#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 want schools to be open but A) much more safely - not with 'hope for the best' measures that are untenable and don't have any backup funding and are causing great fear;
and
B) with choice, or lack of penalties, to parents who feel that the risk to their circumstances is too high, for whatever reason - and allowing greater support for those parents who cannot have any flexibility in working;
and perhaps even C)
Rota systems to halve the number of bodies in a classroom at one time, where this is possible. This happened for 2 days in July in our school - Mon/Tues group, Weds a deep clean, Thurs/Fri group.
It's not great, but it's probably more predictable than sudden closing and seeing school clusters, and then wider risk from those cases, for months.

Ermmm. that was me on the staffroom.

He suffers form a heart condition if that's OK with you and a ruptured knee cap so can only do certain exercises and minimised his hours to control anxiety and stress. The golf bit was joke on a staffroom thread as we joke about him being a bit of a curmudgeon

If he wants to spend 30+years worth of savings on (not actually not very expensive golf course fees that's up to him. He is clinically vulnerable and teaches maths every day he works to 30+ teenagers at a time so do get stuffed.

What would you like him to do on his days off, my love??

I also didn't say eh was annoyed golf course were closed but schools open.

I said he was annoyed that golf course were closed. As are many many people, teachers and non teachers.

I doubt there would be a petition at all if there had been adequate protection in schools in the first place.

The government lie when they say schools are safe. They aren't. They need to be made safer. It's about time that the unions flexed their muscles. They have been useless up until now, despite the conspiracy theorists

Time for schools to be made safer for children and staff or to close until they can be made safer.

Have trouble believing he could actually be a teacher as teachers generally can’t afford golf club fees

Seriously?!

@Christmasfairy2020

Maybe start a petition of

Will u have a covid vaccine.

Most ppl say no they wouldnt which then leads me to say what's the point of a lockdown

Only people who (rightly or wrongly ) don't think they are vulnerable to Covid say that they won't have a vaccine.

Newsflash :some teachers don't eat, breathe and sleep teaching. It's. A . Job.

I find it interesting to note the condescending tone of many of the posters advocating for schools to close. Putting us silly mums in our place for wanting young children to receive an education

And for daring to have a job - and a job that isn't flexible enough to facilitate hours of homeschooling at the drop of a hat.

@cologne4711

I really fear that the government is going to bow to the pressure. I hope you'll all be satisfied with the damage caused to (most) children and teenagers when it happens.

I sincerely hope this isn't the case.

We need to remember that "the pressure" is largely from Mumsnetters, who are not quite as important as they sometimes think they are.

If you ask any real person, they would say they want the schools to stay open.

@BlueStethoscope

I find it interesting to note the condescending tone of many of the posters advocating for schools to close. Putting us silly mums in our place for wanting young children to receive an education

The thing is people are going to die, and not just people over 80.

With schools going back the way they are, some of those people will be mums and dads, teachers and parents, in their 40s and 50s and 60s. People with, as they keep saying, pre-existing health conditions, but still people, and a lot of us with jobs, looking after children etc. People from families who were shielding before.

No parent wants their child not to have a proper education, and in fact, we have never taken a day off school for holiday etc.

We are pretty flexible in fact, because I have arranged things to have time out of work. We can teach our kids at home, we could send them in if schools were actually safe, we could do blended learning, we could do a rota. we can do my of that.

We cannot, however, cope with secondary schools being a non-social distancing covid nightmare when 1 in 50 secondary age kids has covid and there is almost no testing, no cluster tracing, no masks etc.

I would love schools to continue. Somehow, Just not like this.

Is that condescending?

I have a special needs child i cannot cope if her special needs nursery closes. Ive struggled so much this half term, me husband both have

I think secondary schools (apart from yrs 11 and 13 which should stay in) should start working on a 2 weeks in school and 2 weeks online basis so keep the numbers down in school. I think the contact time is important and the children have missed enough school. The exam years certainly can't afford to miss anymore. The 2 weeks rota would break any chains of transmission in school as well as allowing for more social distancing for those that are in. Also, they should all be wearing masks. My y13 chooses to wear one all the time anyway (despite being technically exempt due to ASD).

In primary school, Adults and older children (maybe KS2 or just years 5 & 6) should wear masks. The bubbles work better in primary though because they can stay in the same class all day so I think they're ok to keep coming in. I say that as a primary TA.

Testing needs to be more efficient though. At the moment if someone has covid symptoms they stay at home and get a test. I had to do that with my DC the other week and it took 3 days for the results to come back. If that was a positive result (it wasn't for my DC) that's potentially 3 days of the rest of the bubble coming into school after having been exposed. That is no way to stop it spreading.

They SHOULD close the schools. How else will infection rates drop?

There was a poster on another thread who claimed that her DH teacher had taken part time hours to play more golf and was annoyed that schools were open but golf courses shut....
Have trouble believing he could actually be a teacher as teachers generally can’t afford golf club fees and tend to prioritise their pupils over their hobby...

I mean this is terrible etiquette Susan; it’s also rude AND inaccurate 🤷🏻‍♀️

You just reminded me how cross I am smile.

Thanks though!

Tempted to start a mysterious DH's hobby thread now, though!

the statistics speak for themselves. Children don't even have symptoms in most cases

Not my experience of working across many schools. I remain surprised that parents will risk the health of their own children.

Tempted to start a mysterious DH's hobby thread now, though!

🤣🤣

How else will infection rates drop?

They’re dropping substantially in Ireland with schools still open.

I really fear that the government is going to bow to the pressure. I hope you'll all be satisfied with the damage caused to (most) children and teenagers when it happens.

People won’t give a shit.

It will be a fresh new opportunity for people to bash parents of today about how lazy and incompetent because many will struggle to homeschool.

*lazy and incompetent they are

@Susanwouldntlikeit

There was a poster on another thread who claimed that her DH teacher had taken part time hours to play more golf and was annoyed that schools were open but golf courses shut.... Have trouble believing he could actually be a teacher as teachers generally can’t afford golf club fees and tend to prioritise their pupils over their hobby...

Are you crazy?! This is hilarious.

I tell you what I prioritise over my pupils.. my family, my friends, my life (including hobbies). I am a damn good teacher and can make the kids in my care feel ten feet tall and have spent 25 years encouraging, cajoling, nudging, smiling, cheering and praising children. I have taken them on residentials and left my own disabled DC at home with grandparents so I can take 30 kids away to broaden their horizons. But it is just. a. job.
The smile goes on for the kids and their parents and I do everything in my power to help their children succeed. But it is just a job.

I remain surprised that parents will risk the health of their own children.

They clearly have better risk assessment capabilities than you. Children are at far more risk from other illnesses/accidents than Covid.

Yanbu

As a primary school teacher and mum I believe it is absolutely vital schools stay open. There does need to be consideration to extremely vulnerable staff in schools. I am healthy I want to be there teaching the kids in my class, making a difference because that's what I love about my job.