Schools closed for the Queen’s funeral

[Notme1980]

First off, Queen Elizabeth II was an amazing ruler and an inspiration, we are a forces family and my husband has served her for 30 plus years.

but - I do not want the schools to be closed for her funeral (or for any reason at all), I want us to do what I believe she would have done, press on.

is the primary purpose of the bank holiday to allow people to watch the funeral live?

I think officially it’s a day of mourning isn’t it?

That is correct :) teachers get one actual bank holiday during term time normally (the first may one) although sometimes the easter holidays may fall before Easter and we get that one too, but 9/10 just one bank holiday that doesn't fall on a break.

I think the primary purpose is to allow the country a day of mourning and remembering their Queen. Yes, some will watch or attend the funeral or line the streets. Others may give a passing thought or link it to remembering their own much-missed dead.

It's just bad timing that the jubilee has been followed so closely by the funeral & presumably next year's coronation

Tbf, the jubilee bank holiday occurred in a different school year to the funeral one. If they can organise the coronation for after September next year then it will only be one extra day per school year.

If I were trying to organise a coronation date I'd go for July. Nice weather but after GCSE & A levels.

I have no idea how long one would take to organise though!

I’m a teacher and will be watching the funeral with my DD (8). If one or two of her friends needed childcare I would happily have them with me for the day. I think the posters who will struggle with late notice childcare should ask their kids’ classmates’ parents to help out.

Yes i know that, but the actual bank holiday itself was in the holiday...as i suspect you knew and you knew what i meant. Plus if you are going to use it as a stick to beat me with, then i suspect most people have issue with the short notice (which can't be helped) and the fact it's during term time (hence shouts of lost learning.) Tagged onto the beginning or end of a holiday as the Jubilee one was, is far less noticeable than a 'random' date (such as the 2011 Royal wedding). My school for example planned it in well in advance (at the beginning of the Christmas break 2021) and as such, parents didn't notice...as i suspect most didn't with an earlier summer break.

I don’t mind the schools being shut for one day but I’ll have it off too so it won’t affect me childcare wise. I’m not a fan of the royals and would scrap them all tomorrow but it’s history and important for kids to watch I think

and the fact it's during term time (hence shouts of lost learning.)

But the Jubilee bank holiday also was during what would otherwise have been term time therefore 'lost learning'.

What you seem to be saying is that people complain about lost learning when they actually mean 'inconvenience to me'.

It’s not lost learning. It may be a day less in school but watching something so historic is a massive learning experience. Even if your not a fan of the royal family there is still going to be a lesson in the history and culture of the country.

Not all of us get paid for bank hols. Although I'm not complaining about this one.

Ds has no understanding of the Queen etc so it will be like any other school holiday for us. Our T

Our TV viewing is most likely to be Peppa Pig.

My thoughts are that Queen Elizabeth II was such an iconic lady, she deserves to have a bank holiday so the entire nation can celebrate her life.

I find it bizarre that anyone thought we wouldn't have a bank holiday to mark such a historic occasion for our country.

I’m bloody thrilled! (Not that schools are closed, no kids in school) but that we get a day off!!
presume everything will be closed, so we are going to stock up
on lovely food and drink and spend the day zoning out with Netflix and prime!!

All elective work (theatres and outpatients) will be cancelled and only emergency work will continue in hospitals (similar to weekend staffing). GPs will be closed. Another 3 day weekend is the very last thing the NHS needs at the moment to be honest, it will be horrendous. Not to mention the impact on all the poor patients who will have to have appointments and operation rescheduled, when they have already been waiting months or years in many cases. But without childcare and schools being open, the NHS cannot function so there really isn’t any choice.

Even as someone who is a staunch republican, and won’t be watching the funeral, I do think it’s an important day, and very historically significant!
One day off school is nothing.

You’ll have to look after your own kids for a day OP! How awful for you!

I find it bizarre that anyone thought we wouldn't have a bank holiday to mark such a historic occasion for our country.

Yes, me too.

But without childcare and schools being open, the NHS cannot function so there really isn’t any choice.

Surely the fact that the NHS’s own staff will also have a Bank Holiday is a significant issue??

Not if Liz Truss gets her way and bans striking for essential workers. The TUC and most unions are concerned over these proposals, obviously.

Would you complain if they were closed any other bank holiday, probably not. Of course they should close.

Quite right.

As a surgeon striving to make a dent in waiting lists I'll be cancelling all non emergency operating on that day, mainly so I can look after my kids who aren't at school.

I wish they'd arranged it for the weekend personally. Having just attended a parents evening this week for Year 11 and been "virtually beaten" about how days off can affect the final grades it's an extra day off school they really could've done without. Those saying one day doesn't matter, tell that to our secondary school, and being realistic it does because they all add up.

You are correct that the true question is:

"How many more people would have died or suffered long term effects from Covid if there had been no lock down measures
versus
how many people have died and will die / suffered long term effects or will suffer long term effects as a result of the lock down measures"

This is of course an impossible question to ever answer with evidence so it becomes a subjective opinion, on which my subjective opinion is and always has been firmly against the lock down measures. But maybe history will have its own opinion on the whole saga.

This will be the first state funeral since Winstone Churchill’s in the 1960s. It’s a big event and I believe people should be allowed to watch the funeral on tv or go to London if they want to.

Obviously essential workers will still do their jobs but I think supermarkets and retail can close for one day.