to wonder WTF Greenwich?

[Standandwait]

Okay: I'm a parent in London, but not in Greenwich -- and I do have some backup help. And I'm all for controlling CV. But still: Greenwich borough announces SUNDAY NIGHT that all schools will close and go back online from Monday evening. Does not a single person in charge of these decisions over there have both a job and a child????

@wildraisins

Surely at the moment all parents should have some contingency plan for if the school closes. It could happen at any time.

But what, exactly, should that plan be? Given that most peoples' reliable childcare is grandparents, and you're not allowed to meet people indoors?

My contingency plan is that we attempt to work from home, the same as it was all through lockdown.

@BethlehemIsInTier1 and @Givemeabreak88,

When you say, "the school have done nothing" and that you have "had no support from the school what so ever," what exactly do you mean? What hasn't been done that you would like to see?

We re in the South West and my children's school has over this last term been hit hard. We ve had three periods of isolation between my two DD's. I've had to miss work each time, it's been a nightmare but I can't see any other way around it.

I blame nobody but the government for this fuck up. The have been last minute and reactive to everything and should have given schools the option to go remote for the last week of term. Good on Greenwich for trying to do something about it.

Yes whole schools in the north have been closing and opening and bubbles popping and reclosing... It is a regular hokey cokey in some schools and some areas.
And yet I know of neighbouring schools that have not yet had a single positive case.

The option should have been for individual parents to take them out in last week.

OP, you're unlikely to get anything other than frothing if you've posted a heady combination of AIBU and Covid.

It's bloody ridiculous that schools can close just like that. Women and children in particular have been screwed by the knee-jerk policies to do with Covid (as has anyone in the hospitality or music industry, as a side-issue).

Yabu. And I'm a lone parent WFH.
Sick of my kids but sick of the pandemic more. Schools being open aren't exactly helping.

[quote Whattheactual20201]@BethlehemIsInTier1 it’s not only London though it’s one borough in London. My dc school have refused to close even the day early and have the bloody pantomime and zoo guy in The building next week 🙈[/quote]
Aww the kids will look forward to it, I loved the zoo coming in to my sons school!

I wish the councils here would close the schools (tier 3, North West) but no, we keep soldiering on.

[quote NotPrude]@BethlehemIsInTier1

It’s not London as a whole. Greenwich has broken from the ranks and done its own thing, whilst the rest of London stays open.[/quote]
I hope all other schools/Councils follow, good on them, it is clearly not working, everyone but the government know this, I just do not have a solution as there is clearly nothing any of us can do moving forward, all down to Mother Nature his rona wants to pan out.

I'm in Bolton we had the highest rates of infection a few months ago but our kids still had go to school ,neither of my son's school,s have closed completely ,lots of bubbles have burst and Ds1 has had two episodes of self isolation .

[quote CallmeAngelGabriel]**@BethlehemIsInTier1* and @Givemeabreak88*,

When you say, "the school have done nothing" and that you have "had no support from the school what so ever," what exactly do you mean? What hasn't been done that you would like to see?[/quote]
The reopening of schools policy states that remote education has to be given to pupils shielding. My sons school has done nothing, I have home schooled him, bought all his textbooks, work sheets, subscriptions. They have not looked at or marked any work, in fact they said they would welcome my son back when he returns, and they not contacted us since. Surely they should be doing exactly what the policy states?

@Redlocks28

I blame nobody but the government for this fuck up. The have been last minute and reactive to everything and should have given schools the option to go remote for the last week of term. Good on Greenwich for trying to do something about it.

I agree with this.

Can I just say, the South is not just London. I live in East Kent (takes me 2 hours on train to get to London) so not close. Multiple schools in Swale (highest C19 rate in country and also the worst borough in England for population:GP ratio) and Medway have been entirely closing for a while now. Before lockdown 2 we were in tier 1, came out in tier 3. Huge swathes of deprivation here. Kent is a huge county; we are not just a London suburb. We’ll be soon at a standstill with the 1000s of trucks that pass through each day and Brexit. This whole country is so London-centric it drives me insane.

Closing schools is better than what happens when a bubble pops.

Secondary phone call: "Mum, someone in our class has tested positive. I need to be collected right now, we are not allowed to take the bus. Okay, you are about to deliver a lecture. I will wander around town with my mates for two hours potentially spreading Covid" Not a huge crisis because older kid can manage.

Primary: "Come collect your kids right now and keep them self-isolated for two weeks. They cannot even take a walk. All your curtain twitching neighbours know. You may not hire a babysitter during self-isolation. Best wishes" Working mother catastrophe.

Closing schools when risk of exposure is high is better because then kids not isolating and you sort back up childcare.

@BethlehemIsInTier1: "Aww the kids will look forward to it, I loved the zoo coming in to my sons school!"

Err, there's a bloody pandemic raging at the moment. And in the next breath, you're complaining about schools closing due to spread?

you sort back up childcare

If you have it, yes.

And brief correction RudBeckia

Working —mother— parent nightmare.

Posts like this make me so angry. Do people think that local authorities have a crystal ball that can predict how bad CoVid infection rates will be in a week/two weeks/one months time and plan accordingly? This is a global crisis. All anyone can do atm is react to the situation as it is.

Would it be better if the authority isn't react to the rapidly rising infection rate? If they let the kids keep coming to school and spreading the virus?

What if the local authority had announced 2 weeks ago they thought things were going to get worse and so they were going to close in two weeks and then things hadn't got worse? Then they'd be slated for over reacting and doing kids out of an education unnecessarily.

Schools and local authorities aren't staffed by automatons living in infection free ivory towers. They are ordinary people with their own kids, health issues, vulnerable family members etc. They are as impacted by the virus and the decisions they make as everyone else. They are doing their best in very difficult times. Cut them some slack. Be kind.

No confused, but I can quite see and understand that unilateral closure isn’t in anyone’s best interests either. I’m sorry, I know some disagree but I don’t.

Our head has made this last week of term an either or scenario, so some kids are in and some are remote learning. Our school has been hard hit with multiple bubbles at home at any one time. My daughter is learning from home this week and I was relieved to have been given the option.
The primary up the road is closed this week as there are so many cases amongst both staff and pupils. We’re in the West Midlands. It’s been shit for weeks but it seems in school testing and media interest only kicks in when London is affected. Which is such a shock

We had the dreaded 11.30am phone call a few weeks ago - kid sat next to tested positive (because stupid father had him to stay at weekend even though he was ill as it was "his" day), me and bubble of 30 have to isolate for 2 weeks, not allowed to get on a bus. He actually got hauled back into school from the bus stop. DH and I wfh flat out, meetings arranged back to back, I had to drive and pick him up (half hour away so one hour round trip) with zero notice whilst doing a zoom call in the car. He was then off for 2 weeks missing about 8 GCSE revision classes (which he sort of did remotely). This is nothing, I know, compared to many people I know whose kids have had their bubble burst multiple times since September. This has happened 3 times to 3 separate classes. On each occasion, no one but the original kid tested positive and no one got ill. I really feel for people that his has happened to multiple times, especially if they are single parents. My sister is trying to hold down a job and had had her 2 and 5y old kids at home virtually every week since September because either the child minder, the nursery or the school has a positive case and they all have to start a 2 week isolation again. Nightmare.

Mine have now broken up for Christmas, as scheduled, on Friday, thank god. What I don't understand is why the government/LEAs didn't just close schools a week early, with notice, across the board and be done with it.

@CallmeAngelGabriel yet the school still booked it!

@TheGonnagle

Our head has made this last week of term an either or scenario, so some kids are in and some are remote learning. Our school has been hard hit with multiple bubbles at home at any one time. My daughter is learning from home this week and I was relieved to have been given the option. The primary up the road is closed this week as there are so many cases amongst both staff and pupils. We’re in the West Midlands. It’s been shit for weeks but it seems in school testing and media interest only kicks in when London is affected. Which is such a shock

It’s because it’s the first LA to take the decision. Khan is involved and will request permission from MPs.