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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Schools should close for 2 weeks after the Christmas mixing

965 replies

OverTheRainbow88 · 22/11/2020 07:38

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
8
midnightstar66 · 22/11/2020 14:45

We don’t want an extra two weeks off, we want people to not mix over Christmas.

Better let Boris know as this seems to be the main aim of the current lockdown and will no doubt necessitate a second one. Even if he chances it now though people are now expecting to be able to spend time with their families so I doubt they will comply

LittleRa · 22/11/2020 14:47

@midnightstar66

We don’t want an extra two weeks off, we want people to not mix over Christmas.

Better let Boris know as this seems to be the main aim of the current lockdown and will no doubt necessitate a second one. Even if he chances it now though people are now expecting to be able to spend time with their families so I doubt they will comply

And “it doesn’t matter how many teachers get Covid” (to quote a PP) Sad
IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 22/11/2020 14:53

It doesnt matter how many teachers catch Covid

I’ve read a few similar comments now and it saddens me how little is thought of teachers.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 22/11/2020 14:57

@Possums4evr if you want to work at home from your sofa then there are jobs that will allow you to do this , but teaching isn't one of them .
This thread has re educated me, I admit I didnt consider the lack of ppe and the very close contact teachers have with their pupils , especially the little ones.
However, I haven't heard this from any other childcare setting ( nurseries , special needs schools , childminders)
Unfortunately the public perception of this is that teachers want another 6 months off or want to wfh like their friends in other careers.

I know many , many teachers worked really hard during lockdown, some actually did not . Namely in my son's school ( compared to other schools they were shocking)

Ginfizz2 · 22/11/2020 15:01

When I went to university many moons ago to train to be a nurse covid did not exist. My reason for training to be a nurse was to care for and advocate for those that needed it. At no point (as a single mum) did I ‘sign up’ to potentially die from a virus. I think unless you work in close protection or the armed forces then most people don’t sign up to potentially die for the job they do (and for context I don’t think those entering those professions intentionally do either), and this includes teachers, shop staff, bus drivers, prison staff etc etc etc. Covid has affected everyone in very different ways especially the younger generation.
My point is we are all at risk of potentially being infected with covid unless you lock yourself away. I could catch covid at work or it could be in the shop. Are all the people on here advocating for further school closures going to stay home for the period?
Where I live there is IMO complacency around covid people not wearing masks on buses/shops etc (yes I’m sure a small percentage are exempt but not all).
I’ve rambled on abs gone off on a tangent but I’m fed up of the you signed up to this because you work as a nurse/doctor/midwife/hca/paramedic/ward clerk etc.

IceCreamAndCandyfloss · 22/11/2020 15:02

Agree a water birth is not essential and it’s not like anyone has to have children at any time so if they do so during a pandemic then we should be grateful that the health service is still there for that.

I’d rather the nhs wasn’t overwhelmed so cancer treatments, emergencies, treatment for children etc can continue than give into a group who can’t change Christmas for one year.

Blossomhill4 · 22/11/2020 15:03

No OP. People need to stay in their OWN houses!! Be grateful that you have your own immediate family at the table on Xmas day.

Covid is not a joke and I do not want to be dragging this on till this time NEXT YEAR... Hmm

CallmeAngelina · 22/11/2020 15:04

@Rosebel: "I had a lot of sympathy for teachers at first but getting annoyed with the way they keep thinking they should get extra privileges or time off."

What "extra privileges" are teachers thinking they should get?

NoIDontWatchLoveIsland · 22/11/2020 15:05

I would agree with having teachers age 60+ or who are clinically extremely vulnerable having extra protection, but I dont know if it needs to mean total absence from classroom.

Rosebel · 22/11/2020 15:06

Unfortunately you can't stop people mixing though (although we won't be). So as it can't be stopped (even if it's against the rules) a lot of people think the answer is to close schools for another 2 weeks. It won't achieve anything.
Some people have ignored all the rules so far. More people will ignore them at Christmas (and probably for as long as schools are closed) so shutting will achieve nothing.
It's shit for everyone but we have to carry on and pray things will be better in the spring.

LittleRa · 22/11/2020 15:08

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

Agree a water birth is not essential and it’s not like anyone has to have children at any time so if they do so during a pandemic then we should be grateful that the health service is still there for that.

I’d rather the nhs wasn’t overwhelmed so cancer treatments, emergencies, treatment for children etc can continue than give into a group who can’t change Christmas for one year.

I get that it’s not essential, I was just responding to the PP who had said “it doesn’t matter how many teachers get Covid” due to there being low death rates- as if dying was the only reason teachers wouldn’t want to get Covid. My own personal experience is the water birth one, and there are many varied other reasons why teachers would not want to get Covid other than dying. So it’s just not very nice to hear “it’s doesn’t matter how many teachers get Covid”. Also, to repeat as I’ve said- as a teacher I do not want schools to close, but rather I expect people not to mix over Christmas. Saying a water birth is not essential is true, but seeing family members over Christmas is also not essential.
Freshcoatofpaint · 22/11/2020 15:09

Um, no. We're not seeing anyone over Christmas so why should my children's education suffer?

PrivateD00r · 22/11/2020 15:13

To all those arguing over whether teachers are at more risk etc. This picture was posted on another thread today. Schools being as they are is increasing the risk for every single family who have dc in school, regardless of the occupation of the adults. Do you want your Dc in this corridor in January, if most of these DC have been mixing freely over the Christmas holidays? To those more concerned for supermarket staff, does your supermarket currently look like this? I think the only saving grace is that as a pp pointed out, a few visits with granny over the 2 week period may well reduce transmission compared with 2 weeks of mixing in school. So who knows how it will pan out.

Schools should close for 2 weeks after the Christmas mixing
TheDowagerDuchess · 22/11/2020 15:13

Why tf do some people continually want to punish children in this mess?

It would be much better not to have Christmas mixing than to close schools at all.

What we shouldn’t have done was let people fly all over the place, and have pubs etc open, in September and October. All those cheap holidays taken by childfree adults were scandalous.

Spelunking · 22/11/2020 15:15

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

I would agree with having teachers age 60+ or who are clinically extremely vulnerable having extra protection, but I dont know if it needs to mean total absence from classroom.
My friend is a secondary teacher and very high risk. She was wearing a visor for lessons and able to keep a good distance from pupils. Her school have made her work from home again for lockdown 2 but she is following each class online and has a TA in the classroom. She would rather be there in person but at least she is able to be involved this time.
52andblue · 22/11/2020 15:16

@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.
Hear hear, @Possums4evr

What it would be to have a Govt that was proactive rather than reactive
And who cared more about Health and the Economy (interlinked!)
than perceptions of public opinion (though Johnson didn't re DomCum)

PrivateD00r · 22/11/2020 15:17

LittleRa, as a midwife I am on your side and I want you to have your waterbirth. However I think you may have got more understanding on this thread if you had said you are concerned for the welfare of you and your baby should you catch covid.

However I understand your point, why should your occupation impact on your birth choices?

Isthatitnow · 22/11/2020 15:19

I agree, OP. It is completely unacceptable that they allow people to mix and then expect us to pick up the slack in January. It will be school staff who end up ill. However, they have proved time and time again in the last few months that school staff are nothing other than collateral damage. It should be a scandal.

CallmeAngelina · 22/11/2020 15:19

"Unfortunately the public perception of this is that teachers want another 6 months off or want to wfh like their friends in other careers."

Only particularly ignorant members of the public think this.

LittleRa · 22/11/2020 15:21

@PrivateD00r

LittleRa, as a midwife I am on your side and I want you to have your waterbirth. However I think you may have got more understanding on this thread if you had said you are concerned for the welfare of you and your baby should you catch covid.

However I understand your point, why should your occupation impact on your birth choices?

Thank you, I appreciate your reply. I totally understand that my birth choices are small fry in the grand scheme of things, but obviously they are very important to me personally and as I’ve said I was pointing out to the PP that dying isn’t the only reason that teachers may not want to catch Covid.
Isthatitnow · 22/11/2020 15:22

We're not seeing anyone over Christmas so why should my children's education suffer?

I'm not seeing anyone over Christmas. Why should I, as a teacher, be put at even more risk than I already am, by all the families who will be seeing people over Christmas? Or do school staff and their families not matter? Or frontline NHS staff and their families who will also be negatively impacted by a free for all over the holidays.

CallmeAngelina · 22/11/2020 15:22

@PrivateD00r, never mind "in January." I wonder how many people who are happily sending their secondary-aged pupils into school now are aware that this is what they're exposing themselves (and their wider families) to.

PrivateD00r · 22/11/2020 15:22

Absolutely. It annoys me too that longterm effects of covid aren't considered too by some, only death rates.

PrivateD00r · 22/11/2020 15:23

[quote CallmeAngelina]**@PrivateD00r, never mind "in January." I wonder how many people who are happily sending their secondary-aged pupils into school now are aware that this is what they're exposing themselves (and their wider families) to.[/quote]
Yes of course, sorry! I was just trying to keep in the context of the thread which relates to January.

I was genuinely shocked at the picture, hence pinching it from another thread.

Elfieishere · 22/11/2020 15:24

Nope.. schools can stay open thanks.