Are you sending your children back to school in January?

[RosieLemonade]

I assumed people would be pleased the schools are remaining open (probably because that’s how I feel) but the two people I’ve spoken to about it this morning are disgusted. Both are SAHM so don’t need their children in.

Yes. Y4 and y7 both in. I work in the NHS. Dh works in a school. We minimise our risks by not really going out anywhere else. We've been doing it since March. No change here!

This is a mild illness for children.

Vulnerable people need to continue to shield until they have the vaccine.

Someone uptrend said this...

So what about the children that live with vulnerable people?

I don't get this - people who live with vulnerable people can't go to school therefore no one should go to school?

Is that the thinking?

Not at all, but there should be options/provisions made for children of shielding and vulnerable. At the moment there isn't.

If they can yes, absolutely they will. No cases in either my primary or secondary school daughters schools.

I don't get this - people who live with vulnerable people can't go to school therefore no one should go to school?

Is that the thinking?

No that is not the thinking. The thinking is when someone blithely says, 'protect the vulnerable...the vulnerable should shield', that some thought is put into what that means practically speaking...

• Do teachers and staff who are medically vulnerable get furloughed?
• Do medically vulnerable children get decent remote learning provided and and their families not get threatened with fines?
• Do children with medically vulnerable family also get decent remote learning provided and and their families not get threatened with fines?

Realistically what do you think should happen with regards to 'the vulnerable protecting themselves?

Difficult decision for us. DH has heart failure and has recently had major surgery. We have two secondary/sixth form age DC, one in Y9 and one in Y13 and we are in a tier 4 area with very high number of cases in local district.

Absolutely yes. If they are open. I think school is so important.

DS will definitely be in as long as schools are open, which I really hope they will be. He needs to be in school. Home learning is a poor substitute for face to face teaching, and I don't want to see him miss any more of his education. I really hope that teachers will be vaccinated as a priority, as they are the ones at most risk of serious illness, rather than the children.

We’re in Scotland, where they’ve taken a blanket approach and everyone is in tier 4. However, there were no cases in our local primary or secondary between Aug-Dec.

I want my kids back at school. I’m a secondary school teacher and I want to get back to the class so I can get my seniors the qualifications they need. In our catchment area there’s pockets of deprivation and WiFi is also patchy, so blended/distance learning will fail so many of my pupils.

Reception aged DS will be going if the school is open. Especially as he's an only child and he has a place at the school due to its Speech and language resource, he needs speech therapy.

@moremoormore I'm sure it's difficult for some to shield.

It has nothing to do with whether schools should go back or not.

So why did you introduce it to the thread?

[quote PastMyBestBeforeDate]**@moremoormore* I'm sure it's difficult for some to shield.*

It has nothing to do with whether schools should go back or not.

So why did you introduce it to the thread?[/quote]

It being difficult for some people to shield is not relevant to the back to school debate.

@HazeyJaneII

I don't get this - people who live with vulnerable people can't go to school therefore no one should go to school?

Is that the thinking?

No that is not the thinking. The thinking is when someone blithely says, 'protect the vulnerable...the vulnerable should shield', that some thought is put into what that means practically speaking...

• Do teachers and staff who are medically vulnerable get furloughed?
• Do medically vulnerable children get decent remote learning provided and and their families not get threatened with fines?
• Do children with medically vulnerable family also get decent remote learning provided and and their families not get threatened with fines?

Realistically what do you think should happen with regards to 'the vulnerable protecting themselves?

All totally separate from whether schools should go back or not.

Which is what this thread is about.

Eh?
@moremoormore, you're the one who said, I don't get this - people who live with vulnerable people can't go to school therefore no one should go to school?Is that the thinking?...you bought it up!!
The current queries about schools closing seem to have become conflated with the quote going around social media about who is dying with Covid - and the fact that we shouldn't curtail everyone's lives to protect the vulnerable....I don't think the current question about schools is anything to do with that - I think it's to do with the new strain, a huge rise in cases and hospitalisation, the last minute mention at the end of last term about mass testing in schools and the role schools have in the surge in cases.

@HazeyJaneII

Eh? *@moremoormore, you're the one who said, I don't get this - people who live with vulnerable people can't go to school therefore no one should go to school?*Is that the thinking?...you bought it up!! The current queries about schools closing seem to have become conflated with the quote going around social media about who is dying with Covid - and the fact that we shouldn't curtail everyone's lives to protect the vulnerable....I don't think the current question about schools is anything to do with that - I think it's to do with the new strain, a huge rise in cases and hospitalisation, the last minute mention at the end of last term about mass testing in schools and the role schools have in the surge in cases.

That was in response to someone who had responded to my previous thread.

You need to read the full thing.

Yes happy to send in to primary. School has handled the crisis well and we’ve had very low numbers of cases

I have read the full thread
Very early on in the thread you said
10:58moremoormore
100% yes.
This is a mild illness for children.
Vulnerable people need to continue to shield until they have the vaccine.
Children need to be at school and school needs to be as normal as possible.

@Dementedswan referenced your post-
This is a mild illness for children. Vulnerable people need to continue to shield until they have the vaccine.
Someone uptrend said this...So what about the children that live with vulnerable people?

Which you took to mean that there was a suggestion that schools should shut because of this reason (which is not what is being said at all)

Yes
I think it is wrong to close the schools and wrong to keep your child home from school. We need to stop sacrificing our children to protect other people who have already lived long lives.

I’m going back to work (school) and my boys will be going back too. If it ends up that we’re unlucky enough to be bumped up to a higher tier and go back to ‘key worker children only’ then they’ll go in on my rota’d days, although I know I could put them in for M-F as they have SEN.

@Lastbonestanding

Yes I think it is wrong to close the schools and wrong to keep your child home from school. We need to stop sacrificing our children to protect other people who have already lived long lives.

oh ffs.... this is NOT ONLY about 90+. You happily throw teachers, (E)CV parents under the bus as well. Because your precious "needs and education". Nobody want to sacrifice kids. It's not leading them to the slaughterhouse. Just think for a second that there is a middle ground: what most are doing is ASKING FOR SAFE SCHOOLS! We are at a point that we cannot make schools safe, thus they need to be shut for a period. For the benefit of society.

Any damage caused to a kid can be rectified a bit more easily than the damage caused to let's say a 45 yr old who has underlying conditions, catches covid, becomes seriously ill and might not be able to ever work again.
And that is just 1 scenario, there are 1000s more.

What we need is proper mitigation measures both on the safety side (masks, ventilation, rotas, blended learning) and on the catching up side. Gov would need to have risk mitigation measures for when this is over and how to level the playing field and bring them up to speed.

Just sending kids back now will:

• cause cases to go up
• more disruption
• more last minute changes which is bad for both parents and kids
• even more businesses will go bust
• more unplanned and thus failing education for a lot of kids, especially the already disadvantaged ones.

Yes
I think it is wrong to close the schools and wrong to keep your child home from school. We need to stop sacrificing our children to protect other people who have already lived long lives.

Much more concerned about the potential for DP’s to catch it from me/DC, we’ve had to move in with them due to DV, my DC won’t suffer from on line learning or spending time at home together (horrifying how many DC’s mental health is so negatively impacted by that) but we would all suffer terribly if something happened to one/both DP’s.
Every family, and their priorities, are different though and of course you can’t expect the government to cater for all.

It doesn't make sense to close schools to protect vulnerable teachers. Truly vulnerable teachers could stay at home rather than every child in the country. Very few teachers are genuinely vulnerable. Risk to the under 65s is very low.

@Lastbonestanding

It doesn't make sense to close schools to protect vulnerable teachers. Truly vulnerable teachers could stay at home rather than every child in the country. Very few teachers are genuinely vulnerable. Risk to the under 65s is very low.

You'll be relieved to hear that no one is saying this.

@HazeyJaneII

The @TheSunIsStillShining said:

this is NOT ONLY about 90+.
You happily throw teachers, (E)CV parents under the bus as well. Because your precious "needs and education".

And several other posters have brought the topic up too....

For some people this does seem to be an issue (teacher here myself).

As I said, there seems to be a conflation of the 'shield the vulnerable' conversation with the situation we are in at this particular moment (cases/hospitalisation rising, new variant and the lack if information of the role children play in this surge).
I think the majority of posters who bring up vulnerable staff/children and families are a) responding to posts like
Vulnerable people need to continue to shield until they have the vaccine and
We need to stop sacrificing our children to protect other people who have already lived long lives.
...and
b) want schools to be safer for vulnerable staff/children/families - with options for how to stay safe.

Mine will certainly be going back if the schools are open, I'm not going to keep them off- but I'm not sure if it is really the best idea to open again in just a week's time.

I've seen lots of pictures on Facebook this week of Dc from my child's class mixing with lots of different (elderly-looking) family members. We are Tier 3, so definitely not allowed apart from on Christmas Day itself.

I'd be happier about them going back if there was a bit more sticking to the rules going on. We're not seeing anyone, but lots are.

I'd prefer the certainty of home learning for 2-4 weeks, and still being able to go out for walks and supermarket shopping, over the possibility of having to self-isolate at the drop of a hat and being stuck indoors for 10 days.