Longer lockdown or shut secondaries ?

[Coffeeandteac]

YABU - keep open
YANBU- Go to online for 4 weeks to reduce spread for secondary.

I know they say lockdown may be extended now. Though it is clear from today that the lockdown will be longer while schools are still open. It is also clear older children spread the virus like adults from watching Marr and news channels today.

Which would you prefer? Which do you think is right?
In my opinion I would shut secondaries as I think it may not take the R below one anyway.imo.
However if I had a choice I think it would be better for business to have a shorter lockdown and close schools.

AIBU?

Shut schools

Longer - until April really.

@LauraAshleySofa What does the trial involve please? Would love to hear more about it (I'm not in England)

@Bergerdog

So longer lockdown for business?

But those of us who have small children in schools need them to be in schools so we can work, my job is also at risk if they stop children going as I have no other childcare bar at risk elderly grandparents.

I think it would be a good idea to close secondaries however as those children would be old enough to stay at home in most circumstances so it shouldn’t effect working parents too much.

It’s so hard as there’s always going to be people screwed over no matter how it’s done

This thread is about secondary as that's what the ONS data shows.

Interesting reading we should only keep exam years in. My da is in a sixth form college. Going back alternating weeks with year 12 from this week Still 1000 students in so not really limiting. They have had 3 cases so far in college over the last half term teir 3 high risk area. I'm not sure it's the kids. God knows what will happen for exams.

Close everything from primary upwards.
Either online learning or no learning and remove holidays down the line instead when things have stabilised. Move exams etc back, basically an education pause button.

Y13 and Y11 have already lost over a quarter of their teaching time for their couses in the previous school year. They have a right to education and many courses that they are 3/5s of the way through can not be adequately taught remotely.
Self-isolation discrepencies are not an even playing field but they are at least seeing their teachers the majority of the time and their teachers at least know better where they stand than through the uneven playing field of remote learning.

This lockdown will be the death knell for thousands of companies and jobs.

Both shutting schools and closing businesses have terrible consequences to individuals.

Oh yes to the poster saying you cant send years 10 &12 home. That's exactly what they did in the spring to current year 11 & 13's. They have had to cope and in my opinion are in a far worse situation than last years exam groups. Less than an academic year in college and trying to.decide if uni x is better than y by video. Then exam issues have also been looming fo them for almost 12 months too

@castlecrasher it's just regular testing but with a quick results test across the whole school population (parents had to each give parental consent obviously). My lovely DS was a more than willing volunteer.

Don’t particularly care re saving Christmas, it’s just one day. I’d rather have an economy and health service for my children now and in the future so I’d close schools and minimise the impact on businesses. Schools are set to go with remote education so if parents partake then the children won’t miss out.

@LaurieFairyCake

Agree with shut schools apart from yr 6, yr 11 and year 13.

But we live in an 11+ area. A lot of parents would be seething if you closed year 5 and wouldn't care so much about year 6 as the exams are at the start of September anyway.

One thing I would do is not to run SATs this year. It would take a lot of pressure off and free teachers up to make up what was lost during lockdown.

1.wake up and smell the coffee. Not locking down over half term was deliberate. People spend money in half term. People do not spend money in November. University students are liable for full years fees if they dont drop out by 31 October - an earlier lockdown would have increased the rate of students dropping out.

1. The point of lockdown is not to stop us getting the virus at all. I strongly suspect the point is to allow the virus to work through the population, but manage NHS capacity* and try and allow the economy to keep limping along. Eg to allow cases to run right up to max, then lockdown to slow it again & allow NHS to recover, then repeat.

No please do not shut schools unless an absolute last resort.
It is so damaging for pupils and online learning is not equitable across all schools and all pupils, so many students are at a massive disadvantage if they are not in school due to discrepancies in teaching accessibility, no access to laptops, WiFi, homelife unsuitable etc.
Some pupils had virtually no teaching from Mar - July - how can they miss a further month !

It is a shame there are not 4 voting buttons to show the proportion of votes ‘ for v against ‘ and whether you have children in secondary or not, as I suspect those so keen to close secondary schools do not have children in secondary school and it does not directly affect your children.

If we're going to go with closing schools and going online, then take a decision now that exams are cancelled so schools can prepare alternative forms of moderation. I have a DD in Yr13 and I am not happy with the way she is being messed about. We need clarity and a solid alternative, not another shambles like this year.

I care more about my children's education an mental health than the local piss head that needs a pint from the pub.so if a longer lock down keeps the children in school ill take it. Are children are suffering just as much as every1 else why should they lose out on important education so everyone else can go about there day?

Shut them.

I don't want schools to close, my son needs it as he really suffered last time which surprised me. He is in year 10 it is an important year.

However, I do wonder why we are allowing jobs and business to be lost if the virus still spreads via schools. Wont that be for nothing? Is there no other way to deal with this?

Why do business and sports have to close completely? can we not allocate slots for people to shop, attend leisure facilities etc in vastly reduced numbers. I am not sure how that would work but possibly by family type ie retired couples with no kids can book slots on particular days or by families - of children in year 7&8 at x school can book slots at x swimming pool or x gym or x ice rink on x days.

Ok, so some clever data scientists could work that out and not me! but the point is we could be allocated time to use sports/leisure facilities/business/hairdresser etc ect in a rationed way. Facilities and business would open during any given slot for a small number of people to use in a socially distanced way with people in a similar demographic. The gov would have to subsidise certain business that lacked enough customers but I bet others would boom and they would keep people employed.

If we just close up, people will just buy from amazon etc.

It might take a while to work out but realistically will this lockdown end before March next year?

Schools should remain open. The lockdown should have coincided with the half term period.

I think it’s a shame that the preschool classes are having to shut. The ones up my way have been very good at ensuring each parent and child stays at least 2 metres away from every other parent and child. To be honest, I wish it had been like that when I took mine to Baby Sensory - I always used to feel a bit squished! Dancing classes etc are also making sure their pupils dance in their own space, and children at these classes are being kept apart far better than at schools. So I think the risk there for transmission is negligible, yet they’re all having to shut. But schools are not. It doesn’t make sense to shut one and not the other, in my opinion.

I also think they should have done a 3 week lockdown, including schools, over half term. So a week before, half term week and a week after. That way to the kids it would only seem like a nice long half term, transmission that’s happening in schools would be given a break, and teachers wouldn’t lose too much teaching time. That’s what I think would have worked better.

@RedHelenB

Schools should remain open. The lockdown should have coincided with the half term period.

I completely agree with your second point.

If they’d made the week before half term remote learning for all as well, I expect the numbers in the next few weeks would have looked much more positive.

No. The older secondary students have been screwed over enough. Both educationally at a stage when they haven't got years to catch up, and socially because while activities for younger dc, adults and the elderly were opened back up, most of the normal teen activities were still off limits, and will still be when the lockdown is eased. School is the only thing they have left. Not to mention that vulnerable secondary pupils still deserve support/ escape, and would otherwise be unlikely to appear on any radar.

I’ve read today that the government are already thinking they will cancel next years exams.

Secondaries should close. And universities.

Close schools now, but shorten other holidays in the spring/summer months where there will be reduced transmission

Closing for a couple of weeks now, may be enough (when figuring in two weeks off at Xmas as well) to keep the R rate low enough to get through the winter until testing improves and a possible Vaccine is in sight.

Demanding schools don’t close is likely to cause far more problems.

Yanbu