Do people think schools will have to close again

[louise4745]

Jut curious.

I'm worried sick that they will close. If they do then I hope I can get my teenager in as a keyworker child like before, as a family we can't go back to the weeks he was home alone. He will be in school every single day now unless he actually has covid or is sent home.

Primary other side of town closed for 2 weeks as a dinner lady tested positive over the weekend.

I think that schools will officially be open unless closed. So bojo and co can say schools are open, but individual schools will close. Even if it's the majority of schools the majority of the time closed they are open. Sigh. Am just making the most of it right now, praying that the kids get enough learning to manage with homeschooling when it happens. Dd is year 12, ds is year 2, I start uni in 2 weeks.

Had an actual nightmare last night when ai realised there is a very real possibility of me trying to follow an online lecture while ds twatted his sister with nerf guns and the dog was barking in the back ground and husband wafting in and out of shot as I am on a zoom lecture. Fml.

Primary close to me has already had a confirmed case in yr1 and all 60 kids in isolation. A parent from another school is awaiting a covid test. And that's just the ones I know about.

They only went back on wednesday.

2 schools in our area have closed due to staff testing positive. From what I hear it's not for long though, just a day or two to do a deep clean.

If the school has only been open for 2 days then the teachers didn’t catch it in school though did they?
They’ll have already caught it outside of school prior to school reopenings.

No. Given the WHO etc are warning that a vaccine isn't likely before mid-2021, what are we going to do? Closing schools down for another year would be unsustainable & massively damaging to the children (& their parents' ability to earn a living), especially as we should presumably be SDing them too? So no proper play for a year? No social contact outside their family for younger children who can't realistically SD. Thats going to be fantastic for their mental health. And if we're closing schools, we're presumably closing everything else too, given closing schools is rightly considered a last resort. Who is going to pay for that? I've got to the point where I wish we hadn't locked down in the spring - its given people completely unrealistic expectations about the extent to which we can shut down society

No, unless too many teachers have to isolate. Otherwise, local lockdowns if absolutely necessary. If a nationwide lockdown is needed, (which looks currently unlikely with the low number of new cases and deaths), it should be after pubs and restaurants close. Schools should be forced to close as a very last resort.

My children's secondary school have them in year group bubbles of about 300. Factor in siblings in different year groups then it'll spread so quickly! My eldest DC is in GCSE year and I am worried about where this might go for him and his peers. Another lockdown, or even a bubble lockdown of a few weeks, is going to be a completely disaster for this year's exam takers

Yes - three near me (SE England, one primary, two secondary) all reporting cases

Is that in Cranleigh? There seem to be more cases there than the surrounding area. Too few for an "outbreak" but it's noticeably (darker) blue on the map. Probably down to holidays though as it's not exactly a deprived area.

Hope not. I can't work from home so I'll be screwed.

With “bubbles” of 350 pupils, it seems inevitable it will spread quickly.

The school is doing its best, it’s all double/triple lesson blocks to reduce moving around in the corridors, staggered arrival times etc. But realistically, 1200 students in a building using doors/handed/toilet cubicles and breathing the same air is bound to see a surge of cases.

@BlippiToys

Our secondary school has been open 2 days and 5 teachers have been diagnosed with Covid - 19.

Closed now

That's a worry @BlippiToys. How are your kids?

What area are you in?

I think it's going to be 'whack-a-mole', school style.

It's not something I can control, so not something I'm going to fret over.

I'm happy that both my girls went off today, with a smile on their face, and a mask in their hands, hand sanitizer and plastic bag at the ready. I know they'll do their best to follow the rules and give it the best chance of working, equally I know that there's always going to be those that won't.

If their school shuts, we'll deal with that when it happens.

@Torvean32

No i cant see all schools being closed. I live in a large city we've been open almost 3 weeks with no outbreaks and no closures. It shows it can be done.

I think this year ppl need to have the flu vaccine ( if medically appropriate) even if it means paying for it.

What do you think your school is doing differently/better?

Not to mention, currently the vast majority of cases are 'being brought in' not necessarily spreading at school.

I'm sure we'll be seeing more local school closures in areas where there have been outbreaks, but on the whole I doubt all schools will shut again unless the situation gets much worse.

@wafflyversatile

I think the govt will be determined not to close schools til half term. Individual schools will be left to make difficult decisions themselves- and take the shit for it.

Yep. Ours has started with Basketball. Apparently one of the worst!

They're start Chapel (attended instead of online) this week too. It's a decent size and they're doing one year group per afternoon, but even so, it's an unnecessary gathering of a few hundred kids each night.

Indie school, so they all have laptops and have been preached at on a regular basis during lockdown. (Fortunately laptops have 'off' buttons for the volume, so 🤷🏻‍♀️)

They have to wear masks in certain corridors, but not in the small, crowded 'study rooms'. Windows closed as it's beyond some kids to put a bloody jumper on!! 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

DC were on a full timetable at home (Lessons via Teams) & were happy. I feel, as they could, they should have continued like this for this term. Bubbles of entire year groups with loads of international students (it's largely boarding - but DC are 'day students') Seems pointless, madness, to me.

No idea how long before isolating will be necessary.

I think things will have to get seriously bad before a national closure of schools, so I hope to god it doesn't come to that. But I think given the teacher shortage we could see the vast majority of schools 'closed' individually.

I think that initially it would just be individual bubbles or classes that will stay at home rather than the whole school closing. Maybe if cases go up very high they will have to start having two weeks on two weeks off. I hope that they close pubs and restaurants if things get bad so that schools can carry on.

I do agree that parents need to take some responsibility though.

Not organising play dates
Not doing sleep overs
Not letting their teenagers out, hanging around with their mates
Not having big meet ups with friends/family Inside (or even
Outside really)

Social distancing & hand washing

Not just blowing it off because schools are back & deaths are currently low.

@MJMG2015

I do agree that parents need to take some responsibility though.

Not organising play dates
Not doing sleep overs
Not letting their teenagers out, hanging around with their mates
Not having big meet ups with friends/family Inside (or even
Outside really)

Social distancing & hand washing

Not just blowing it off because schools are back & deaths are currently low.

It doesn't make any difference if teenagers hang with their mates if those friends are in the same bubble at school. My DD has been very careful all summer but there is little point in not socialising with people she has been sitting next to all day without a mask.

We're not going out very much, and part of that is a conscious decision to try to do our bit to minimise the possibility of either contracting or passing on the virus. And yes, no big meet ups with friends or family (LOL, that's not a problem for us!)

However, there's no way I'm not going to let my teenagers out and about with their mates. I do impress upon them the importance of social distancing, but I'm not going to continue to isolate them.

I would guess they will close between Christmas Hols and Easter hols.
Until then there will be various rules and strategies to keep schools open.

Yes.
But I hope pubs, restaurants and gyms are closed first. And that masks are made mandatory in secondary for kids who are ok to wear them.

Not the majority no.

I don't think they will close except individually, though high schools are higher up the list to close, primaries are only a last resort. I think the government is only now realising the extent of the problems that the first lockdown is causing (economy tanked, general breakdown of society,), and we never came close to the NHS collapsing which the lockdown was designed to prevent anyway. So there's almost zero chance of the same measure being used again, to do so would be devastating.

School drop off was busy this morning. So many parents stood around chatting rather than drop and go so the staggered drop off was a bit pointless really. They asked KS1 not to arrive until after 9 am and the KS2 from 8.40 until 9 am and yet hundreds of KS1 stood there at the gates waiting and getting in the way of the kids who knew where to go, what to do..... parents can be dumb