To wonder why people are even talking about "bubbles"

[schoolsoutforcovid]

"Bubbles" can't exist in schools. All of this 15 to a class business is bollocks, lots of kids have siblings. So I send my year 6, year 1 and year 3 (key worker group) kids back to school. Then they come home....surely the "bubble" is burst?

Cluster is what our school is calling it. And it's just for school. Obviously as you can now go out and be with up to six people their 'bubble' or 'cluster' is not the only people the kids will be with. Forget the terminology, it's a fairly easy concept though in terms of school.

DC's school is placing siblings together in the same bubble.

Ok so your yr1and yr6 go into a "cluster" of 15 kids (separately) It's imperative they don't mix with the other clusters....but then they go home and live with each other and their sister (who is in year 3 and in the keyworker "cluster" as you now want me to call it (makes no difference to bubble btw)

What exactly is this?!

What's wrong @SomeHalfHumanCreatureThing ? Can't you get your head round me saying that the "bubble" system is pointless due to siblings?

@skankingpiglet are they just providing childcare then? My year 1 child can't do year 6 work and vice versa

I agree. 'Bubble' implies safety, total crap.

I'm with you OP, total rubbish, my children's school won't let childminders pick up because of 'cross contamination'. Well that will happen regardless because they will play with their baby sister who attends the childminder!

@schoolsoutforcovid looking at the plans for re opening for y10 at my school the year would be yes it’s childcare. No specialist teachers teaching their subject. It’s 1 or 2 teachers per each ‘cluster’ ‘bubble’ ‘group’ getting them to access the home learning they should have been doing and giving feedback on that. They are also delivering sessions on mental health and well being. It’s definitely not teaching in the traditional sense

Because it helps to minimise cross contact in school.

So each bubble doesnt mix with another bubble in order to limit points if contact. Theres limited adults for each bubble.

I was really impressed when my child (yr6) went back. They kept the bubble separate at play times but with a race track between them so they could chat to people from other bubbles (with 3m of race track between them.)

I was quite impressed, as I ad weighed up whether to return them or not so having bubbles made sense.

Id have been less impressed if it was just a holding space to do the homelearning rhough, in our case theyre doing science with circuits, art, lots of play outside. Ive been reallynimpressed.

So if you think bubbles are unrealistic but sibling groups unworkable due to different skills levels, how would you organise it to minimise risk?

At least bubbles would slow the transmission. Say your yr3 child came down with a fever which they caught from another child, they are sent home to isolate as are their, as yet, asymptomatic siblings and it may have been caught in time to avoid them passing it on.

It’s not meant to remove risk but to reduce it.

Easier to test and trace.

So what do you suggest? Easy to have a go - what's your solution to minimising the risk of getting Covid19? Keep the schools closed?

No, you're right! They should all sit in their bedrooms playin g Minecraft until someone invents a vaccine!

It’s an interesting concept. It’s not perfect but should make it easier to isolate bubbles / groups if someone has symptoms. In your example there would be 3 bubbles isolated in school if one of your children tested positive. The problem is if children have contact with other children outside their household and school bubble and when the adults in the bubble have used shared spaces such as toilets as this could spread the virus more widely causing the school to shut. It’s a fine balancing act.

Yep, just childcare here. Siblings together in bubbles, all kids in school doing paper learning packs, the same as the kids at home (except the ones at home will have online tasks as well/instead). Sat at (socially distanced) desks all day except for allocated outside time twice a day. If one person in a bubble gets ill the whole bubble stays home. It sounds miserable and I wish I didn't have to send my child in 😔

In our school all of your kids would be in a keyworker bubble

I didn't read the OP as having a go, just pointing out the obvious. Small groups in school will make the tracing a bit more straight forward if a teacher or child gets sick b cause you could point to 15 people in school that the child had had direct contact with in school, but YANBU OP, it's for tracing rather than safety.

This is why we didn't send our year 6 in. We have a yr 7, yr6 and yr2. They were only inviting the yr 6 back. Firstly, we figured its actually opening up more riskier chance of bringing the infection home and secondly, they stated that the teaching would still be all online, the same as if she was at home. So they were wanting her to go in, mix with more people than she would be at home, but sit in a room with her laptop.

So each bubble doesnt mix with another bubble in order to limit points if contact. Theres limited adults for each bubble.

Sorry, that’s blissful ignorance (not your fault). Sounds great on paper, but this is not the reality at all.

I'm a secondary teacher, and we've been having various meetings to thrash out keeping the Y10s in "bubbles" and socially distanced when in the bubble, because that is the government advice BUT the whole thing seems farcical because there are gangs of Y10s roaming all over town together!

@schoolsoutforcovid

Ok so your yr1and yr6 go into a "cluster" of 15 kids (separately) It's imperative they don't mix with the other clusters....but then they go home and live with each other and their sister (who is in year 3 and in the keyworker "cluster" as you now want me to call it (makes no difference to bubble btw)

What exactly is this?!

If their sister is in the keyworker bubble then they will also be in the keyworker bubble so I'm not sure what your point is there.

Yes, there are childen who have to be in different bubbles for their year group but given how few parents are sending children back it's not increasing the contact much. My DCs have

How many kids are not in the same situation as you, OP? Could it be that the system isn't perfect but will help to some degree, by reducing the spread? I can't imagine it's designed to totally obliterate risk, so surely any steps that help to some degree are useful? It's the same for everything. Social Distancing isn't possible all the time (otherwise I'd have made a thread to say 'I wonder why we're even talking about Social Distancing, I had to have an examination at the doctors'), going out only once a day isn't possible all the time (otherwise I'd have made a thread to say 'I wonder why we're even talking about staying at home, I have a dog and have to go out more than once a day')

I really wish we could just get the Y10s in and teach them normally. I'm desperate to just teach normal lessons again. Especially practical work (I'm science) - it's the main thing we really can't teach online.