It’s never going to happen is it?

[MyDcAreMarvel]

The schools are not going to close are they, at all. Just seen on bbc news they are passing emergency legislation so that when teachers go off sick the remaining teachers can teach large class sizes. That and the law to force head teachers to keep schools open.
The government are determined to ensure as many children as possible are infected whilst isolating the elderly.
I wish I lived in a country where I could feel safer.

I can't read that as not a subscriber. Could you copy and paste please?

@Skeeter2020 where from?

Local schools are still saying they'll fine parents who keep their kids home.

It's not just the fact that we're throwing hundreds of them together with inadequate hygiene that worries me.

I'll have to run a gauntlet of all the other parents crowded onto a narrow pavement and then stand in a packed schoolyard waiting for the doors to open. How is it a good idea for anyone?

How come parents of school aged children in all the other European countries are coping? In situations like this you have too. Schools should be kept open as a childcare facility for those who genuinely can’t work from home eg emergency services. Parents who have the capacity to work from home or those who are at home anyway should have their children at home. Too often children are left to their own devices as parents are part of the “rat race”, no time to read a story with them,play board games etc well time for quality parent(s) child time. As there would be a reduced amount of children in a class/school they too would be given quality time-appreciate it wouldn’t be from parents.

Sweden are doing similar to UK

Local schools are still saying they'll fine parents who keep their kids home

Surely not if you just say your child has a cough and is self isolating for 7 days. Do the same next week if need be.

Skeeter you have it from "someone high up in education" like all the other posters spreading misinformation?

I’ve heard from a few people today that private schools in our area are preparing to close in the summer term. It makes sense I suppose to expect a closure as the outbreak begins to peak. I also don’t see the point in disadvantaging children through months of lost learning if they aren’t even at real risk from the disease. We should be focusing on isolating those who are older or already sick instead of keeping children off school indefinitely.

I'm really torn.

If the schools stay open, then children could easily catch it (younger ones in particular don't follow the hygiene rules that they are taught) and most won't get ill (although I can think of a couple of vulnerable children in my school that would be at risk) but they could become spreaders and increase the speed at which the pandemic spreads.

On the other hand, if schools close, that could cause serious childcare problems which will affect the ability of people to go to work. In the case of frontline NHS staff and other people that we rely on (eg supermarket staff, people in the whole chain of supply for food production and sales, people who ensure that gas/electricity/water supplies aren't affected etc) that will have repercussions for wider society. Other people will really struggle financially.

If schools close, children suffering deprivation will be badly hit. There's already evidence of increased hunger in school holidays for children who aren't getting the free school meals that they normally rely on.

I just don't know what we should do. If it shutting the schools for a couple of weeks was enough to make a difference then we should definitely do it, but I've read articles saying that they would have to be shut for a few months to make a difference.

I’m in Eastern Europe - children here are being sent to live with (vulnerable) grandparents in the country.

@MintySpud Thanks but they are only young and I would rather try and teach them some basics until we know more about this situation. My DD has an heart condition so I'm not in a position to be splitting hairs about grammar and my level of intelligence. Nobody is perfect and on occasion I have noticed spelling or grammatical errors in notes sent home by teachers. I think I will manage with some phonics, home reading and some times tables.

My nieces nursery has decided to close. My sister and her husband work for the nhs so no home working. Who is looking after the kids? My dad. Who is 78. So I don't think it's the best plan.

The government are determined to ensure as many children as possible are infected whilst isolating the elderly.
I wish I lived in a country where I could feel safer

What a bizarre and totally perverse misreading of the situation. You should be ashamed of yourself.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/15/new-york-city-coronavirus-schools-teachers

That’s interesting

I can't understand why so many people are desperate for schools to close given that (younger) children are the least likely to become infected and yet require constant supervision.

I mean, it will happen at some point but there is no need to bring it in sooner than neccessary.

WhiteCat1704 so some random school in the USA closes and this is relevant because????

Erm.... That is the policy...herd immunity is them saying fuck it, let all the kids get it and at some unknown future point after a massive peak of cases whose statistics are frankly terrifying we will have (hopefully, but who the fuck knows) herd immunity. And in the mean time, anyone who might die please go into hiding so we can save the healthy people who will need life support machines to get through this.

MrsS thats shocking-they'll pass on anything to them

@MintySpud, saying you're not being a bitch does not, in fact, mean you're not being a bitch.

To be clear, you definitely are.

My DD will be going in this week but I’m being cautious and ready to pull her out at any given moment. The school is doing quite a lot of activities (Fund raising type of stuff) over the next couple of weeks and she doesn’t want to miss out on them.

I will be very surprised if schools remain open after this week, maybe the following at a push but they will definitely close for an extended Easter break. Shit is going to start hitting the fan by next weekend when cases soar and hospitals start getting overwhelmed. Many teacher will get sick and self isolate. Kids will be packed into classrooms with other year groups and not much meaningful work will get done anyway.

If schools remain open right up to the Easter holidays then I imagine very few children will be left in the end and it will be like the last few days before Christmas break when they spend most of the day watching movies/ doing art and playing games. I really don’t see much productive work happening now.

Perhaps exam year students will be different it for primary school and early years of secondary school I don’t see it being worth while.

What happens when schools run out of soap and or hand sanitizer? It is not possible to go buy anything from the shop (ha if you can find any!) due to needing a COSHH form (control on substance hazardous to health). Then what?

@Skeeter2020 I hope this is correct my DH has a lung condition and is working from home but our kids still need to be in school, how sooner would you say ?

um, other countries close school for regular teaching but primaries stay open for childcare for key workers (drs, nurses, pharmacists, ambulance...)

The government have been clear that schools WILL CLOSE when the time is right. The emergency legislation is to make sure that schools do not close based on unscientific decisions by individual headteachers.

Getting the timing wrong will cost lives, so school closure has to be based on the advice of scientific and medical experts.

There shouldn’t be half measures here. Personally I think the schools should close with childcare for kids of workers in essential services provided instead. This virus can’t be beaten without mass isolation.

I don’t agree with the government’s policy. All I can do is protect my own child and I will pay a fine if I have to but I won’t go quietly. Probably the person responsible for issuing the fine will be gasping for a ventilator by then.