To Think some schools won’t reopen in September

[Lardlizard]

Yanbu if you agree

Because so many school are not reopening for year r,1 and 6 in June

Because of reasons such as a quarter of the staff are shielding etc, so how on earth will they we able to reopen all years in sept
They will still have the same staff in September

YABU

Where do you get the idea that a quarter of staff will be shielding? The shielded are approximately one and a half million.

Unless we are in another lockdown they won't be able to justify not opening. They may need to use supply teachers.

I personally think the reason theybare squeezing in a few weeks now is so they can open all schools normally in September.

At the risk of being pedantic, those who have been ask to shield total almost 2.5 million now.

so how on earth will they we able to reopen all years in sept

At some point people have to accept the risk. What if we either don't get a vaccine or (more likely) the one that is developed doesn't protect everyone? Do people want the schools to close indefinitely if that happens?

There are other risks out there - chicken pox, flu, TB, the risk of being run over by a car or falling and hitting your head whilst running. COVID kills very few of those who get it. We can't shut down life forever.

Any school must be amazingly unlucky to have a quarter of the staff shielding!

I'm in Scotland, so schools are due to open in August. Hopefully, by then, we won't have to adopt such draconian measures as being seen for the rushed opening of schools in England, from June 1st.

Our plan in August is supposedly to have a mix of half classes in schools while the other half are at home doing online learning. I've no idea how this can work, as a teacher can't be doing two things at the same time and there are virtually NO supply teachers available in our area.

Ah yes @FourTeaFallOut
I was probably going on the earlier number. I didn't realise that so many more people had been added to the shielders.

@rararachael
I am. Really pigged off at the thought of part time schooling.. How on earth are kids going to get through exams.
Like you say teachers will be busy all day.. Its a total joke

As a secondary teacher, I am living in hope that we will be open as normal in September! Part time/online just isn't the same.

Cases and deaths do, thankfully, seem to be coming down and so at some point, we have to return to more normal living.

I think the phased return now has been planned to lead into a full opening in September.

They will find a way. It's still long way off. The govt also need to have a real commitnent to make this happen rather than issuing guidelines that change 40 times in a week.

They then need to make it clear that schools will not be 100% safe, and they can not assure everyone will be safe. If parents still feel that they are not willing to take that risk, that is fine and up to them.

At some point people have to accept the risk.

if it was that easy, why did we even bother with restrictions in the first place?

@PafLeChien apart from the obvious?

All the primary schools will have reopened by July, even the ones who aren't in June (England, not Scotland obviously)

Classes will be back to 30+ then too. Parents will not accept for a minute not to have wraparound care and full time schooling. There's not enough time to build spare classrooms to create smaller groups, and nowhere enough teachers to deal with these smaller groups. parents will not accept either that their child is only with a TA when the other group has a fully trained teacher.

Herpesfreesince03
what is obvious is that people got bored and have decided that pretending that the problem is gone will make it go away.

*Classes will be back to 30+ then too.
Sorry, meant in SEPTEMBER.

Schools will function as normal - or next to normal - in September.

Any Local Authority not able to offer at least part time face to face teaching for all pupils will be seriously letting down the children in their area IMO. A lot of children are being let down now.

(I'm not complaining about individual teachers- more the system. I know a lot of teachers are working very hard!)

Primary schools have been told not to do rotas for part time.

what is obvious is that people got bored and have decided that pretending that the problem is gone will make it go away

Some people might well be bored. That doesn't reflect my position. It doesn't reflect the position of other people either who have experienced catastrophic consequences as a result of the lockdown.

if it was that easy, why did we even bother with restrictions in the first place?

How many reasons do you want? Much less was known about the virus 3 months ago. There were grave fears the NHS would be swamped to the point of people not being able to access healthcare if we didn't lockdown - even with lockdown people were saying there were going to be people dying in corridors and being refused ventilators because there weren't enough of them. We weren't sure how many younger people this would affect in terms of them experiencing lung damage or dying. We weren't sure whether buying time would mean the development of more treatment options.

We have a lot more information now. We know Ferguson's model predicting up to 500k deaths was flawed and not worth the paper it wasn't written on. We know our hospitals are coping and have lots of spare capacity. We know face masks are a useful tool in terms of possibly restricting spread. We are looking at tentative evidence which is emerging which shows many in the population might already be immune if they've had a cold in the past. We know the virus mainly kills the oldest and most vulnerable and so resources can be directed towards helping them shield. We know other countries are slowly coming out of lockdown and the strategy they're following is not linked to a rise in cases.

I could go on but I have work to do.

As much as I really want to go back into the classroom I seriously can't see anything going back to "normal" for a long time

Our school have hinted that they will not be opening for full time education in September.
The years going back next week R, 1 and 6 are only going back for 2 days a week.
I work full time and have done all the way through lockdown, I have managed to sort child care until September. If the schools do not go back full time In September I have no idea what I will do, I am sure a lot of parents will be in the same situation.

Schooos will,also have to,work out what to,domabout pupils who are shielding, or who live with someone who is shielding and from whom they cannot reasonably isolate within the home.

Some form of off-site learning will be needed unless those DC are to be thrown under the bus.

Also, there might be quite high absenteeism ice track/test/trace plus the 14 days isolating if someone in the house has it - I guess it might be easier to keep,them in step by using the off-site providing for them too

PS: number shielding - which is not age-related, nor only for those with terminal diagnoses - is now around 2.5m (more than the population of NI. The 'flu jab group' of vulnerable (pregnant women, over 70s and a further list of medical conditions including morbid obesity) is estimated to be a significant proportion of the population. Physical/social distancing is likely to be needed in some formfor a considerable time.

But how long do these people shield for? Is it until a vaccine is found? My Mum is shielding because she takes medication that suppresses her immune system and she is 74 but even she said she can't shield forever otherwise she will just die in her house of old age rather than the virus.

How long is it before they are expected to get back to work?

Our school has no shielding teachers. One vulnerable, who is due to retire this year anyway so won’t be returning to the classroom, and one member of support staff who lives with a vulnerable grandchild so won’t be returning for a while.