Did anyone else see the really positive news about primary schools reopening on BBC this morning? at 9am

[bigbananafeet12]

They were asking advice from a lovely primary school teacher in Denmark on how the'd approached it. She was so positive and encouraging it gave me hope for our dc for the first time in ages. Worth a watch if you can.

[Bluewavescrashing]

Do you have a link please?

[bigbananafeet12]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52550470

I'll try and post the actual footage too if I can find it. It was lovely

[Delatron]

Great to see some positive examples of how this can work rather than all the negativity and ‘this can’t possibly happen’ we read on here.

Like the social bubble idea.

[Ilovemyhairbeingstroked]

I saw that and thought it was really positive . The Denmark teacher had some good ideas and the headteacher from
Our country seemed so worried to start , but after listening to her ideas was really taking them on board and seemed more positive .

[cadburyegg]

As above, it’s nice to read something positive.

Does anyone know at what point they reopened schools? (ie R number or infection rate) and has their infection rate spiked since?

Just wondered how comparable it was

[Whitestick]

Please do read the article linked to - it has some great photos of children in the classroom and in Supermarket-style distances queues to get in. Is this what is planned for England? I wonder.
I noted this from the danish teacher:

"Most schools in Denmark are structured where you have primary and lower secondary in the same school," says Mr Maher. That means there is space to spread out, with only about half of the usual thousand pupils on site.
"We've had enough classrooms to do that - if school opening went ahead where all students were back, it would be a real struggle," says the head.
"We wouldn't have enough classrooms and would have to start doing morning and afternoon shifts."

[Devlesko]

Denmark have had 500 deaths. Our kids will not be going back to school in June, lol.
I can't believe people really think they will.

[Deelish75]

The school opened just after Easter, and the R number did go up slightly but remained under R1

www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/04/30/world/europe/30reuters-health-coronavirus-denmark.html

[bigbananafeet12]

Absolutely your choice on whether you send your dc or not.
The teacher from Denmark was so positive and it sounded like the dc were so happy and enjoying being back. They'd managed to work out social distancing and hand washing with the little ones and were having fun doing it, not remotely traumatic for the dc. Made me feel so hopeful. I wish I could link to it, it's really worth watching.

[Whitestick]

Will there be extra sinks like these in England? I do wonder what Denmark will do when the older children return, as at present they are using their classrooms as well.
I can see why the teacher and kids looked happy in a country with around 500 deaths instead of thousands.

[LittleFoxKit]

The problem is... even with only y r, 1 and 6 in schools, if we had classroom sizes of 10 like In Denmark then there wouldnt be enough class rooms and teachers to go around, in UK schools there also isnt the hand washing provision either:/ its really difficult to compare against countries with very difficult educational systems

[LittleFoxKit]

@cadburyegg

Denmarks R was at 0.6 when they started to reopen schools (leading scientists in the UK predict the UK had a R around 0.8/0.9 currently), and there R rose to 0.9 as of the 1st of May, theres no information as to what it currently is

[MrsWhites]

I think this is ultimately what our government have tried to replicate in their plan, but unfortunately I can’t see it working as successfully. Mainly because we don’t have the classroom space or the hand washing facilities, I know these could be provided but I think we all know that the government will not be able to organise setting every primary school in England up with additional sinks in the space of 2.5 weeks!

The other thing that worries me is the mental health implications of splitting children into social bubbles, it may not seem important to adults but being with their friends will be a big thing to a 5 year old!

[bigbananafeet12]

This teacher had more than 10 in her class as well. She was so fabulous, full of great ideas.
I appreciate their death rate is much lower than ours, but they have found brilliant ways around all the same issues we have. Seriously, don't be negative about it, this is good news

[bigbananafeet12]

The other thing that worries me is the mental health implications of splitting children into social bubbles, it may not seem important to adults but being with their friends will be a big thing to a 5 year old!

They had this too of course, but the children had accepted it really well and were loving being at school despite this. Really reassuring for teachers and parents to know this can be achieved.

[LittleFoxKit]

Also you cant compare UK and Denmark

UK has had 32692 deaths
Denmark 529
Germany 771

Germany and denmark have both opened under similar methods.
Denmarks r has risen from 0.6 to 0.9 as of 11 days ago.
Germany's r has risen to above 1 since schools reopened.

Both of the aforementioned countries had considerably lower r values then the uk to start with and much better stratergies and plans in place when opening schools, they also had the classroom space and staff needed to facilitate opening with much smaller classes then is planned in the UK

[TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross]

Denmark have had 500 deaths. Our kids will not be going back to school in June, lol.
I can't believe people really think they will. grin

Glad you find the current situation so amusing lol

No requirement for you to send your kids back, but I'd love to think we could start approaching the situation with a more positive mindset and a willingness to find solutions rather than the prevailing belief that the kids can never go back, lockdown's here forever, and oh well, what can you do.

[Appuskidu]

It would be lovely if in England, we were spread across Danish schools like this, which normally contained 1000 with enough classrooms and outside space in order for them to facilitate this.

[noraclavicle]

Will there be extra sinks like these in England?

My DCs’ London school is installing them

[Alex50]

Yes it was a very positive interview, really enjoyed it, they also had a scientist who specialises in viruses, I can’t remember his name, he explained very well how little risk children are from the virus.

[ProseccoBubbleFantasies]

What age do children start school in Denmark? Are they taking 4 yr olds?

[Chillipeanuts]

Equally, there was a UK head on BBC radio today saying they have had instructions to implement copious hand washing. She has 2 sinks between 32 children.

Anyone else see the problem?

[nellodee]

I think they start at age 6 in Denmark.

[HeyBlaby]

Great to see and a very positive thing for many children.

[HipTightOnions]

he explained very well how little risk children are from the virus.

He also advised that they were however highly likely to spread it to the adults they were in contact with.