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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think schools will close soon

373 replies

hibbledibble · 22/12/2020 00:19

We may well have as many cases by new year as we did in the first peak. In which case school closures could be a very real possibility.

OP posts:
cptartapp · 22/12/2020 07:08

Years 11 and 13 need to be in.
All with masks if necessary.

GalesThisMorning · 22/12/2020 07:09

Oh I hope that primaries don't Sad we've been alerted that our primary may or may not move online for the first week back. Wales, but an area in the northwest with very very low figures.

We havent had a single case in my son's school. They've done amazingly well and 4 year old has been so happy to be there. I'm trying to stay positive and think about how lucky we've been this far. Working from home is possible but extremely difficult when DS is home, and he will have to be left to watch TV far more than he should.

Worse things have and will happened and it won't be forever... praying that they can stay open though!!

wanderings · 22/12/2020 07:12

Behold all this baying for children's futures to be ruined. Sad

JacobReesMogadishu · 22/12/2020 07:15

Behold all this baying to save lives. Hmm

The schools need to close.

kowari · 22/12/2020 07:16

I hope they don't. If they do I hope they do a better job of encouraging more keyworker and vulnerable children to attend. My year 10 will be going to school as a keyworker child.

MarshaBradyo · 22/12/2020 07:17

@wanderings

Behold all this baying for children's futures to be ruined. Sad
Agree.

Poor dc when people actively want it

MarshaBradyo · 22/12/2020 07:19

The fear frenzy with threads like this isn’t helping either

megletthesecond · 22/12/2020 07:19

They should remain open for exam years. But a general closure might not be a bad thing.

inquietant · 22/12/2020 07:20

I wish they would do rotas before full closures. My children would be so much happier to be in a bit.

But this new strain looks to spread more via children so probably closures will happen.

It's been a dreadful year, made worse by having the most incompetent government.

PointyDragonPokingThing · 22/12/2020 07:21

They already have here (Scotland) - not reopening after xmas at any rate.

mondaywine · 22/12/2020 07:23

I do wish that people wouldn’t suggest that schools who do not have a case have done well, as if those with cases have been somehow lacking. We have had a few cases over the last two weeks. However we have excellent COVID routines in place and a brilliant COVID cleaner who is cleaning key areas, toilets, taps, door handles etc umpteen times a day. We are doing well but there’s not a lot we can do about cases coming into school for the community.

JacobReesMogadishu · 22/12/2020 07:23

I don’t want schools to close.

I want the virus to be eradicated so people can get back to normal. Or at least be down to levels low enough that the nhs isn’t going to be swamped. I want time to be bought so the vaccines can be rolled out to more people.

I want to minimise the amount of people who will die or be seriously ill in the next few months. I want any lock down to be as short as possible to try and preserve the economy, prevent as many companies as possible going under so there will be jobs for the children when they leave school. So they’re not paying stupid tax rates for the next 40 years to pay for this.

If this means teaching online for a bit, if it means cancelling exams again, heck if it means repeating the year.....I think we need to do it. Imagine sorry for the kids I really am. I’m sorry for parents of school age kids who will struggle.

But the nhs can’t cope. We will have people dying in hospitals car parks if this carries on. I already know someone who’s been told he has weeks to live (not covid) after being fobbed off with symptoms for months and told he had back ache, etc because the nhs isn’t functioning at the minute. I know 2 people who have died from covid. I couldn’t see my mum when she was dying. It’s shit for everyone and needs to stop.

AaronPurr · 22/12/2020 07:25

@mondaywine

I do wish that people wouldn’t suggest that schools who do not have a case have done well, as if those with cases have been somehow lacking. We have had a few cases over the last two weeks. However we have excellent COVID routines in place and a brilliant COVID cleaner who is cleaning key areas, toilets, taps, door handles etc umpteen times a day. We are doing well but there’s not a lot we can do about cases coming into school for the community.
I agree. Sad
annie987 · 22/12/2020 07:25

God I hope not and I say that as a teacher.
It is much much more difficult to teach remotely and accommodate keyworker children. It’s like working two jobs on one. Nearly finished me off in Spring!
Obviously if it is the only way to be safe, I’ll have to suck it up and go with it.

JacobReesMogadishu · 22/12/2020 07:25

And I think Rotas are a great idea and have said this months ago. Alternate days or weeks. Half the kids in at a time, use all classrooms and then can socially distance more. But people say that’s not possible. 🤷‍♀️

QueenieButcher · 22/12/2020 07:25

I think you're right. I have a GCSE student and I have such mixed feelings about wanting to keep her (and us) safe at home but also knowing that the online provision is pretty poor and she has already missed so much. Even if you forget whether or not they're going to sit the exams and the grades get adjusted to take into account the disruption they've suffered, they're going to be woefully underprepared for the demands of A-level in September. I'm beginning to realise that they will be disadvantaged for life.

MarshaBradyo · 22/12/2020 07:26

@JacobReesMogadishu

And I think Rotas are a great idea and have said this months ago. Alternate days or weeks. Half the kids in at a time, use all classrooms and then can socially distance more. But people say that’s not possible. 🤷‍♀️
You can for half the time but no ft kw or vulnerable provision.

If you’re up for that

WanderingMilly · 22/12/2020 07:29

I've been saying all along, schools should close if they really want numbers of infections down.

At first they said young people and children don't catch/don't spread the virus, now they've found out secondary children certainly do.
In fact, small children do too (although I'm biased, I caught COVID from a small child at school)….how long until they realise this is true too? They need to close all schools, including primary schools, if they want to get this "out of control" virus back under control again...

twinkletoesimnot · 22/12/2020 07:30

*@Ohdoleavemealone

Problem with this is that there has been no notice for the teachers.
If they announced tomorrow that I have to teach online the first week back, I would have to spend the holidays getting ready as I am not prepared for that.*

Surely your school should have a plan in case if this happening in place? Tbf it could have happened at any time if your bubble burst and you would have 24 hours to be ready.....

That's what has happened to lots of us!

UghNotThisAgain36 · 22/12/2020 07:31

@wanderings

Behold all this baying for children's futures to be ruined. Sad
Its so awful to read. On one thread you read of people wilfully and boastfully ignoring the new Christmas mixing restrictions 'coz they will not be held down by the roolz' and on another people screaming for schools to be closed so people stop dying.

If parents kept their secondary aged children isolated from Boxing Day till when schools go back on 11th, then surely thats enough to slow the spread? Rather than all this doom mongering? What are parents that work out of the home (NHS staff etc) meant to do about childcare?

In our area of the south-east, it would also helpnif parents would stop allowing their teens out to gather in the local skate park. No, I don't believe that all 43 of you are in the same school bubble.

lockeddownandcrazy · 22/12/2020 07:34

Testing and vaccination being made mandatory would help, but seeing as mask wearing is 'optional' there's no way they will do that. Failing that full lockdown all over and keeping schools shut is really looking likely.

AaronPurr · 22/12/2020 07:34

If parents kept their secondary aged children isolated from Boxing Day till when schools go back on 11th, then surely thats enough to slow the spread?

Do you really think any, let alone all parents will do this?

In my school children have been sent into school whilst waiting for test results, with symptoms and when family members have tested positive, and it's not the only school where this has happened.

twinkletoesimnot · 22/12/2020 07:34

@UghNotThisAgain36

Why wouldn't you believe it when some school bubbles have hundreds in them - a whole year group?

Also NHS workers would have key worker childcare.....

Now who's scaremongering?

lyinginthegutterstaringatstars · 22/12/2020 07:35

Part of me hopes they do close schools but another part is panicking about home schooling and how sad my dc will be if schools do close.

HonestTA · 22/12/2020 07:39

God I hope not.
I am a TA, keyworker care was absolute hell on earth.
I will hand my notice in and go off with stress for my notice period if I was asked to do that again.