#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 work in a secondary school (over two thousand pupils). I want them to stay open. Even though some of our SEN pupils think social distancing means 15 inches away. Even though we're always shouting at the kids to stop hugging/jumping on each other/giving each other piggy backs (yes, you year 10!) Even though a group of 10 kids has to be asked to split up at lunch time as they move the tables and chairs to sit together. Even though we've had 5 Covid cases in the past month - one teacher, four kids (one with no symptoms and just pure luck to find they were positive).

We have kids in our school who have backgrounds that would make you cry if you read it in a fiction book. My DS is at the school and, as an only child, he needs his friends. He changed overnight when the schools went back. And we're very lucky, the school is very high tech with every kids having a laptop. The teachers are already teaching on line as well as face to face as we have isolators, those who are sick but OK to study and some who can't attend school because of their own or family vulnerability. But face to face is still better.

I'll take my chances. It's my job.

@Clearasmuddypuddles

You don’t work on the front line.

You absolutely cannot compare a 1:1 meeting in a ventilated space with both parties able to wear masks and stay 2m apart to me standing facing 32 teenagers in a classroom with no windows and no masks.

This x 1000

Sorry OP but with respect that's not frontline working conditions!

Shutting university campuses is irrelevant, as that's not where the spread is occurring, its in households the students live in. Where we are, the spread was quite rapid initially but has got under control by having the students lockdown into individual households and stay there, transmission rates have dropped dramatically.

If you put everything online now, then the students will up and go home for Christmas, now this second, and that will then spread what's left of their outbreaks further round the country into households with older adults.

I am not in favour of stopping face to face teaching (a small amount, socially distanced, our campus is extremely Covid-19 safe compared with pretty much anywhere I've been!)

I really hope schools stay open. As we saw in the summer closing them is easy, opening them is hard.
You can guarantee if they close they won’t reopen easily. They’ll be cries of keeping them closed until after Xmas, then it’ll be Feb half term etc. The unions don’t seem to care about kids education.
I wonder what they would say if hospitals , public transport and supermarkets closed.

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.

Cases have been coming down quite dramatically in most universities, and no evidence that it is spreading into the wider community. There has also been a lot more testing in universities generally compared with the rest of the population . Plus , if if infections really were still higher, sending students home would increase community transmission.

[quote Allthestarsarecloser]@Clearasmuddypuddles I also teach in lecture theatres of up to 300 students. It’s not a competition to see who is most in harms way[/quote]
That wasn’t what you said in your original post.

I am paid for 25 hours a week but I do over 2 hours overtime unpaid each day. Cleaning before, during breaks, lunch and after school.

Thank you for all that you're doing to keep everyone safe, LumpySpacedPrincess. Despite all of the complaining that we see on MN, there are many of us who do genuinely appreciate all of the efforts that teachers and other school staff are making to continue to educate our children in difficult circumstances.

Would be interesting to know, how many of those demanding schools close again had no qualms about swanning off abroad for their summer holidays?

Also I think the problem is that last time round once it was statistically safe to reopen there was so much fuss from teachers and unions that most children still didn't get to go back. I warned teachers and unions reps at the time that that was a short sighted move, because it would make the government much more reluctant to close schools in future waves.

As someone at university I don’t know what I’ll do if they shut again. I can’t afford to buy books I use the library every day.

Also, the coronavirus pandemic affects the elderly and appropriate measures are being taken. But the suicide epidemic is affecting the young (and more are dying of it that coronavirus!!!) so appropriate measures need to be taken for that too. And allowing young people to have some daily social contact will help massively I think

I am not in favour of stopping face to face teaching (a small amount, socially distanced, our campus is extremely Covid-19 safe compared with pretty much anywhere I've been!)

Yes, there are fewer cases on the campus I work in compared with where I live.

@pennylane83 yes, or going to the pub etc.

The OP may not be frontline in terms of being in full PPE with covid patients, but she's not working from home telling everyone else to lockdown/go out to work, she's out in the community, a community with a high rate of corona!

The fact the universities (mine anyway) have a much better social distancing and mask-wearing strategy than schools is ridiculous for the schools, people criticise the universities for having a money making business head on but that's what's led them to behave much better towards their students- they haven't taken the risks (in the main) that the government have made schools take at all as they don't fancy being sued by some student.

@Clearasmuddypuddles sorry I wasn’t exactly detailed in my post! I was asking a question 🙄

They should remove the fines and let those that want too keep their dc off.

It's barbaric t force them in when many dp want them at home.... Boris tells us that the NHS will be over run and not there for us and yet... Is asking dp who are vulnerable to send dc in.

Teens don't get covid. They get too close, they laugh and shout, they share desks, they share food, they hug, they wear next to nothing then moan that windows are open.

They are in bubbles of hundreds.... There is no sd.

@IncyWincyTincy

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.

That's only half the picture though. Where did the virus come from that was then passed around in homes?

Look at the official (ONS) data, not what a local councillor thinks.

Believe me, I’m the last person who wants schools and nurseries to close.

I have twins who are 4, autistic amongst others things, barely sleep. Nursery was our only respite and when that went away I fell apart.

I was also fighting my local authority to get them a place in the right specialist school throughout all this, hearings were in September. We won, they’ve been for 3 days so far, supposed to be starting full time in a couple of weeks.

But at the same time, it seems obvious to me that the new measures are toothless and will not work. So I have to say YABU.

Close, we will never get a handle on it otherwise.

@Belladonna12

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.

Cases have been coming down quite dramatically in most universities, and no evidence that it is spreading into the wider community. There has also been a lot more testing in universities generally compared with the rest of the population . Plus , if if infections really were still higher, sending students home would increase community transmission.

At my university, it was hotspot a few weeks ago and went into tier 3. Everyone caught it, isolated for a few weeks and now no ones catching it again. We have lower rates in our city that teir 1 places now

Frontline? Get over yourself... And I say that as a teacher

Even the teach online isn’t good enough. What if some families don’t have the right equipment to facilitate that?

I have 1 small smartphone and an old laptop. How on earth am I supposed to help my children do online classes? I have 3 primary school aged children, one with additional needs. And to be honest all 3 will not concentrate at home. It would be a disaster.

I’m all for helping them with work done on paper the old fashioned way, but not this new age of online learning. If something is there in front on them they have a better chance of doing it. I understand they do a lot of online work when in secondary school, but a 5 year old is very different to a 15 year old.

@NeverTwerkNaked

Children need to be educated. I don't mind whether that is in person or online but I am incredibly disappointed that the campaign from teachers and teachers unions is "close the schools" rather.than "teach online".

Teaching online was dreadful and ineffective...and I say that as a teacher who made videos, interactive resources, sat in front of the screen religiously during school hours....and delivered paper resources to children’s houses.

It only works if there is an adult with the child with the time and skills to facilitate. Very few children have that luxury.

It’s interesting, Scotland are seeing a reduction in cases at the moment but that coincides with 2 weeks since the end of half term. It will be interesting to see if those cases now begin to rise again or not. Also to watch and see whether the drop in infection rates correlated to a drop in hospitalisation rates and deaths in another 10 days or so.
England won’t know because it will be hidden by the new lockdown.
That’s the issue of changing variables frequently and never actually being able to analyse the results.

@lu00 where is this haven. Not heard about herd immunity working anywhere.

I agree that schools should be open with some provisos:

1. Mass testing at secondary schools to find asymptomatic cases
2. Masks for children over 10 and teachers in the classroom
3. Proper targeted testing at any school where there has been an outbreak.
4. If cases are not down enough by the end of this lockdown, secondary schools move to rota system until the case numbers are down enough