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.

What I expect they’ll do though is just tell all vulnerable staff they’re fine and force them to go back as normal and tell us that having 30 to a class is fine

This is happening in our school. Vulnerable staff are required to attend work. We are being told we will be doing work that doesn't require us to be in the classroom, and that the people whose work we will be doing, will be taking our places in the classroom!

As an older building, our classes can cope with a maximum of 9 children and two staff. So, with 70 odd children in Y6, we need 8 rooms, plus a couple for the kw children . We have ten useable classrooms in our school. We used to have more, but dropped our pan and the extra rooms became the library and the IT room. The number of bubbles we need, means that every member of teaching staff and support staff is needed to operate the school. We have one shielding teacher who will be planning all the home ed stuff for the remaining years who are still at home.
I feel sorry for your Dh, listsandbudgets. But your anger really should be directed at that school, not schools in general. And I don't thiyit is so hard to see why private schools are better positioned than most state schools. They tend to have smaller classes anyway, so I don't think they have to worry about finding so my h extra space? I would expect that parents, if asked, would be more likely to be able to help with costs of sanitizer etc - not so easy in a school where a high proportion of children receive fsm because their parents are in need of financial support. Our budgets are stretched as it is, without the extra costs associated with covid, budgets are always tight, with no leeway for unexpected costs like this. And as others have said, little prospeoof getting any help because we are not allowed to set a deficit budget and the help is only available to tgoseywho do!

Is there any information on how many of the 40,000 people who have died are in the shielding category?

I think many more people would have died and will die if only those shielding stay at home.

I was in a supermarket on Friday (after the school day finished) and listened in to a conversation between two mums who were refusing to send their year 6 children back.

Schools can’t win

@Spillinteas if you read what I have already written, many schools had plans in place to fully return year 10 and 12 but the government told them to only take 1/4 back at a time. This isnt the unions work.

Spillinteas
I agree. I feel like the teachers union are holding the county to random

Then you might want to look up the facts of the situatoin.

@StaffAssociationRepresentative

I was in a supermarket on Friday (after the school day finished) and listened in to a conversation between two mums who were refusing to send their year 6 children back.

Schools can’t win

It’s an odd situation.

I have friends that are saying this and I know one of them is enjoying the late mornings and the fact her kids can roam around her big house and garden. Lock down has been completely fine for her and she hasn’t struggled at all.

One of my relatives was calling for the army to be brought in and very vocal on facebook saying every body that isn’t staying in are basically murderers however her parent has just been taken in to hospital non COVID related and she can’t visit them now she’s ranting about her parent basically being in prison and she must be allowed in.

I’ve one furloughed friend who is genuinely better off mentally and financially and is in no rush to get back. ( tbh I’m glad she is having a rest she needed one)

I know one work colleague who is working from home on full pay but refusing to come back in as she apparently feels unsafe. She’s white no other health conditions, in her 20s. Her partner is also at home furloughed and they are doing there house up. Lots of facebook renovating pictures.

People are taking the piss with this now and I think that’s why people are getting annoyed as some people are taking advantage. I live in the north west an area that is supposed to be ravaged by COVID yet I still don’t know one person that has died of it or even got it. Nothing on the local facebook sites or my friends list.

I wish the children were all allowed to go back as they are not the super spreaders every one claimed they were. People do need to go back to work as businesses are failing, people are not having vital NHS appointments.

I feel like a lot of people are just sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting that it's the fault of the teachers and unions (rather than the government, who are the ones making the decisions about who goes back when, and what social distancing must be in place in order to do so). Schools aren't allowed to just ignore government guidelines and welcome everyone back.

People simply aren't interested in listening to the very real obstacles to schools' ability to open within safety guidelines. They make blithely ignorant comments about staffing and classroom capacity based on absolutely no knowledge or comprehension.

If children are to go back to school on an even approaching full time basis, the government will have to admit that it can only be done by abandoning social distancing in school. Some people will be fine with that. Many will not.

If children are to go back to school on an even approaching full time basis, the government will have to admit that it can only be done by abandoning social distancing in school. Some people will be fine with that. Many will not

We can not social distance forever. If that’s how you want to live the your life that’s fine but move over and stop being obstacles for many many people wanting to get back to normality

We can not social distance forever. If that’s how you want to live the your life that’s fine but move over and stop being obstacles for many many people wanting to get back to normality

Who's being an obstacle? Not me - I'd happily go back and teach tomorrow. And not the parents who are worried about sending their dc back - they aren't stopping schools from opening, and anyway, they can keep their dc at home if they want!

For the umpteenth time - it's not members of the public, teachers or teachers' unions keeping schools from fully opening, so stop blaming them. It is the government making the decisions based on a mix of scientific and economic factors. Blame them if you disagree with it!

The only group not at risk yet most effected

I think the group who have died, and their families are probably the most affected.

The 1.5 million unemployed are much worse off too.

The 2.5 million small businesses with no support.

All worse off than kids missing a few months of education and who have their whole lives to catch up.

I’m also amazed people are so up in arms about kids missing out on education because of a global pandemic, and yet have been silent about the fact that thousands of children are denied an education every year because local authorities don’t provide appropriate schooling for kids with additional needs. Many miss months of schooling regularly because schools don’t properly support kids who are too ill or at risk to attend. Young carers missing education because they are looking after family members. Where was the uproar about that?

Or is education only important to those who are fortunate to have had a wholly uninterrupted education so far?

stop being obstacles

The elderly, vulnerable, disabled are now obstacles.

Lovely.

people don’t understand what lockdown is for

Actually, I wouldn't mind this point of elaborated.

40k people died with covid. So we have saved lives of 360k or 460k people (so far).

Hundreds of thousands of people have had delayed medical treatment that continues to be very delayed -- I guess purpose of Lockdown wasn't to make sure they could get treatment on time.

Hundreds of thousands of kids have had mediocre education experiences for months past & will get same in near future, Lockdown wasn't to help education.

that's it, all I got. Lockdown saved lives but severely delayed quality of life. I guess that was the purpose if it.

Week 11 done. No change in sight for DH working from home nor my y2 and y4 children.

The only changes in our lives now is that we can now drive to a greater range of locked up playgrounds parks and queue up for McDonalds.

Home learning is tough with a child with SNs and a young 7yo who doesn't have the skills to learn independently. They need peer support in school.

I would be happy for them to resume whole class learning in school. I would be happy to resume my volunteering in school supporting SN interventions. Community transmission is low, 0.35 cases per 100,000 as of late May. Schools have been temporarily closed when cases have occurred.

Tentitive evidence is that children are not effective spreaders, and that the virus itself is weakening, without studies showing contrary evidence. Other European countries undergoing quicker easing of lockdown are not showing second peaks. The most potentially exposed keyworker children have been in schoolthrough out without devestating consequences.

"Safe" will never happen Covid 19 or not.

Tentitive evidence is that children are not effective spreaders

Tentitive evidence is showing that they catch and spread Covid at the same rate as adults.

It just depends on which medical research you read.

Schools haven't "gone back". My year 1 child returns tomorrow for, wait for it, TWO HOURS a day. By the time she is dropped off it will be time to think about picking her up again. No wrap around care obviously.
Both me and my husband commute (in non corona times) so her return to school is of zero assistance to us returning to our workplaces.

We also have a son in year 10. He "returns" on 16th for the grand total of HALF a day a week.

Your school hasn't gone back full time, that is not to say that schools haven't gone back! We have all of the Reception, year 1, year 6 and keyworker children in school who have requested a place full time.

@honeylulu. That is be because we are only allowed to take in 25% of the year group at any one time. And because of options and sets it makes planning a pain in the arse!

I am a teacher. Send all of your kids back. Ignore the government. Just send them whatever day you want. Send them with a note saying either social distance or no social distance just so we know what you prefer. Let us know if you want us to teach with symptoms or not or you want us to wear masks or not and we will accommodate you. But for the love of god, stop fucking moaning. PS if you choose to keep your kids at home, let us know what time you would like us to pop round and teach your kids from outside in the garden.

@lazylinguist
If children are to go back to school on an even approaching full time basis, the government will have to admit that it can only be done by abandoning social distancing in school

Government do not require there to be social distancing.
'We know that, unlike older children and adults, early years and primary age children cannot be expected to remain 2 metres apart from each other and staff. In deciding to bring more children back to early years and schools, we are taking this into account. Schools should therefore work through the hierarchy of measures set out above:

avoiding contact with anyone with symptoms
frequent hand cleaning and good respiratory hygiene practices
regular cleaning of settings
minimising contact and mixing'

I think the wrong stress are opening up first, all GPs and hospitals should be opening up more first, people see missing important operations, I don't understand why the high street is opening up

Completely agree @NekoShiro!

Govt's priorities for reopening: offices and high street shops

Populace's priorities: Hospitals, GPs, dentists, schools, hair salons, pubs.

If you care about your DC returning to school any time, please write to your MP and the Sec of State for Education (Gavin Williamson). There is another thread on this, for those who haven't seen it, with one poster's example of the issues she raised. Many posters are using it as a template, then adding their own details. Thread is here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/3931348-Those-concerned-about-ongoing-lack-of-education-in-Spetember-and-onwards

any time SOON

abreviation - but I don't see how the frequent handwashing and minimising contact and mixing are going to be achieved in secondary schools, where most classrooms don't have sinks, and kids do different combinations of subjects in different classes with different subject teachers.

something to think about.
I am a teacher. I have been at work today - no symptoms all good. Come home to find unwell relative. Book test for her. Inform work. Govment guidance is to isolate. I will isolate until we know for sure if she has virus. in the meantime as I have no symptoms, the children I worked with and the staff who worked with me will continue to mix until there is a positive test for my relative or symptoms from me. Potentially if it is covid, then I may develop symptoms. Others who have had contact with me may then catch the virus as will their contacts. I can see that if my relative tests positive that despite following all the government guidance, many individuals could be infected and infect other in the next 48 hours.

I work for the council and the chief has said under no circumstances he is changing anything. Work from home and not to attend the office and its unsafe. We are still in lockdown. So if thats the case, my DC will not be attending school. Unsafe for me, unsafe for DC.