Italy closes all their schools and universities: how will you cope if we follow?

[ChristmasFlint]

I can work from home but not everyone can. It made me wonder how on earth people with sort childcare?

Well, the experts are suggesting closing schools as a way to help those NHS workers cope with the workload that comes from this (by delaying and flattening the peak). And having 4 kids together all day is different to 300 in a school. Big crowds should be avoided......

And yes, it might need to be more than 2 weeks. Goes to look up how long it's been in other countries who've had to do this (as per expert advice).

It would force me to get on with writing my thesis I suppose, no sneaking off to the lab to do something more interesting instead!

I think Washington has a good plan, isolate over 60s and those with existing health con ditions and pregnant women so that leaves essential workers to carry on working and those most at risk stay safe.

Japan - schools closed until mid April

China - since mid Feb

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/03/the-longest-holiday-parents-coping-with-coronavirus-school-closures-in-east-asia

I work in a university so I'd be ok!

Same here,

Every cloud...

France has closed some schools as has UK where there have been cases

On R4 a medical expert was saying that halting it to this extent works for the short period but the issue is it restarts once you stop the closure.

Big crowds should be avoided......

And thats your expert opinion?

Its actually goes against what the chief Scientific officer has said on Peston tonight........

Restaurants and smaller groups (e.g the chalet in France) are a bigger risk than pop concerts

I don't think the intention is to halt it, just to slow it down so that it doesn't have such an impact.

We would be fine. I can work from home, so no worries really.

I’m frequently out and about in the community in my job but do work from home sometimes so could cope with two weeks at a push, dh less so. I’d quite enjoy it tbh the world never stops does it, aside from Christmas Day there is zero communal down time. My brother is immuno-compromised though so I do understand that it’s far more serious for some people.

You can slow it down but timing is key. There’s no point yet as so many schools are unaffected so they’re closed as they get it.

They’ll keep it up their sleeves though for when it’s needed.

I have a DC taking A levels and one taking GCSEs so I’m worried.
I would have thought if schools close they would only need to close for children, so teachers could still go in to use the computers/other facilities at work if they don’t have them at home. I would hope so anyway

I work in education and have no children. I would relish the opportunity! 😂

@LuckyMarmiteLover I would have thought if schools close they would only need to close for children, so teachers could still go in to use the computers/other facilities at work if they don’t have them at home. I would hope so anyway

That only works for teachers who don't have children at home because their schools and nurseries are closed

Yes but thats just the same as nhs workers though. I’m sure people would rally round to look after teachers children too, so that they could carry on teaching, especially the exam year groups.

I work at a university in the English language teaching centre. I teach small groups of international students mostly from SE Asia, frequent comings and goings. I guess we would close if it escalated.

Just wondering how would teachers get paid if the school is closed and the payroll person can’t work?

I’m trying to imagine how you could close a university in the UK, where a large % of the students can’t simply be sent home to their parents, because they are from overseas, and where the universities are often campus-based. There might be no teaching, but people would still have to live there and there would need to be a certain level of service provision.

I can't see the logic to it either, really - whereas children may possibly be 'superspreaders', surely young adults shouldn't be. If it's lecture theatres which are seen as the problem, don't a lot of lecturers already do recordings? (I think DD says all hers are recorded).

I'd have thought it would make sense for unis to plan tokeep halls open over

...sorry, accidentally hit post ...keep halls open over the Easter vac and discourage students from travelling, especially not to hotspots overseas (unless we're all in the same boat by then)

DS is 3 and out of school atm anyway. I could work from home most of the time and only work 2.5 days a week, but DP is self employed and pays the mortgage etc. His business is providing activities to school groups throughout May/June and I’m terrified that they’ll cancel due to school closures. If we lost one of those groups we would lose the house, no question.

Slightly off tangent, but my Dd is an English teacher ( deputy head) in China in a private language school ( fortunately has been home since October, but was due to return to near Shanghai when it all went tits up, so has had to stay home in UK)
The children she teaches haven't been 'at school' since end of January- confined at home with their parents ! ...so she's now been teaching her 4-12 year olds via internet for last month, so has been getting up at 2am to skype her lessons with various online apps ....she's also managing the other foreign teachers who are unable to travel back to China after their New Year holidays and are in U.K., America and S Africa!
Her city of 1 million had 2 cases ( both recovered) and they have had no new cases for a fortnight- everyone is still keeping contact to a minimum and loads of businesses are still closed
However she's heard from expats still in her city that the school may be reopening by end of March

@Stopyourhavering64 , that's very interesting. I think comparing China's response - an authoritarian country- and Italy's response- a western democracy like us- is illuminating.

We're in Week 5 of home schooling after they shut the schools down in HK. Its not great, and parents, teacher and kids are desperate to go back to classrooms but its surprisingly do-able and everyone is now getting into the swing of it. Schools may reopen after Easter but I'm not holding my breathe (bad joke given the current situation!) .

School work is set through google classroom and teachers talk to kids through hangouts/zoom. Most secondary and upper primary kids have been working to normal timetables, they get on line at 8.30 and work their way through their classes. Frankly some teachers get it better than others - actually as a stereotype the ones finding it hardest are the more experienced/mature teachers who've been teaching similar lesson plans for a while and have to adapt quickly to the new way. Its not just getting use to different technology its how to engage a group of kids from a distance - you have to recut classwork, develop different worksheets. The teachers have been working incredibly hard, its pretty awe inspiring.

Harder is the youngest kids, they need supervision and the online hangouts are like herding cats. Some parents have taken the view its only a few weeks/months out of a whole school career so they are taking a step back, others are going insane trying to WFH and teach their kids. Independent tutors have never been busier!

Just this week, international Exam years are being allowed back into some schools under strict guidelines to do tutorials, finish assessment pieces. IB and iGSCE boards have been flexible on deadlines etc. They are discussing what will happen to exams - smaller groups, delays (more likely now so many other countries are effected). Most parents whilst bitching about their own circumstances do get that the priority has to be for these years. There is debate about delaying the local exams but nothing firm yet.

Families with limited access to computers struggle more, I've a friend with 4 kids all trying to access elearning on one computer - everyone has rallied around and found ones to lend, printed out worksheets, had the kids over to work on their computers. It's a stark reminder how much technology is an enabler - and when you don't have it through choice or finance you are at a disadvantage.

Actually our school are doing the opposite: they’re staying open over the Easter holidays so that the boarders don’t have to travel home (many are from China).

I work from home so it won’t affect me, but I would help anyone who needed childcare.