If school cannot go back normally, they shouldn't go back?

[UnderReview]

Especially primary schools. Social distancing cannot be the new 'normal'! It will really fuck kids up. They'll be scared of normal contact and germaphobes for life. It's not OK. No school would be better than playing on your own in a chalk draw box in the playground or sitting on a table by yourself. It would be a nightmare for teachers too and is ultimately useless. If a kid sneezes on the way in to class or in the toilet and touches a tap or the wall, or coughs on a tray of pencils, etc... and they're sharing the same air in the classroom.... and the teacher cannot possibly stay two metres away, what if a child falls over or is in pain?! Or choking? I don't know what the answer is, but it can't be social distancing in schools. Or AIBU?

No one would stand and watch a child choke because of the 2m rule! Social distancing is going to be necessary for a long time. Children can't stay off school indefinitely. They adapt quickly- it will be the staff that find it harder getting used to new arrangements in school!

And they won't be in a chalk box on their own ( at least not in our primary school!)

Your op won’t be the reality though. They are in groups of fifteen, realistically with no hugging or touching rather than 2m apart at all times. What do you propose instead?

Yeah because if a child is choking the teacher is totally going to just let them choke and be like “sorry parents, I had to socially distance” 🙄

I don't know if this is central to your argument or not but I read that Eton isn't going back till September and I don't see anyone kicking up a storm about their teachers being workshy or unheroic.

But there will need to be a 'new normal' - I hate that term. Certain systems or processes will need to be implemented in schools because they can't just go back 'like normal'. Whether this means staggered returns or returns by certain year groups or whatever but you can't have what you had before. Even my office isn't going to go back with everyone in the building just as it was before so I don't expect schools to just welcome back hundreds of kids altogether.

Children will be in bubbles and can play within their bubble, they won't be in chalk boxes like that stupid photo from France that has scared the shit out of everyone 🙄

School will never go back to normal while covid is a thing. Yes it's shit but it's life now and we need to get on with it. Or deregister and home school as has always been an option.

This isn't what is being suggested though. Groups of 15Grouos of 25 of 15 children plus a teacher. Once they're in a room together there's little point limiting other contact so it won't be that far removed from what they know already, especially for the younger children.

In that case they'd potentially be off for a very long time. We're going to have to settle on a new normal somehow. I totally agree that now is not the time to go back, it's not safe enough yet. But when they do go back, the 'normal' that they're used to can't happen unfortunately. We need to find a sensible middle ground- some of the proposed safety measures just seem cruel so perhaps they can't return to school until those aren't necessary? I don't know!

The risk to children’s education is REAL.

We need to get them back to school if we can.

This country is fucked if people wouldn't help someone that collapsed or choked in the street because of 'social distancing'.

Let alone the idea that teachers would stand by and do nothing when it's a child in their care

I'd rather my child be slightly delayed then risk a death in my family personally. They can always catch up, you don't get the dead back.

I do think that all schools should have the same rules though, if private schools aren't opening until at least September, because they claim they don't have the time/funds to make it safe for both students and staff, how do they expect normal state schools with much less money to do so?

I agree what's the point in getting a whole year group back.

If it's really about missing out on education then extend the provision to the most vulnerable across ALL year groups. Those without access to tech, most at risk of neglect, pupil premium. etc and continue socially distanced education for them.

Other children will continue to cope at home and if they can't then parents need to look at teaching resilience.

I can’t see things will be different in September and, if anything, we will probably have more cases. At what stage do you accept you have to live around the virus worries and either withdraw your child from school altogether to home educate or do what you can to work with the new normal?

So children go without education and fall behind until when?

Parents can’t work until when?

Children don’t appear to spread the virus that well, the biggest risk for schools going back is to the teachers

Like any human would stand back and watch a child choke and say oh sorry I was social distancing 😂 I mean ffs OP. In that situation of course they’d help the child because the very minimal risk of getting Covid V the child dying of choking, choking is the immediate thread the greater risk 🙄

Also schools aren’t going back completely some years will HOPEFULLY be able to return in June, most years will not go back until September.

Those saying things won't be like that, it seems like that for some schools it will be like that (other than the choking scenario, obvs).

I've had an email from school today explaining changes to the school for ds's return (he's year 1).

I've copied and pasted some of the changes -

When and if the school reopens at the start of June it will not look like the school that you left on the 20th March. The following measures be in place:
 We have already identified that at our school we will not be able to have class sizes with more than 10 pupils plus two members of staff in order to maintain social distancing.
 There is no guarantee that children will be taught by their usual teachers or support staff and we cannot guarantee friendship groups. This is because we will have to use staff from other year groups to allow for 10 pupils per class.
 Drop off and pick up will be very different with staggered timings for different children. These will have to be strictly adhered to as we have to regularly deep clean and continue to support our children at home with remote learning and phone calls.
 Parents will have to queue at a distance of two metres from each other to bring their children in to school.
 Classes will have any additional equipment like toys or games removed.
 Children will not be able to bring any additional equipment in from home and will be provided with the minimum equipment they require in school. Lunchboxes will have to remain with them under their allocated table.
 Children will access the same learning as those at home and will be taught from a distance. Our staff will not be able to come up close to your child and help with their learning as they would have done normally.
 Children will have to sit at one table at all times and when having playtime will not be able to come within two metres of other children and adults.

Private secondary schools such as Eton,barrow and the rest are not allowed to reopen. The same rules apply to them as state secondary schools. And the government has stated secondary schools are unlikely to reopen before September.

Everyone will adapt pretty quickly.

It used to be the norm to squash 4 or 5 children in the back of a family sized car and another one on a parent's knee at the front. And no one wore any seat belts. No one would dream of doing that now. But there were lots of complaints when it changed.

Children don’t appear to spread the virus that well, the biggest risk for schools going back is to the teachers

I think the biggest risk will be to those who do the drop off and pick ups. Teachers will be at risk, but I don’t think to the same extent - I sincerely hope they do stay safe.

You do realise most kids won’t go back until September by the very nature of the new rules. Also how much work do you really think is going to get done in 6 weeks.

It's not about education. Whether you believe it to be right or wrong, it's about parents of young children being enabled to return to work and more children being in contact with a professional.

All this talk of disadvantaged and vulnerable children (which are attributable to many of the government's policies) should be insulting to parents, in that the the government are saying their kids are viewed as being better off with someone other than them. While this is unfortunately true in some cades, weirdly, nobody is outraged by this.

The 'bubbles' of fifteen are much bigger than the average household. People aren't understanding that saying you can mix with your household isn't because the government care about your relationships, but because it would be impractical (impossible) to separate all people. Their stance all along has been that if I have the virus, my immediate family can all just be expected to catch it too. Primary bubbles are just an extension of this - again, for convenience and the added benefit that teachers can police the abuse children may suffer at home and mitigate the effects of poverty.

Many schools are going down the approach of separate desks for each child. Don’t think many will go as far as chalk squares in the playground but certain games won’t be allowed and a lot of the equipment will be out of bounds.

Ridiculous post. Kids are, or should be more resilient than you give them credit for. They won't be scarred for life by not being able to do what they want. Different doesn't have to mean bad.

The reason Elton is not going back until September is likely to be because

1. They are secondary - children don’t start until they are 13. Secondary schools are not opening yet.
2. They are likely to finish for the summer at the beginning of July.
3. They are a boarding school. If you think it is going to be hard socially distancing students during the day imagine doing it 24/7.
4. As a boarding school a number of their students will be overseas and not able to get back.

A lot of the private day schools near me are opening when they can including the preps.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8328819/Primary-school-unveils-plans-social-distancing-pupils-return-class.html?ito=facebook_share_article-home

I know it's the daily ail but if this is the reality, no way am I sending my children anywhere near.

Im with you OP. Seems to schools are one up from coldiz