The Musings of a Dik-dik

Disclaimer: From the outset, this post is likely to be plagued with my own opinions on the state of the public education system in the UK and the things that plague it. Where I may have done research and found something to corroborate or refute the idea, I will create a link so you can see that for yourself. That said, most of this is a reflection of my own experiences. Why are our schools in such a state? This is the question being asked subtly since the whole furore of increasing provision in schools was mooted in the prime minister's pre-recorded address on 10th May. Overtly, the teacher bashing that has been taking place in the media, on social media and by the government is utterly horrific and incredibly ill-informed. There is a (rather frustrating) misconception amongst a rather vociferous section of the population that since schools closed their gates to all but the children of key workers and vulnerable children, teachers have been spending their time sat on their ...

This past week since the government announced their "road map" to ease restrictions has seen huge debate on its appropriateness and the country's readiness for such changes to take place. First of all, let's address the horrendous soundbite that is the "road map" to come out of lockdown. I refuse to use it without quotation marks because, from the announcement last Sunday evening, it is anything but a guide showing us the way forward. There were so many "side roads" and "T junctions" and "traffic lights" that the term "road map" is highly inappropriate. So, some observations and reflections that I have pondered over this past week. Dates The dates set out at specific "junctions" on the "map" were optimistic at best. How can a predetermined time gap between each step of the plan (albeit with the caveat that these changes would happen "from" not "on") be truly based on scien...

It's so much tougher than expected. I would have said that in spite of certain eccentricities, my household is a pretty happy one. Yet, there are so many days where one of us (usually me) is griping at the other. There's no rhyme or reason to it, and has much to do with what our respective employers want from us. Mine is expecting me to get on with things at home in preparation for September. All fine with me, it's my preference in terms of what I do to earn my money. I won't go into the fact I'm being asked to do things for my new role that starts in September already. That is a little annoying, but I've dealt with worse in the past. The husband, on the other hand, seems to not need to do much at all. The occasional checking of emails, the odd response here and there and his work is done. Ever since I've known him, he's made it look like he gets away with doing next to nothing. Almost seven years later I'm still trying to work out how he does...

What does/should it entail? Depending on which school you work in, or which school your child attends, the expectations of working from home and home learning differ enormously. In my house, we both work at different secondary schools and we both have different things expected of us while we are not at school. One of us has to just check emails regularly and be ready to reply to any queries from students or parents as soon as is feasibly possible. No expectation to set further work beyond what was hastily prepared in anticipation of the school closures. The other of us is still expected to go into school for one day every three weeks to supervise the children who have been sent to school, whilst also checking emails, sending further resources and learning suggestions to teaching groups and trying to And that's just two schools, about 6 miles apart. I'm trying not to look at it that one of us has a rougher deal than the other, especially when I see posts in teacher forums...

First up: my tuppence on school closures. As a member of the community with elderly relatives in the vulnerable groups, I've felt that keeping schools open was a potential danger to spreading the virus more quickly. As a teacher, I've actually found myself on the fence as to what was best in the face of growing calls to close schools. This doesn't happen often - usually I am vehemently for or against and no additional perspective will change my mind. This time it's a very different scenario, though. My indecision was a result of feeling ill informed as to the actual risks posed to me by the "less affected" young people and my colleagues whilst also being concerned over the seeming hypocrisy that mass gatherings were to be avoided in general but having 1000 students plus approximately 100 staff convening five days a week was fine. In discussions in the staff room (yes, I am fortunate to work in a school that still has one), the general feeling was that sch...