"UsforThem" Get Schools Back to Normal campaign

[twomonkeys2]

Just found this online and I think it's brilliant. Importantly, I think, it's not about a scientific debate - it is about a moral argument that we should not expose all schoolchildren to further harm by keeping them home without planning their return. AIBU to think this needs more attention??

There is a petition and Facebook page.

Signed and emailed MP

@flamingochill

and thousands have died and thousands will soon be redundant . There are NO easy choices and we have all suffered in someway or another .

we are all part of a bigger picture and every decision will have those who agree and those who don't .

I wasn't sure if the links were allowed.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/305525

www.usforthem.co.uk/

This campaign has not mentioned how the children who can't return for medical reasons won't be left behind when their peers return. The healthy can expect at least part-time school in September but what about the others?

This with bells on

I think mine would be more harmed by loosing their diabetic Dad or their asthmatic Mum. Children aren’t loosing their education - it’s just temporarily being delivered in a different way to protect people. And for good reason. Kids might not suffer badly from the virus but they can transmit it others that might, whether that’s teachers or parents or grandparents. I would rather schools open on a part-time basis with social distancing than cramming huge numbers of children back into cramped classrooms whilst our infection rates are still high.

Fine, it's not all school children. Mine are not harmed either, thankfully, but I feel that the lack of real planning is detrimental to their ongoing education. Of course, some children will be do better at home, some will do worse.

perhaps if they got smaller classes back in rotation some companies would sponsor more investment in simultaneous home schooling ? Only problem is will there be any companies left with spare funds ?

@TiredMummyXYZ

completely agree . One size does not fit all . there has to be compromise somewhere.

perhaps posters have some answers ?

This is what makes it hard - children experience lockdown in different ways and families are all different in the level of vulnerability to covid.

perhaps posters have some answers ?

Unpopular opinion, but I think this is why the goverment is right to leave it up to individual schools, rather than imposing a policy, and tomtrust teachers to know best on schooling. Do the teaching units NHS have gpfirums firnexchangung best practice? And is a bottom-up,consensus emerging?

There is literally a thread about what people would like the government to do about schools

Is there not a moral argument that we should not expose all school STAFF to further harm by keeping them in classrooms without planning how to keep everyone safe?
I’m all for schools returning (which they already are) but the risks have got to be managed, and that might mean part time with reduced class sizes. Just because you want your kids in school full time doesn’t mean that the health risks can be overlooked. Until more is PROVEN about how Covid 19 spreads in a classroom then precautions will have to be taken, for the benefit of everyone, children and staff.

The pressure shouldn't be focused on forcing a return to 'normal' regardless of the potential issues. The pressure should be on getting the Government to take the actions necessary to make it safe to open schools so there doesn't have to be those issues.

Schools should also be supported in finding approaches that work for them rather than advice that reads like it was written by people who don't even have a basic understanding of the modern-day classroom.

I can't believe that the government won't at least pay for the increased cleaning costs that schools are going to have to find in their overstretched budgets.

@TiredMummyXYZ you're speaking for yourself. We have no health issues in our family, and my children aren't getting the level of education they would be getting at school while we try to juggle working and home schooling. Why should your family's needs trump mine? And vice versa of course. We can't just starve all children of a formal education because some may need to stay home. It needs to be more nuanced than that.

Totally agree. Signed and emailed my GP. Schools should be back as normal asap. They were closed to 'flatten the curve'. Now the goalposts have moved and my children are currently receiving no education and are isolated for no good reason.

Although I 100% agree with the message the petition is pointless as it says ‘allow schools to open’. They are allowed to open. So when this gets debated that’s all they’ll say and it’ll go away. This needs to be about more than that. It needs to be the government ensuring and enforcing schools to open

It needs to be the government ensuring and enforcing schools to open

The vast majority of schools are open - just not for every child (just like every hospital is open, just not for all the appointments there would usually be).

The school i work in has every classroom in use, and every available member of staff at work - but still only manages to offer places fro keyworkers and the school years allowed initially to return. The keyworker numbers and number of days asked for are growing so rapidly that the other year groups may have to go part time soon, and if bubbles of 15 are mandated in September plus keyworker childcare continuing, it is entirely possible that no children except keyworker children will attend my school at all, despite all classrooms being in use and all available staff working full time.

I am a secondary teacher and think we should be back in. I am disgusted about how our unions have been so unbending in their stance. I think every year should have had a week in school over this term - 7 weeks, 7 years in both primary and secondary. All students well being matters, I am really worried about the impact of this on a lot of my students.

It seems lots of other areas have had endless money thrown at them to solve the problems but not education.

Why should all children miss out because some children may have vulnerable adults? Why because some staff may be at risk do all children need to miss out?

What’s your point? I have the same answer - the government needs to sort it out. Same as they sorted out 3 major hospitals in two weeks.

And schools need to be a little more dynamic. All other businesses - even the NHS - have rapidly evolved and adapted. Schools have just shown how rigid they are - such a can’t do attitude it’s frankly embarrassing

Schools have already completely adapted twice since the start of the pandemic - first from physical delivery of education to online / distanced delivery of education plus physical delivery of childcare, and now to partial return + ongoing online delivery of education + childcare.

Each has been accompanied by huge uncertainty, lack of guidance and then rapidly changing guidance.

To say that schools are being 'rigid' when in fact they have completely changed their mode of operation, twice, since mid-March is somewhat disingenuous.

Signed already and previously mentioned on other threads. I am surprised at the lack of acknowledgment from govt about the impacts of social isolation on children and teens. It's not only their education which is suffering

If the Government were to issue clear guidance for September now, schools would be able to show just what they CAN do, knowing that it won't all be changed on them at the last moment.

It is the Government's sudden changes of tack, and complete failure to issue guidance in a timely manner, leaving schools to flounder and multiply re-plan, that is preventing schools getting robust plans in place to re-open.

@flamingochill

This campaign has not mentioned how the children who can't return for medical reasons won't be left behind when their peers return. The healthy can expect at least part-time school in September but what about the others?

There will be a very small minority that this applies to. I'm sure that home schooling could continue for those pupils. I'm just not certain that keeping every child at home indefinitely is necessary to protect this minority.

@cantkeepawayforever very well explained, thank you.