Scientists say not safe to open schools 1st June

[Plaidortartan]

Sorry if there are already threads on this - couldn’t see one when I looked.

Headline news on the Guardian - Sage says 1st June opening is a ‘dangerous decision’ . Surely the government can’t go against this very clear advice?

www.theguardian.com/education/2020/may/22/scientists-warn-1-june-too-early-schools-reopen-england-coronavirus-track-trace?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

My yr 6 child is so desperate to go back I dont feel I can stop her if schools open, but I can't see how it is safe.

I wish they would follow this advice as even 2 weeks reduces spread a lot more.

However I think its become a political thing, i doubt the government will backtrack and admit they're wrong, they'll just criticise schools that do open.

[Bubbletwix]

Not SAGE. “Independent SAGE”. Not the same thing.

[Lougle]

"My yr 6 child is so desperate to go back I dont feel I can stop her if schools open, but I can't see how it is safe."

@PineappleUpsideDownCake just tell her that it's your job to make tricky decisions and you've decided that she does/ doesn't go right now.

[MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet]

1st June opening is dependent on a wide range of things - that's the very earliest. I don't understand why any parents would have told their children they're going back on that date anyway, given it's still very uncertain?! Surely parents are protecting their children from coronavirus news anyway, rather than the raft of Daily Fail headlines of 'my child is so devastated [sad face picture] they are/aren't going back to school'.

[Redolent]

“ The report urges authorities to consider summer camps and outdoor schools for educating children, with community playing fields and sports clubs requisitioned for teaching purposes.”

This seems sensible. So of course the government won’t do it.

[Fluffyglitterystuff]

Anyone else sick to death of scaremongering and misleading headlines? It's not SAGE, it's an independent sage.

Also, I haven't told my child anything about going back to school yet as we still don't know.

I wouldn't say too much until it's certain.

[june2007]

My son is as I am going back as a key worker, but only a couple of years will be as wel as the key worker children so it,s not like the school is full.

[Foobydoo]

I would trust 'independent sage' 100 times more than I trust 'government appointed' sage, who have Cummings looking over their shoulders and have repeatedly refused to publish their 'science' or minutes.

[Plaidortartan]

Agree @Foobydoo!

Also, I would hardly call this scaremongering. They are just suggesting that we are more cautious with timing- as the other European countries with high death rates are being. We can’t compare ourselves to Denmark. Italy, Spain etc are - with similar although not as bad rates as us! - are not opening schools until September.

[Fluffyglitterystuff]

A lot of the countries that aren't reopening until September, start their Summer holidays in a couple of weeks.

France is reopening schools.

[AlecTrevelyan006]

Children half as likely to catch coronavirus

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52770353

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

I'm not particularly worried about her having Corona, more that she can pass it on to us who are more vulnerable.

[AlecTrevelyan006]

Children and adolescents are half as likely to catch the coronavirus, the largest review of the evidence shows.
The findings, by UCL and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, will feed into the debate about how schools are reopened.
Children also appear less likely to spread the virus, but the team said there was still uncertainty on this.

[Streamingbannersofdawn]

It's independent SAGE so they will probably ignore it.

It does occur to me though that being "half as likely" to catch a virus so contagious that you need to stay 2 metres away from everyone you don't live with, is not massively comforting.

We know children don't get as ill, what we need is more certainty on whether or not they spread it more or less than adults.

I'm in childcare, I'm healthy and prepared to go back to work but I'll confess it's a bit worrying when on one hand children don't transmit the virus....but on the other hand we should deep clean everything they touch and avoid using it if we can't.

My worry is that if we all go down with it I'm going to get blamed for not cleaning enough aren't I?

[TheOrigBrave]

I don't understand why any parents would have told their children they're going back on that date anyway, given it's still very uncertain?!

I have not told my y6 son he IS going back, I've told him he might be and that we won't know until nearer the time.
I've told him he will only go back if it's safe.

The reason I have told him is that I need to prepare him (and indeed the HT has asked us to do so). He needs to understand he is not just going back to school like before. He needs to understand the Bubble concept and how the day will run.
We've received a detailed email from the HT today explaining it all and I will go though that with him later, following his lead with questions, worries etc.

[CaptainMyCaptain]

Derbyshire schools aren't opening on June 1st except for key workers' children. I'm not sure how the academies fit into that.

[CovidicusRex]

I do t think Boris ever intended schools to go back June 1st. I’d be incredibly surprised if they do.

[cologne4711]

And yet Dutch schools are open, and they are now experiencing fewer deaths than usual for the time of year.

At this rate every other country in the world will have their schools open and we'll still be arguing.

[PineappleUpsideDownCake]

Really Rex? I thought he did as he seemed to be blaming schools who didnt want to.

[BeforeIPutOnMyMakeup]

The report from SAGE official has come out. There is no modelling of the specific policy the government had put out.

It appears the government's "the science" is political science.

[Scruffyoak]

Honestly I would not send mine as part of this experiment, especially when its definitely known to not be the safest option.

[Hunnybears]

@MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet



I don't understand why any parents would have told their children they're going back on that date anyway, given it's still very uncertain?!

1- The longer the schools are closed, the longer millions if people won’t be able to go back to work- lovely for this that either don’t work or have job security. There’s no fear of them not being able to provide a roof over their child’s head and food in the belly

2- This increases this chance of losing their job- if the company has to stay close due to no staff it can’t make money so redundancy will likely follow.

3- Driving your kids can’t be 100% safe, there are accidents, but you take calculated risks. The same as climbing a tree or letting a kid climb a climbing frame. If they fell off at the wrong angle they could die...

4- The overwhelming evidence is that children don’t die from this routinely. They’re unlikely to even show systems let along fire with it. Again done children will die from complications of the normal flu (this is to prevent the from spreading it in general not because it affects kids as such)

5- In September/October there will be plenty of viruses around that will thrive amongst the children. Their imbue systems will have to re-boot because they’ve not been in contact with each other so there will more coughs, colds and the like than normal.

That leads us in to winter when the flu etc is about. Again, it will have a field day because they’ve been kept away from building up immunity so will catch all sorts.

On top of this comes covid- just to make it worse.

So unless they can guarantee a vaccine before September (obviously they can’t) then I fail to see how it’s going to be better??

[BeforeIPutOnMyMakeup]

@Hunnybears - people want the rate of transmission to be lower than 0.5 so when kids go back to school it stays under 1.

Once the rate of transmission goes above 1 then the infection will spread again and we would have to have another lockdown. That will weaken an already bad economy.

[lljkk]

Independent SAGE seem to be a group of self-appointed important people...

There was a consultant virologist (Chris something, he's on BBC a lot, medically qualified, I gather) last night emphatically saying on Radio 5 that he felt the balance of risks was satisfactory to reopen schools; he has young children.

Ask 5 scientists for their opinions & you'll get at least 6 different opinions...

[AlecTrevelyan006]

Whatever happens we won’t get another lockdown

IMHO of course