Schools - days about NOT morning/afternoon splits

When we look at getting schools back, we should have children in for whole days rather than done in the morning then others in the afternoon.

This avoids congestion and chance of more interactions at lunchtime as well as allowing parents to know that childcare cover is needed on certain days rather than ( part of ) all days.

Some weeks children would be in two days then three days the following week , or whatever works.

Why the contribution is important

Reduces chances of spread of virus.

by MarkC0520 on May 06, 2020 at 01:36AM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.2
Based on: 25 votes

Comments

  • Posted by Samof3 May 06, 2020 at 06:45

    I don’t agree with this. This might work for children at secondary if it could mix with online learning at home. Women would not be able to work or study if primary schools and nurseries did this . Or potentially need to pay private childcare for half a day to allow them to work. This would cause so much financial hardship in future if schools did not open as usual plus the attainment gap for those less fortunate would further .

  • Posted by PT May 06, 2020 at 06:59

    I would add that there should be a consideration for online schooling in the interim. There’s no consistency to this at the moment and children need routine. Not suggesting full day’s but even an hour in morning and an hour in afternoon in small groups.

  • Posted by Ellemint May 06, 2020 at 07:23

    As a working parent this sounds completely daunting - as I'm sure like others the hope is just for the them to go back 'normal' for consistency and routine. I personally feel week on week off rota system would potentially be best if it is a phased in approach, with deep cleaning at the weekends hopefully reducing the risk of cross infection. I cant help but feel days about still leaves them at risk with a lot of pressure being put on staff to have the environment safe and clean. Potentially a weekly rota system could work for staff also.

  • Posted by Mopsy May 06, 2020 at 07:27

    I like the above idea, possibly also staggering start and finishing times.

  • Posted by HTMM May 06, 2020 at 07:43

    I have agree. Split days would completely defeat the purpose of reducing social contact with the number of parents collecting, dropping off children etc. It would also prove a nightmare for childcare for working parents.

  • Posted by Annscott21 May 06, 2020 at 08:04

    Would also need to be siblings and perhaps friend groups in primary schools. This way there would be continuity in contacts. ?

  • Posted by Louisethomson20 May 06, 2020 at 08:09

    Agreed about the need to be in all day but you need to keep numbers down, so may have to be shifts eg different groups on different days to keep numbers down. Also focus should be on older students due to national exams curriculum I.e. S3 to S6. And how do we keep the teachers and rest of staff safe eg janitors, cleaning staff, office staff? Working from home doesn t work for all in a school...

  • Posted by Lee81 May 06, 2020 at 08:26

    It would make it easier for the school transport providers as well

  • Posted by mclernonmichelle May 06, 2020 at 08:38

    Break time and lunch time would be most difficult to police in terms of distancing of pupils.

  • Posted by Lindaj May 06, 2020 at 09:12

    I agree and think this would be a better option than one week at a time. There shouldn’t be split days as that then exposes staff to double the amount of children over the day and not enough time to clean sufficiently between morning and afternoon. However there is still the issue of social distancing and the reality is it will be impossible for younger children to do this effectively.

  • Posted by TmCm May 11, 2020 at 17:12

    100% agree with this, as people who work full time do not have the option to send their child to nursery only half days as workplace wont support half day working, many work places don't support part time working either however full days would work best even if less days than usual as it would provide for a better case to put forward to employers when looking to adjust working patterns as opposed to half days.

    This would also be better to allow for deep cleaning at the end of each day as opposed to trying to do a deep clean at lunchtime inbetween sessions.

Log in or register to add comments and rate ideas

Idea topics