Babysitter v educator

Having read some of the comments that have been posted, I suspect that many of these people who are desperate to push kids back to school to early because ‘they are missing out on their education’ have absolutely no idea of the effort that teachers are putting in to educate our young people. The problem seems to be that many have had enough of having their kids around and trying to push them into engaging in lessons. I have two thirds of my pupils engaging with my lessons: most are learning more than they would in class as we have no behaviour disruptions and it is almost one to one tutoring that is being done at times. Teachers are not babysitters to be used so that others can get back to work. The responsibility of disciplining social distancing in schools is, quite frankly, the stuff of nightmares. Sending them back in June will put teachers and pupils at unnecessary risk. It’s not only elderly people who are dying. Another 4 weeks will make very little difference to their education. Ensure they are engaging with the lessons that are being provided and they won’t miss out-they’ll benefit more from engaging from home than in the chaos that will ensue if we go back in June.

Because pupils need to go back for the right reasons and when it is safe to do so, not simply to provide a babysitting service. It simply is not worth the risk. I would be happy to cut holidays short and go back early, but the public have to stop believing that we’re doing no teaching - and ensure that their kids take advantage of the teaching that we are doing. Most of us are putting in more hours than ever.