Schools should close for 2 weeks after the Christmas mixing

[OverTheRainbow88]

I think that schools should remain closed for face to face teaching 2-3 weeks after the end of the period in which Boris will allow families to all mix.

I don’t want to be in a classroom with 30 different kids 5 times a day who’ve mixed inside with all different family members and friends.

I say online learning until mid Jan, if Boris will allow us all to mix at Christmas

"Teachers are, as a whole, on a statistical level, at very low risk from covid. Even with no measures whatsoever."

Link for that assertion, please? Because there is strong evidence emerging that the stats have been lied about by government fudged.
here

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Oh my god get with the program. Teachers are, as a whole, on a statistical level, at very low risk from covid. Even with no measures whatsoever.

As a result, this means the government accepts that some teachers will catch Covid and that a minuscule % could even die, just as a tiny % could die of various other diseases each year. They will not close schools again.

What? Do you honestly think all teachers are under 50 and healthy? What an absolutely ridiculous post. Maybe try telling that to teachers who have had a terrible time with covid, such as a lovely poster called Aracog?

How can you possibly think that an adult mixing with potentially 100's of teens every week is at the same risk of someone working from home?

I absolutely agree they should have a week to two extra. I'm in Ireland and it's been stressful since Sept, secondary schools have to wear a mask all day, my 16 year old is finding it difficult with glasses. Primary schools are stuck in pods, can't play with anyone outside their pods and classrooms have the windows open all day. They're being sent out to the yard if it's raining. My 10 year old has come home a few times saying he's freezing even though he's got an extra jumper. I'd say the teachers are super stressed trying to make sure all regulations are stuck to, can't be easy for them.

Also I will have to mix households for christmas. My parents usually go away for the period but as they can't I'm not going to leave hem sitting alone for the day.

@huuskymam

Also I will have to mix households for christmas. My parents usually go away for the period but as they can't I'm not going to leave hem sitting alone for the day.

No you are choosing to mix households. You don’t have to.

What do you think will happen in those two weeks ? I'll tell you , people will see it as an extension of xmas and carry on mingling. Either socially or for childcare arrangements as most people cannot afford to take time off work during the most financially stretched month of the year

I'd rather no Christmas mixing.

@huuskymam you do not "have" to mix households. You're choosing to. Your parents won't be alone, they'll be with each other.

@Dontforgetyourbrolly

What do you think will happen in those two weeks ? I'll tell you , people will see it as an extension of xmas and carry on mingling. Either socially or for childcare arrangements as most people cannot afford to take time off work during the most financially stretched month of the year

Exactly what I was wondering! Some teachers doing a fair amount of mingling too and they will be at higher risk of giving it to colleagues and children than the children themselves. Or do people mean close schools and lock down?

I did not say all teachers are under 50

On a population level the risk is low. The government cannot make decisions based on how shit something is for the tiny number of younger people who will be unlucky and get it severely.

Most teachers will be under 60, at least. Most will be under 50 in fact. The overall death rate for Covid in under 50s is very low.

Bear in mind that we dont even catch all cases in the stats as many people will be asymptomatic.

The point is Covid is a new risk, so people are not coping very well with objectively analysing the risk as we do with the much more familiar comparable risks we face each day.

The government have to look at the picture as a whole. The long term negative impact of fucking up millions of kids education and mental health with repeated school closures is catastrophic and considered worse than the low risk posed to teachers overall from Covid

We don't know what will happen over Christmas yet, nothing will officially be announced untill tomorrow.

Surely the choice isn't between closing schools for extra time after Christmas and not closing them, but between closing them after Christmas and having them close when staff and students get sick or have to isolate?
The first is much easier to plan for than the second.

Call me Angelina

It doesnt matter how many teachers catch Covid. My assessment of the risk as "low" is based on the % of teachers who are likely to die of Covid, based on its prevalence and reported age based mortality per ONS statistics. Which is a tiny %.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
I agree . I never hear of supermarket workers collectively complaining about going into work when many are over 50 or even 60 and are mingling with more than 30 people a day .
Although I do have sympathy for teachers and absolutely feel they should be one of the first in line for the vaccine ( whatever their age) , covid is posing a risk for everyone not just them.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland so would you not agree that more at risk teachers should be working from home, perhaps running the online learning for absent pupils?
Or should we not try to mitigate their risk at all?

@Dontforgetyourbrolly do secondary teachers only work with 30 teenagers a day? We see hundreds and spend long periods of time with them in one poorly ventilated room.

@Possums4evr

Surely the choice isn't between closing schools for extra time after Christmas and not closing them, but between closing them after Christmas and having them close when staff and students get sick or have to isolate? The first is much easier to plan for than the second.

But the first doesn’t negate the second. Do you think if schools close for the first 2 weeks all the secondary school pupils will dutifully sit at home not seeing their friends for 2 weeks? Do you think primary school parents who need to work so as not to risk their livelihoods won’t use family/friends as ad hoc childcare?

It doesnt matter how many teachers catch Covid It fucking matters to the fit and healthy teacher I work with who didn't die, but has long Covid and is a shadow of her former self.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Call me Angelina

It doesnt matter how many teachers catch Covid. My assessment of the risk as "low" is based on the % of teachers who are likely to die of Covid, based on its prevalence and reported age based mortality per ONS statistics. Which is a tiny %.

I’m a teacher and I’m pregnant. If I caught Covid I’d probably be unlikely to die, as you sensitively point out. However, if I have a positive Covid test within 90 days prior to giving birth, I’ll be unable to use the birth pool for a water birth (my preferred birth plan, I had a water birth with my first DD), even if I go on to recover and have a subsequent negative test before birth. I’m aware that things can happen during labour which might mean a water birth is off the cards anyway, but it would be very galling to catch Covid from a pupil (from whom it is impossible to socially distance) in January and then that mean that a water birth option is totally wiped out for me in March So it’s not just about dying.

[quote Dontforgetyourbrolly]@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland
I agree . I never hear of supermarket workers collectively complaining about going into work when many are over 50 or even 60 and are mingling with more than 30 people a day .
Although I do have sympathy for teachers and absolutely feel they should be one of the first in line for the vaccine ( whatever their age) , covid is posing a risk for everyone not just them.[/quote]
Supermarket workers don't spend 50 minutes at a time sat beside people with no distancing. Supermarket workers don't have to touch the person and belongings of people with special needs. Supermarket workers don't see 30 x 6/7 pupils a day and that's only in the classroom and not including the ones milling in the canteen, and through corridors not designed for social distancing. Supermarket workers work behind screens with PPE. Would you like me to carry on?

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Call me Angelina

It doesnt matter how many teachers catch Covid. My assessment of the risk as "low" is based on the % of teachers who are likely to die of Covid, based on its prevalence and reported age based mortality per ONS statistics. Which is a tiny %.

Ah OK. As long as it's only one. That will make their friends and family feel better.

With all due respect during a pandemic someone's waterbirth is insignificant in the planning for the country. Sorry.

@Possums4evr no definitely not , you make a valid point. But there are other professions with similar circumstances too . Why don't teachers assess their own risk and stay home if they don't feel safe ?
They wont get paid / get sacked etc well it's the same for millions of others right now .
Why cant some people understand this problem is affecting everyone and not just exclusive to themselves

I completely agree. We are not planning on mixing but it does concern me that a lot of DD's class WILL be. I feel so sorry for the teachers too. We've already had an email from the head saying that staff have noticed children from various year groups mixing in big groups with children from other schools after school and at the weekends. DD's school is the only one in our town that hasn't had any reported cases but it's only a matter of time.