Keeping children at home until September

[Witchcraftandhokum]

I work in a school and I'm seeing and hearing a lot of this both on here and in the contact I have with parents. I am worried about how we will manage social distancing and whether we will have PPE if the schools open soon, but I do appreciate the need for kids to be in school, particularly Year 6 and 10.

I also don't know how it will work if a lot of parents chose not send their kids back until September. I wonder just how many parents will do this?

So...
YABU - My kids won't be back until September.
YANBU - My kids will go back as soon as the schools open.

Professor Van Tam was very clear in one of the briefings that any vaccine will initially only be licensed for adults. As children are low risk I suspect they will be quite low down the priority list even once a vaccine is approved for use in children.

I think if you plan to wait for a vaccine you will probably need to accept de-regging and home schooling for a year or two.

My kids will not be returning till September

I work in school . I will be wearing PPE

I found out I suck at teaching and dont want daughter to be behind... so yes she will go back when it's safe, in the mean time, we r muddling along, doing some work

Like many other PP’s have said- why’s September the magic month? Makes no sense.

The teachers at my daughters school are not currently wearing PPE, they’re not bothered and nor do they need to be. They’re not hospital or care workers dealing with Covid cases are they? 😐

Where are the outbreaks and teachers being affected in schools that are open? Particularly as most of the kids will be children of those most at risk.

@maureen17

What PPE will you be wearing?

Given that masks protect others (not the person wearing them) and gloves are generally less use than regular hand washing I’m not sure what the value of PPE is in a school environment.

enjoyingSun

But yea - what a bitch I am being worried about how this is affecting my mid GCSE child

How you get that from what I wrote is anyone's guess.

My school cant manage lice outbreaks

Easilyanxious
A teacher in a classroom with windows that open and reduced numbers is hardly same as enclosed space on a train

I can think of at least 1/3rd of classrooms in my school that don't have windows that open.

there is also this which shows how virus' are transmiited in various spaces.

Sunshinegirl82

Given that masks protect others (not the person wearing them) and gloves are generally less use than regular hand washing I’m not sure what the value of PPE is in a school environment.

That would depend on your view about protecting the teachers. TAs and various staff members and pupils wearing masks.

I work in a hospital and am part of the Covid Screening team so I base my choices on what I see rather than what Boris The Idiot tells us.

It's been non stop vagueries and reactionary/contradictory behaviour from the outset via our government so I watch what is happening at work, how many patients/staff we're treating/swabbing and I make my decisions based on that.

After the epic VE conga that occurred at the weekend I will be very interested to see what happens in terms of 2nd wave in the next 10-14 days.

We were doing really well and were on track to see the end of this mess within 6wks but hey, let's throw a street party, wave a flag and throw it all in the bin.

I think the answer to why September is a lot of people’s preference is because we will have had a second and third ‘wave’ by then and hopefully the surge in September will be numbers the nhs can cope with.

I imagine there’ll be an increase in 2-3 weeks due to VE Day celebrations and crowded public transport this week, then you’ll get another one over summer as second lockdown eases (if they bother enforcing one) as people go on holidays and spread it around the country further.

They will also have 3 extra months knowledge of the virus and treatment strategies by September.

So September at the earliest seems a sensible consideration if you have vulnerable children / adults in your family and you don’t want them catching it when the nhs is at capacity.

@FrippEnos

Well yes it would but I don’t think that there is any real suggestion that children wear masks? I can see that it’s a practical suggestion for primary school children.

*can’t see

We were doing really well and were on track to see the end of this mess within 6wks but hey, let's throw a street party, wave a flag and throw it all in the bin

How would we have been at the end in 6 weeks?

If we have to wear mask to go to the shops then I think we need masks in the classrooms

Apparently not compulsory to send them

@camelsanscouches if that's the case then you can home school your children as you've always been allowed to in this country but you would have to de register from your school the place couldn't be left open for a year ,

Other countries are sending their children back to school now I don't understand our country we have been moaning that others are doing it better yet when we look at slowly re introducing schools and not even a definite people don't want it . ?
It looks like it's not going to be compulsory anyway so people can relax if they were worried

I’d be interested to know, if they leave it up to each individual school to decide when it’s safe, what role does the science have, thereafter?

So if the science says it’s safe in September, but a headteacher doesn’t agree, can they keep their school closed?

What if the science in September, and the figures, were exactly as they are now? If they refused to open now, they’d have to refuse in September, too.

What evidence would they have to present to counter the argument of government scientists?

Also, if other workplaces like clinics or private say nurseries don’t think it’s safe to go to work, despite scientific advice, can they refuse to open on an individual basis?

Because I could see private day nurseries opening because they need the revenue. However, this would make it hard for primary schools to remain closed.

It’s a bit of a mess.

Not usually one to complain or to comment on threads but as a child minder I have just about had enough of hearing about teachers. Have just literally finished a 12 hour day minding hospital workers children....no ppe or offer of any from LA or indeed any advice re wearing it. Cannot socially distance from little ones and am risking my own family to continue working for people with literally no alternative and who are saving lives. Have had calls from LA wanting to know if I can accommodate any more kw children because schools are refusing to open. WHAT IS SO PRECIOUS ABOUT TEACHERS THAT THEY FEEL THEY CANNOT PUT THEMSELVES AT RISK!!! If I was sitting doing a few hours work a day on teachers pay I might be tempted to refuse to go into work!!! Obvs not including all teachers in this but those who dot want to work should be on reduced pay or give their job to one of the thousands of young unemployed teachers who would love the job! Rant over!!! ;)

Other countries are sending their children back to school now I don't understand our country we have been moaning that others are doing it better yet when we look at slowly re introducing schools and not even a definite people don't want it . ?

Schools have gone back very part-time in Germany and Denmark and the R has risen. Of course it might be the other loosened restrictions that have contributed more but sending kids back then rapidly shutting schools again will be more disruptive

R is going to rise as soon as we loosen any lockdown. We need to be prepared for that.

@PickUpAPickUpAPenguin and they are going back gradually here too if it actually happens as it's 3 weeks away
Apparently it's not compulsory either so prob won't be kids in huge numbers and he has been clear if the r rate goes up things will be tightened