angst some parents are feeling as they struggle with home teaching.
As the paper reported it is the disadvantaged who are becoming more disadvantaged. Does anyone seriously believe that children who can’t or won’t work at home at the best of times are doing so now? Many children will be falling further behind.
Why aren’t we talking about how to get our children back at school?
Naturally parents, children and staff are fearful of a return to school, so let’s look at what the science and the scientists say.
Either it is safe to go to school or it isn’t.
According to the Dept Health N.I Dashboard 1 person under 40 has died in N.I and not one under 15 and 75% of the deaths have been of people over 75, and the Office of National Statistics reports that if you are under 30 you have a one in a million chance of dying (reported on BBC 5-live sport.)
Professor Karol Sikora, who holds a double first from Cambridge and was formerly Director of Cancer services at the WHO said wrt primary school and nurseries “opening schools is absolutely vital” “the people who are suffering most are the most disadvantaged” and “the evidence that young children spread this is almost zero”-he goes onto say ,”why wait until September?” The Chief Scientific Officer of the WHO mirrors his views.
Prof John Lee, Professor of Clinical Pathology at Hull, sums it up thus “The majority of cases are asymptomatic. The most common symptoms are not fever, cough, headache and respiratory symptoms; they are no symptoms at all. Somewhere around 99.9 per cent of those who catch the disease recover.
An Impossible Job
The re-opening of schools in a phased and conditional way places immense stress on Principals/SMTs who will have to reassure children, parents and staff whilst at the same time organising staff rotas, part class rotas, year group rotas, curriculum arrangements-say 15 subjects, staffing, desks ,movements ,toilets, canteens, ,break times and so on and in many cases teach.
In a post primary school with 140 in a year group-so 5 classes-which, with phasing, would mean with, each class divided into 3, 15 sub groups -if the school has 5 year groups then that is 75 sub groups to rotate across eg 15 subjects with probably a rotated staff. Similarly in a primary school, complicated by the Principal with a substantial teaching commitment. How do you do it, how do you ensure continuity of education?
The "safety " measures"-masks, screens, ppe etc give the illusion of safety whilst increasing fear and anxiety and this will hugely increase if the children do not return to school soon. I see groups of children playing and associating naturally-so if they go into school and have to stay 2m apart-how absurd is that? (actually WHO guidelines recommend 1 m)
Mental Health issues are on the increase in schools as it is--there aren't enough resources at the moment, there is a crisis looming when the children return-if we continue to fill them with fear.
Principals are faced with one particularly difficult dilemma. Given that the government is not putting in any extra money, the Principal can phase children in say one day a week and they miss out on their complete education, GCSE preparation etc OR they can bring in lots of subs and run the budget into chaos, for which they will be heavily criticised.
The obstacles are insurmountable.
Our children need educated in an environment conducive to learning. not one filled with fear and anxiety. Feedback from the teacher and social interaction is what makes learning happen, why the need for complicated and impractical phasing? -its either safe or it isn’t.
Michael Fullan (esteemed educationalist) said, “scratch a good teacher and you will find a moral purpose” and now is surely the time to demonstrate our moral purpose as public servants.
Surely it is up to the UK and Irish governments (not the Principals) to assuage the fears of the public first, then people will return willingly to the proper learning environment
As FD Roosevelt said “there is nothing to fear, but fear itself.
After seeing how the children are being treated and because they are educated for the most part to only be trained to support the system of corrupt uncaring evil, I think they could be better taught by loving family at home and still make a good living. Because any real instruction in trades is paid for outside of grade school, I don't see why they can't learn what they want when they are old enough to know what they want. I know interaction with other children is important but until we can get rid of the corrupt people controlling all that happens to the children they might be safer learning at home. It was done in the past. With the internet they can still get other lessons as well. There is no reason to put the kids through ridiculous mandates that don't work if you don't have to. These evil fools need to be put back in their places. No one gave them permission to use us or our children as Gini pigs. Fear used as a means to manipulate the population is the only way they could do what they are doing. The lies of the corrupt need to be exposed before we lose millions of our future population as is their plan. They need to leave the kids alone.