Back to school, back to work....

[User1123788363]

I’m struggling to see the issue with children with no underlying health issues returning to school and adults under a certain age with no underlying health issues going back to work.

Surely shielded people should stay shielded. Anyone who’s higher risk should be allowed to shield if they choose to and everyone else should be getting back to living their lives?

And yes the infection rate will likely go up but as long as shielded people are still doing just that then they won’t be exposed.

It feels like our children’s education and the economy are suffering massively because we’re locked down in solidarity.

Children are going back to school and people back to work.

Eh .... all teachers are going back to work and some kids are going back to school. Obviously due to social distancing not all kids can go back at this time. However, in my school, every teacher will be back at work. Any teacher that isnt going back has a medical reason not to and will continue working from home with kids who are remote learning.

Most people are now going back to work and kids are starting to return to school.

I'm struggling to see why you don't understand. Not awfully bight, perhaps?

*bright

My children are not at school. Been told might not be until November. Trying to do my own job and be 2 teachers is becoming impossible. (2 different aged kids)

What percentage of children are going back to school though? None in Scotland and Northern Ireland. A small proportion out of three year groups out of 13 in some schools in England? Some in Wales? Some key worker children?

It's not true to say "children are at school" as a blanket statement.

Totally agree with you OP, this can't go on forever however much some people would love to be locked away in their homes forever.

The vast majority of DC are NOT in school and won't be until at least September! Even most primary DC, who we were told should get some time in school before the summer holidays, are unlikely to return before the summer in many cases. There has been no new information about this, despite it taking weeks for schools to prepare for additional pupils returning, and in the case of our school there is only another five weeks to go until the summer holidays. I agree with you OP.

In my school (secondary) we are bringing back all year 10 and 12 for lessons. We had planned on bringing them all in 4 days a week for 4 weeks, the school had a solid plan in place to maintain a spcial distance, staff the rooms, manage lunches etc, and then the government decided to tell us on tv, along with the rest of the nation, that we can only have 1/4 of kids in at a time. So out went the plans and now we can only have them in 1 day a week. As an english teacher that equates to 4 hours of lessons over 4 weeks, compared to the 16 hours we had planned. It's pointless. I will get nothing done in 4 hours.

You want to get annoyed at someone? Get annoyed at the government. We were all willing to come back and teach and get as much done as we could. The government have turned it into a tick box exercise with no benefit at all.

Yep, years 10 getting one day in school a week. Ridiculous. Still not had any remote online teaching. Even more ridiculous. Too much excuse/shit about data protection .... so why then us every private school having full days using remote learning!!

@SqidgeBum absolutely I am. I don’t blame teachers for this at all and I didn’t mean for my OP to come across that way.

Can my husband stay home then under your rules? He's high risk but not in the shielding group.

He's BAME, male and has two underlying health conditions. He's an NHS consultant, hopefully you are also fine will the rest of the vulnerable NHS staff staying home too.

How come your year 10s are in? Mine is not even able to go back till the 15th and then he might get a lesson for 2 hours a day. But that's dependant on whether he is able to book in to it; the numbers are very restricted. And all he has atm is some emailed work, occasionally marked. It's so worrying.

lunar, of course NHS staff are included too, why would you think otherwise? If your husband is in the vulnerable group but not the extremely vulnerable, then trusts should continue to find behind the scenes work for him, preferable remotely. Such as working as a contact tracer or running a virtual clinic via telephone or zoom.

@lunar1 if he was at serious risk surely he wouldn't be at work anyway? Their are NHS staff I know who have been at home throughout lockdown because of their increased risk 🤨

Children are only going back to school in three year groups (out of 14).

@BellsaRinging yes this is from the 15th. Again, my school wanted to bring them in earlier but we were told by the government that the date had to be the 15th.

Not awfully bight, perhaps?

Snort. It's b.r.i.g.h.t.

Pot... kettle...

DH is a frontline worker (not NHS) and has pretty bad asthma. He’s not stopped working. On the other hand my business has gone down the pan and I have no way of salvaging it, especially with 3 DC at home.

One is in year 10 with GCSE’s next year and she’s not back at school either @BellsaRinging

There seems to be a lack of educational will. Understandably my kids school is focused on the distancing guidance to the point they have made clear very few children will be back in any meaningful way before the end of the year. I don’t blame individual schools but there needs to be a better plan with temporary buildings and staff and digital resources provided by the authorities, together with an acceptance that parents who work full time cannot become teacher against the understanding that children are at low risk of infection. Those at risk or who live with those at risk should get extra help. But generally the young have largely been neglected in all this.

I've been working all along from home and still intend to. I only go out for exercise (which includes sitting alone in the sun) and essential shopping and I try to limit this. I intend to work from home for as long as I can because there is a big, grey murky area between 'those who are shielding' and those whose lives would be badly impacted by having it and I don't want to catch it. I think the lockdown was silly and token. It should have started earlier, gone on for longer and been clearer and stricter, especially with respect to those entering the UK.

Children are going back to school and people back to work

Some, but not my family. No idea when they will, or I will.

Lots of people have been happily (and not so happily) working at home from this kicked off and will continue to do so. Plenty of others have continued in their jobs without much change. The pandemic has affected the more visible jobs - bars, restaurants, cinemas etc, but there are millions of people who work in less visible jobs that have continued on. It does suck for everyone with school age children not designated a key worker, but not everyone has children or school age children.

The government needs to prioritise helping schools to build more classrooms/schools/ employ more teachers etc to make return to school in this new world possible