#closetheschools is trending

[Allthestarsarecloser]

I work at a university on the front line seeing students 1-1 (I work in student support) and have continued to see students this term at a distance & with measures in place. ALL the students I have seen have been grateful for the human contact.

I also have 2 kids in primary and secondary. I want them to stay in school as my eldest had to have counselling after the last lockdown.

Aibu to say that schools need to stay open and I say that as someone on the front line.

YABU - they should shut
YANBU- they need to stay open

I think if they shut nurseries I’ll have a nervous breakdown 😢 my toddler is lovely but trying to work full time from home and look after a toddler is a big fat pile of shite. 6 months of it was beyond horrendous.

Keep them open! My two are now at high school so no problem to look after, but they can't miss another four months education and socialising.

After seeing those graphs I really think this lockdown will have little effect unless they shut schools. The rise in cases corresponds with the schools going back, and children are known super spreaders of disease, with no social distancing and little awareness of hygiene.

If they shut the schools but kept everything else open with social distancing (even pubs, non- essential retail etc), I'm willing to bet the cases will go down.

I'm on the fence. Kids need school, parents need to work. However, the virus is spreading like wildfire in school settings, and the reality is that this lockdown probably won't have the full desired effect without closing at least secondaries for a couple of weeks.

@Sexnotgender

I think if they shut nurseries I’ll have a nervous breakdown 😢 my toddler is lovely but trying to work full time from home and look after a toddler is a big fat pile of shite. 6 months of it was beyond horrendous.

All of this! I find those who parrot the slogans like this or 'total lockdown' have no skin in the game for want of a better phrase, and are not personally or financially affected by it.

It’s a difficult one because everyone knows transmission occurs in schools - and definitely universities.

I have a son in primary and at drop off and pick off there are at least 50 adults at any one time all huddled together waiting for us gates to open to get their children. They have a one way system (adults still close together as they walk through it) and the entrance and exit to this system is through the same narrow gate so there are brushing past each other constantly.

In all honesty, while nurseries, schools, colleges and universities are still open I don’t think lockdown will have much of an impact on the cases - especially in only 4 weeks.

I won’t survive financially (and possibly mental health wise) if they close the schools again, trying to work a full time job from home and keep my son on track with home schooling lessons and work broke me last time and I am only just getting back on track now, I had to work all through the last one and wasn’t seemed a “key worker” so extra help / support provided.

Keep them open. There are other things aside from covid going on in the world.

So here is a little information shared by one of my local councillors in Wokingham-

84% of coronavirus cases in Wokingham between 5th October and 18th October were due to household contact and a further 6% due to household visitors. In the 65+ age group that was 100%. Please be responsible. The fact that no one knows you are breaking the rules makes no difference.

So not only are schools not the breeding grounds, but by closing schools we will be forcing behind the scenes mixing of households because people still have to work!

I would actually support mask wearing in school if the unions wished it though.

There is no way I want to home school again it achieved very little. I will be so upset if primaries close, but I don’t think they will.

The people supporting shutting down nurseries and schools are not representative of the majority.

The majority of working people cannot be in a situation where they are trying to homeschool and work again. It is not possible to do both simultaneously properly. If schools and nurseries are closed countless jobs will be lost. There will be no economy left after lockdown. The only people supporting shutting them down are people who can handle it either because they aren’t working or because their jobs are guaranteed.

Of course schools should stay open. My two are also old enough to fend for themselves and I am wfh so not a childcare issue. They need to be there for their education and mental health.

I don’t agree with many of the government decisions regarding the pandemic (EOTHO was ridiculous), but I think prioritising our dc’s education is absolutely the right thing to do.

Disgusting behaviour of adults, many of whom defend their need to go and play golf, go to the pub, go on holiday and see their parents. Children were bottom of the pile last lockdown, now it’s time to protect them and put them first!!!

Yes they absolutely need to stay open.

I think they should shut high schools / colleges/ universities as that's where the highest infection rates are.
Infant and junior schools should stay open.

Also from a personal view, my children are y2 and Y5. My son in Y5 had a terrible time over lockdown. He needs routine and to be in school. He has undiagnosed sen but he is on the SEN register. So he was unable to go in last time.
He couldn't cope with the home school side of things and learned practically zero. Him and me cried every single day of those 6 months. Since he's gone back to school he's like a different child

If necessary they will have to close. But it should only be a last resort.

Also on the fence. My 8yo was a depressed, frustrated mess over lockdown so for her sake it's essential that schools are open. But I work in a primary school and, with underlying problems I'm scared for myself.

My 12yo would love to be off, hates school and everyone in it. She'd be delighted for school to be shut.

My children have regressed by 18 months due to the last lockdown. My year 10 has gone to a slim chance of getting some GCSE passes to now looking impossible.

I couldn’t work at all during last lockdown due to children at home. I can’t stop work again only a month after going back.

Out of the 3 cases in my kids schools none have been passed onto the other students that had to isolate and all 3 cases were brought into school from the community not caught in school.

I work in a school and we have very strict measures in place.

Despite this, parents congregate to chat at drop-off, attempt to come into the classroom to talk to me, pick up children from other bubbles for play dates, arrange parties and sleepovers, car share and walk home in big groups.

I think that, for some, 'going back to school' meant 'back to normal'. Perhaps the full lockdown will just sharpen people's minds a bit and it will have a suppressing impact on socialising before/after school.

I don't rule out it becoming necessary to close schools again but I do think they should be the very last places to close, and that we have to try everything else first.

Universities are another matter. You only have to look at where the hot spots were to see that. Most students are now being taught entirely remotely. Close the universities and refund accommodation.

Both my elder 2 are at University, but have worked from home since the beginning of term because all their lectures are online, yet my youngest is supposed to be at school until I decided to home school him instead. In my opinion this lockdown will solve nothing exactly because the kids are still going to school. What a absolute shambles but I have no solution either. Very difficult all around.

Like you, OP, I work in a student-facing role at a University and have a child at school (Year 4). For my son's mental health, and that of mine and my students, it if imperative that schools and universities remain open. Children/young adults need human contact and socialisation and I think poor mental health and isolation is a far bigger risk than Covid.

Universities should shut first, then after a few weeks the data should be looked at to see if cases have come down and if schools can stay open whilst universities remain shut. The age group with the most positive cases are 16-29 year olds, not young schools children.

DDs (Y5) personality changed from being outgoing and sociable in March to wanting to stay on an iPad in her room by June. Since going back to school she is almost back to her old self. Children need school for education and socialisation.

Can parents currently keep their children out of school without any comeback?

If not, maybe that needs to be an option for parents who can (and want to) take their children out.

Any reduction of numbers in small classes must be a positive?

As a veteran of the social media Brexit Wars I'd like to point out that getting things trending on Twitter means precisely nothing in the real world.

My kids attend a very socio-economically mixed primary in a less 'desirable' area. We had our parent teacher meeting recently and their teachers were incredibly honest about the massive gulf which had opened up between the children they were teaching over lockdown, and I would bet a lot of money that gulf ran along socio-economic & SEN / non-SEN lines. So now the NEU want to replicate this for how long??? This lockdown? The next lockdown, because this won't be the last? Honestly I wish they'd just ballot their members and see where strike action got them