To think this procrastinating about school reopening is going to cause more deaths and long term issues than CV

[whenthejoyreturns]

Credit due to all the schools that have worked hard and found inventive ways to open this week. I know of some that have sent positive messages to parents and managed to reassure them that their dc won’t be traumatised by the experience.
What’s preventing all schools doing this? Our local primary has sent an email basically telling parents they will be committing murder if their dc step anywhere near school. Unsurprisingly they’ve decided they’re not ready to open yet. This is a modern school, all classrooms have doors to outside and are large and airy. The deputy head’s dc has diabetes and I believe she doesn’t want to open because of her personal circumstances.
AIBU to think schools are not thinking about children and the negative impact this is bound on thousands. I believe many will never recover from this.

Also @Delatron the most vulnerable dc will be in school and have been all along so your point is not that relevant.

That's not true. A shockingly low percentage of those classed as vulnerable have actually gone to school. Something like 5-10%

I have a year 12 who is very stressed about whether or not they can go back this term - they really need to be back.
older children who, unlike year 6, really do need to be back at school as they have really important public exams next year are being pushed further and further down the agenda.

@Londonmummy66 at our local schools years 10 and 12 are going back either today or within the next 2 weeks, not all of the students are required to, but they will be open for the children that want or need to go back. Has your son's school not made any plans?

You think 50,000 people are going to die if schools dont reopen in the next week or two? Please show your working.

Snowballed, and the most vulnerable DC will still not be in. Many will not until school is compulsory.

A question for those who think schools shouldn't currently be open - what are your benchmarks for safe reopening?

If, for example, there isn't a vaccine that can be administered by September, if social distancing measures at school still need to be in operation in September, should the children continue to be home schooled at that point?

Full disclosure, my 5yo went back this morning. I have a Y3 still at home. Helping her with her learning has proved relatively trouble-free alongside mine and my husband's WFH routines.

Smogsville, I think schools should open when we have an effective track and trace system. I wish the government had sorted this effectively.

You think 50,000 people are going to die if schools dont reopen in the next week or two?

The death toll from an economic depression will dwarf Covid.

Ok @SheWranglesRugRats, so show me your working.

You think children's mental health is suffering because they couldn't go out for the day or go on holiday?

Some children have not seen another child for the entire lockdown. In normal times social services would be interested in a child isolated for that long.

Stop trying to make out that any children who miss their school and friends come from really shitty families.
@formerbabe I am concerned for your reading comprehension now, as I didn’t say any such thing.

Year 12 are going back at our local secondary. After social distancing measures have been put in place and following safety protocols, that works out at 1.5 hours a week of school time. Not sure what they hope to achieve with that on a educational level nor how it’s going to improve everyone’s childcare situations.

I wasn't quoting you...it was the implication that children with mental health difficulties have difficult family circumstances....yes that may be true for some but not all. Call it what you want...difficult, chaotic, troublesome, shitty...means the same thing.

Well by some calculations austerity measures have killed 120,000 people. A post-Covid crash is not going to be any better than that. Lower educational attainment means lots of people will lose years of life expectancy. Not sure why that is controversial, it’s always been clear there is a balancing act between saving lives now and saving lives in the long term.

@canigooutyet

Parents could also get together and open up their own private school and do as they wish. Create a proper home schooling network for formal education.

Or they could just open the actual schools and let the actual teachers do the teaching!

The Children's Commissioner thinks schools should reopen "as quickly as possible".

www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/2020/05/16/government-and-teaching-unions-should-stop-squabbling-and-agree-a-plan-to-get-kids-back-into-school/

Mine are back this week and next week. They're really looking forward to it.

A bit off point but recent research of all the world wide data available tells us children with Type 1 diabetes are at no greater risk of serious complications from Covid. There has not been a single death of someone with diabetes under the age of 20. As you were....

I am usually very supportive of schools and teachers, but I am frustrated by the number of teachers I know who are refusing to go back to work because it isn't safe, but they're perfectly happy to shop in supermarkets, order takeaways (there have been some horror stories coming out of the likes of subway etc) and have been having people round to visit in their home throughout lockdown (one of them is my neighbour and she's made no attempt to hide it). Like pretty much all professions, teaching contains good, committed, diligent professionals, and also its share of workshy slackers.

We've hired a temporary part time nanny to allow us to work. We're very fortunate to be able do that but, despite being high earners, we've had to make sacrifices so that we can afford it. Not all families are able to do that, and job losses will be catastrophic for those families and their children. The Covid-19 risks of opening schools have to be balanced with the risks of not opening, which for some families could include homelessness and hunger.

@Useruseruserusee

What if the govt screws this up and it's not in place before September? It already looks like it's not going well. Would you advocate that schools continue to remain closed beyond Sept?

Oh and I'm a school governor and our headteacher was responsible for the decision to reopen. NGA guidance made it clear that it was an operational decision and therefore outside scope of the governors' remit. We reviewed plans and were able to comment etc but the decision ultimately rested with the head.

I'm a key worker so is husband. Kept kids of all the time however when they said reception could go bk but school then school said they couldn't I got both my reception and y5 child in today as we are both key workers and they were fed up much easier now both at school the kids were so happy to go bk and the oldest will cuddle the youngest if needed as in same bubble sort of thing

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.safeguardingchildren.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/what-children-are-saying-to-childline-about-coronavirus.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjP-c2DxuDpAhV1RxUIHYUXDS8QFjARegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw1dOBxNxkDsp4uBY6PGUj5m

www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=youngminds.org.uk/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/parent-survey-reveals-widespread-concerns-about-mental-health-impact-of-covid-19-on-young-people-s-mental-health/&ved=2ahUKEwj4x4-EyODpAhXsSBUIHc_-AA8QFjAFegQIChAB&usg=AOvVaw2Hv--yyBrT2yCKThTLyH2C

I don't have DC so don't have a personal investment in whether schools go back but I do work with young people and there is already a lot of evidence of the toll that CV/lockdown is having on the MH of children and young people. Which isn't just the ones with existing MH problems or living in difficult circumstances.

The thing is it's not just about the children.

I run a childcare setting and we have stayed closed. In the end we had such a tiny number of children wanting to come back that it wasn't viable. However, I have one vulnerable staff member and two with childcare issues of their own. It's not as easy as sending those children to school as key worker children either. No wrap around care, staggered drop off times, shorter days etc.

The truth is childcare settings and schools has been running on absolute minimum staff to child ratios and managing with minimum funding. Now we are expected to suddenly find extra staff and resources. Not to mention the time to clean 3 times a day (see minimum staff),

We are people as well, trying our hardest to manage impossible circumstances. Tutoring our own children and managing their and our own mental health.

The deputy head’s dc has diabetes and I believe she doesn’t want to open because of her personal circumstances.

It won't have been down to her anyway as pp have said but OMG! How dare someone not want to die! Then having dismissed someone's health problems you say

AIBU to think schools are not thinking about children and the negative impact this is bound on thousands. I believe many will never recover from this.
Dramatic much? Any evidence for this? Shame on you OP for your shitty 'won't somebody PLEASE think of the children' thread when you have such an obvious lack of human concern for others. Pretty clear your motives here are selfish ones. And no, I'm not a teacher.

It certainly seems interesting to me that the government and schools are so obsessed with school attendance that parents me receive shirty letters from them if our child's attendance drops below a certain percentage. Our was due to our dd having several medical problems and minor sn hence lots of hospital appointments.

Yet, apparently it's no problem whatsoever that our children miss a third of the school year.