Would you send your dc back to school in September if there was no social distancing?

[wakeupitsabeautifulmorning]

I worry about how much longer dc are going to be expected to learn at home considering a lot of them aren't. However, if they're going to have to socially distance I can't really see a way forward.
YABU = No I wouldn't send them without social distancing
YANBU = Yes I would

Yes definitely.

In fact, if there was social distancing (i.e actually enforcing a distance between children) I would NOT send her.

I was a TA for 8 years, i left about 7 years ago. If i was still a TA i would go in without social distancing without any problem.

It's interesting how few teachers and TAs have contributed to this thread actually. There are usually lots more around on threads about school issues.

I stood and chatted to the head master (2 meters apart obvs!) on Monday as i was doing the first staggered drop off of DD into her yr1 bubble. (of 6) There was no one else about and i was in no rush so he was asking me how lockdown has been for us. We got on to the subject of staff and the unions and he told me his teachers would overwhelmingly be happy to come in on a normal basis, and he's pushed for all the kids to come back now but has found the unions and government policy very obstructive. He did caveat that of course everyone must have the choice. Parents and teachers.

upthewolves that's interesting as that feeling might account for some of the number who have not chosen to send their DC in.

My DD (yr1) was v happy to be back at school at first, but is now saying she's finding school a bit sad. It transpires they are trying to enforce SD even within the bubbles in yr1. I think it's an attempt to tempt more back but it's counter productive IMO. Cant be sure of course.

Yes

@needsahouseboy
Your figures are completely wrong. Because people died of flu as well. The ONS have said the figure is at least 50,000 from covid.
The issue for me is not my children dying as that is such a low risk but them passing it on to other people who will die.

Yes.

@needsahouseboy

There are 66 million people in the UK and around 40,000 have died. According to one research paper the mortality rate was around 1.6% and this would mean we should have had 1056000 deaths and we didn't. Every year around 26,000 die from seasonal flu. So around 15,000 more deaths from COVID, this was obviously reduced by lock down but I do feel it really is time to get back to a more normal life.

It is very sad for those and their families that lost lives but this can't continue for much longer. Unfortunately money does play a huge part in our lives and this lock down, and the length it has gone on for, has been very destructive to out economy.

We didn't have a million deaths because we reduced transmission by keeping most people at home. The last estimate I saw was 10% have antibodies. So multiply our current deaths by 10 and that's what you're talking about if we abandon social distancing.

It's interesting how few teachers and TAs have contributed to this thread actually. There are usually lots more around on threads about school issues.

I suspect most have given up trying to argue and are not looking at these threads anymore as they find them too demoralising.

Most teachers I know want schools to go back to normal, most parents I know want the same, the only place that has conflicting views is mumsnet.

I'd send them back on Monday with no social distancing.

Youngest in particular is becoming de-institutionalised day by day!

Plus look at this: www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/05/the-costs-are-too-high-the-scientist-who-wants-lockdown-lifted-faster-sunetra-gupta

I will only keep mine home if the social distancing continues. I'm not sending them into that! Normal school or no school.

100% yes! Cannot believe they've not been since March. Much more concerned about them missing their education than bloody Covid!

@Alex50 Schools should only open fully if it’s safe enough for everyone in the schools, not because of any other reason. By September I hope it is, but if it’s not safe, no amount of petitioning will make it happen. By all means write to your MP, they’ll be more than enough people who will decide when it’s safe. When Patrick Vallance says it’s ok to open schools fully, then I’ll believe it. Not when some random on the internet decides they want their kids back to school.

If you have no social distancing at school, I can't see people continuing it anywhere. It took 3 weeks to go from the amount of cases we have now to filling the NHS to capacity. Since nothing has changed, it would take roughly the same amount of time in September. After that three weeks, since we would have foregone social distancing, we would then be beyond capacity. We would be into using the Nightingales (that we have no staff for). At this point, I think a lock down would be inevitable, because we could not risk our last level of care being breached. The only reason we remained within capacity last time around was precisely because we implemented a lock down.

I am an advocate of test, track and isolate, but even with a fully functioning system, we need to reduce student numbers to function. I work in a secondary and it is normal for students to be packed like sardines in the corridors for at least 5 minutes waiting for their teachers. I know 15 minutes is stated to be the amount of time needed for transmission, but I simply cannot see how corridors of children packed more tightly than at a football match cannot bring with it an unmaintainable amount of risk. School guidelines talk about the lack of risk of moving briefly past someone in a corridor, but there is no moving briefly past about it. It is a corridor packed with over a hundred people that you have to fight your way past as though you were trying to get to the front at a concert. This is not an exaggeration.

For the record, I am happily teaching key worker's children. I am happily returning to school on the 15th with a sensible amount of children. I am happy to work with small groups and happy to work long hours to send out high quality work to my students and provide feedback. What I will not do is pretend that the virus has gone away or that the consequences of letting it rip through the population would not be far worse than anything we have seen thus far.

To all the primary teachers out there

Depending on infection rate in our area.

I’m high risk, so it isn’t him becoming infected I’m worried about, but if I catch I’m at high risk of serious complications.

It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of Covid cases and transmission rates and the impact on R following wider school reopening in a few weeks time. That will be what the scientists base their advice on not petitions.

“ his teachers would overwhelmingly be happy to come in on a normal basis, and he's pushed for all the kids to come back now but has found the unions and government policy very obstructive”

This reflects the views of most of the teachers I know in RL, including my husband

Absolutely yes, mine are there now and I think social distancing is damaging for them.

Absolutely yes I would

If it was safe to completely open schools they'd be open. That's it. Throw all the school staff under a bus if you want. They've already opened more despite not meeting the government's own criteria for it.

Yes I'd like them to go back in September with no social distancing , however first I'd like to see more looking info of how children pass on the virus to teachers etc

those of you WFH should be expected to get back to the workplace because your lives are not more important.

I would happily go back to work, I know the risk to me is minimal, however the risk to those I work with isn't. I am very concerned about the fact I can't do anything, and worry that the longer it is the worse things will get.

I work in education - I would love to go back with no restrictions in place. My workplace is introducing all sorts of measures including a hotline to report perceived breaches of social distancing anonymously (I know many on here would LOVE this but I find it sinister)

Yep, they want to go back to school and college and we are happy for them too.

I'd have no problem going into an office, client site or staying in hotels when I travel for work, social distancing or not.

I'm allegedly extremely vulnerable, but I'd be back out there for work now if I could.

If people are saying that children shouldn’t have to socially distance in schools as it’s damaging to their mental health should they have to socially distance anywhere else? What about in the park where other children are playing or from other children in a shop?