To think schools will close soon

[hibbledibble]

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.

Of course children can catch up. It's only because the curriculum is so rigid and tested to death that any 'falling behind' is a disaster. Exams can be changed to reflect the situation (eg. giving the topics that will come up, testing only curriculum covered, or using teachers' grading instead of exams).
If new year 7s arrive at secondary without all the social skills, then year 7 could be more flexible, as could all the years before GCSE, for teachers to use their judgement in what their pupils need, and at what pace. Education is only in the form it is in this country because that's the form that's been decided on. If they were in a different country they'd learn slightly different things, if they were born in a different time they would, too. Obviously teachers have been under tremendous pressure and stress and shouldn't be expected to reinvent the wheel, but the curriculum could be relaxed, to allow them to give children time to go over essentials without stress for everyone because of meeting arbitrary targets and tests.

@millymollymoomoo

I think you’re right But they should stay open We need to stop the hysteria

This.

The trouble is that the Government keep stating that children are the 'super spreaders' within all communities, and then on the other hand they don't want to close schools.

They can't have it both ways and do nothing about it.

The Government need to make a decision either put all high schools on to remote learning or prioritise vaccinating children and teachers now so schools can stay open. And they need to let schools ASAP.

We know full well the information about the in school testing will only be sent to school on the 23rd or 24th December.

(And also children have completely different curricula in private schools, too. It's only state schools that are bound to such strict lessons.)

"We need to stop the hysteria"

Where is the hysteria here?

Think they will shut schools again unfortunately. Year 13 son has only had 2.5 terms in college since he started in year 12. Teach yourself a level seems to be the thing. Cant see exams going ahead is we do shut down again. Not sure how I feel about that.

@cookiemon666

My daughter is year 11, my son is year 9. Their school has only had 2 cases in year 9. School is ready for testing. We are in an economically and socially deprived area, on line learning does not work for most of the kids. In our case the school needs to stay open.

Similar here.... Tier 2 and only 2 cases in large secondary since September! No to closing. Madness with 2 cases

This includes the whole picture. Harms for children are also considered

They won't die. But the people they pass it to may. Or suffer long Covid.

" Madness with 2 cases"
But the alternative is just letting those 2 cases continue without isolating pupils/teachers, and then them turning into 20 cases, who then infect yet more people.
This did all start with just the one case once.

Tier 2and only 2 cases in large secondary since September

Tier 2 here. Most schools have had bubbles/classes off due to cases. Most have had teachers or support staff off due to cases. Bubbles told to stay home for two weeks, go back for three days then they're off again. That's not great for their education.

I'm surprised to learn some areas schools haven't broken up yet.

I'm in new tier 4, and schools here broke up on Thursday or Friday. They are due back on 4th or 5th January, and then in secondary only years 11 and 13 will be in for the first week. So just over 3 week break, and in our area, we arent allowed to mix indoors or outdoors, only essential shops are open with announcements about only 1 adult shopping at a time. Plus its pissed it down so not really good "meeting up for a walk and chat" weather.

While it might have been spreading amongst children in school at the end of term, surely a 3 week break will have greatly curtailed that by the time they go back?

Any children returning to school in January with covid, must logically have caught it from adults working/shopping, or from being allowed by their parents to mix even though its against the rules here.

If parents aren't going to keep to the rules and therefore infecting their dcs, what's the point in shutting schools?

Either this 3 week school break will dramatically reduce the numbers in tier 4, or closing schools doesn't work.

Duffeldaisy children can become vulnerable or in danger because of being at home under these extraordinary circumstances, when they wouldn't have been at any risk otherwise.

Parents having small children and being unable to supervise them properly as they have to work and having to make the choice between working to pay the rent/mortgage, and keep food in the cupboards. Young teens and pre-teens being left unsupervised or online for several hours a day. More vulnerable to online bullying, online grooming. Increase in mental health problems.

It's not just your classic at risk family or because the parents are too lazy to look after them.

Anyway, I can't fall down this rabbit hole again of arguing with people who simply don't care or have any understanding.

Well you only have to read other threads on mumsnet where people are saying or encouraging to ‘bend’ the rules to suit those needs. As rules are being ‘tweaked’ by so many than cases will rise. News reports are already reporting that itu wards are fully in some areas.

@duffeldaisy

" Madness with 2 cases" But the alternative is just letting those 2 cases continue without isolating pupils/teachers, and then them turning into 20 cases, who then infect yet more people. This did all start with just the one case once.

Looking at your logic then shut until 0 cases..... That's ridiculous and hysterical. I mean seriously this will never end if shut everything until 0 cases. Viruses spread and new ones will come. We need to learn to live with it not just shut everything

Oh and tier 4 here, local secondary has had 5 cases since September. (Over 1000 students). My dcs primary (3 form entry, so big for a primary) has had 1 case since September.

The numbers in our town are huge, but it doesn't seem to be children that are the problem.

@SkySports
The countries that are currently back to normal functioning are the ones who got it down to 0 cases. That is by far the most sensible approach. In New Zealand, Vietnam, and various other places, people are socialising as normal (with a decent test and trace in place for any incoming cases), they're working as normal, schools and businesses are carrying on because there's next to no risk.
Same in low-case countries - if you look at Australia, Taiwan, etc. the majority of the population are able to carry on as normal. If we let it continue then it disrupts everything, especially the health service. If we try to get it down as low as possible, it becomes manageable and we can get back to some form of normality.

[quote duffeldaisy]@SkySports
The countries that are currently back to normal functioning are the ones who got it down to 0 cases. That is by far the most sensible approach. In New Zealand, Vietnam, and various other places, people are socialising as normal (with a decent test and trace in place for any incoming cases), they're working as normal, schools and businesses are carrying on because there's next to no risk.
Same in low-case countries - if you look at Australia, Taiwan, etc. the majority of the population are able to carry on as normal. If we let it continue then it disrupts everything, especially the health service. If we try to get it down as low as possible, it becomes manageable and we can get back to some form of normality.[/quote]
Too late. There’s no point in looking at these countries.

"Anyway, I can't fall down this rabbit hole again of arguing with people who simply don't care or have any understanding."

I do care. So much more needs to be done to support parents and families. I didn't realise it was a temporary thing. There is always talk of 'at risk' children, and so I thought it was those living in abusive situations or being neglected. Thanks for the clarification.

@jamimmi

Think they will shut schools again unfortunately. Year 13 son has only had 2.5 terms in college since he started in year 12. Teach yourself a level seems to be the thing. Cant see exams going ahead is we do shut down again. Not sure how I feel about that.

In a few years' time nobody will remember who did exams and who did CAGs so I suppose it won't really matter. And failing that, hopefully university courses will be normal from next September and so degrees will count for something. And at least ours did "proper" GCSEs.

I do wish people would stop saying if parents get it from their kids they will die though. The chances of that are vanishingly unlikely.

Duffledaisy👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼Fantastic post.

This time could be used to remove the horrible stress, conformity and rigidity in schools.

It's not too late. We'd just need a really full lockdown where schools shut too for a few weeks, with complete funding by government so that people aren't forced into working if they're not key workers. Key workers, who should be given full PPE, then have far safer environments to work in.
It would take a huge effort, but the virus needs contact to spread. If we all came together to stop that, then it cannot spread, and it dies right down.

The government wasted its opportunities, so I don't think people trust it enough, but if we could do that, that would get us to a manageable place in 2-3 weeks, rather than living with all this death and illness for months and months ahead.

DS college have outlined plans for only Y13 to go back in January, and all students will be tested weekly. Y12 will learn remotely for the first few weeks.

@duffeldaisy

It's not too late. We'd just need a really full lockdown where schools shut too for a few weeks, with complete funding by government so that people aren't forced into working if they're not key workers. Key workers, who should be given full PPE, then have far safer environments to work in. It would take a huge effort, but the virus needs contact to spread. If we all came together to stop that, then it cannot spread, and it dies right down.

The government wasted its opportunities, so I don't think people trust it enough, but if we could do that, that would get us to a manageable place in 2-3 weeks, rather than living with all this death and illness for months and months ahead.

How long?

Figure out how long it took NZ to get from 105 cases to zero. How long it took Melbourne.

Then consider how many cases we have and transmission rate. How long are you going for?

I still have PTSD not knowing until the very last minute that it would be teacher grades. It was a shit show.

You have genuine, diagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to the exams/grading situation? Or is this like when people say they're "so OCD" because they like their desk to be tidy? Sorry, but the latter pushes all my buttons as someone who lives with the sheer hell of actual PTSD. I agree that the whole thing was handled incredibly poorly though.

‘I think they will close the absolute bare minimum, just the school's in certain tiers’

I think the whole country will be in Tier 4 judging by the headlines. I’m not sure Tiers work anyway. People from a high tier go to a lower tier to socialise. So why bother with tiers?