Not closing schools

[SkaLaLand]

Why does no-one seem to understand the reasons for this?

1. Children are super spreaders and need to be kept safely away from the vulnetable.
2. They are affected very mildly by the virus.
3. It discourages idiotic parents jollying off with them on holiday.
4. It keeps parents in work and the economy moving.
5. Some vulnerable children only get to eat and be in safety for they time they are at school. Think how weeks of closure would affect them.
6. Children keep learning.

I feel that people are losing all perspective on this situation. Very few children and healthy adults are at risk.

Surely protecting the vulnerable with the current guidelines and maintaining the status quo for the rest of us is the best way forward?

Knowing that my children are safe and maintaining relative normality means I can concentrate on the members of my family that really need me, my very elderly grandparents and disabled mother.

Social distancing in schools is just a joke

And what do you suggest you do with your children when all the teachers have dropped dead through bring cannon fodder?

Being cannon foddet

Fodder!!

@TheEmojiFormerlyKnownAsPrince omg get in the real world.

Agree with others saying how difficult it is in a small classroom with 150 different kids through my door every day, spreading germs everywhere.

I can avoid restaurants/theatres. Yep; no worries. I probably go about 3 times a year. I don't go to pubs generally. How do I avoid spending every single day in an overheated environment of 1,000+ people? I understand that people are saying 'well NHS workers do it'. But they generally have gloves and face masks on when dealing with infectious patients. Teacher don't.

My parents are both in their 80s and live alone. They have decided to self isolate already. Do I not go and see them for the next 4 or 5 months? They live down the road from me and rely on me fairly heavily. Do I take them groceries, having spent all day in school, not knowing what the hell I'm possibly transmitting to them? Or do I just leave them to get on with it?

It's utterly ridiculous to suggest people avoid pubs - but then keep the schools open. Your children are far more likely to bring the disease home than you are to catch it anywhere else.

UKgift. OMG😂I’ve actually worked outside schools too. Don’t fucking comment on something you know nothing about.

Feel free to squeeze in with my y10 where everyone is breathing on top of each otber

omg get in the real world

She is

@ukgift2016, that wasn't what I was saying.
I'm just saying they are receiving very woolly guidance. Who will it be jumping and down complaining if children are having to be taught in classes of 60 in rooms with no hand-wash? People like you I suspect.
I don't know what the answer is, I'm just saying teachers don't have the luxury of working from home and children who aren't participating in 'social' activities are still expected to sit en masse in classes. It's confusing and guidance from Bojo and cronies to schools has been poor.

How many year 7’s are licking their hands and chasing each other round the playground...masses i reckon

Sigh.

Because secondary age dc between 10 and 19 can die at the rate of 0.2 %

Of these figs, being bounced around that's a huge % if you're compare to deaths on the road road etc.

Students come in ill, they don't understand the virus, their parents have sent them in ill, staff feeling obliged to work coughing.

No isolation areas, no proper stragety..
Focus not on the ultimate safety and well-being of the dc but literally using them for whatever reason!!

Teachers who are older and have dc, have gc, cleaners, cooks, bus drivers.

Because sending my dc into this germ pit, with small people picking noses, coughing on each other.... Is awful as instincts as a parent.

Oh I dunno I have one spray sneezed the desk today. Loads with coughs in school.

Grim.

I don't expect any teaching right now.

Except for exam years..
Everything is on hold. Learning abcd is the absolute last thing I'm worried about.

teacher who don't want to work

When the schools shut (and they will) teachers will still be working. I've yet to come across a secondary school teacher who doesn't have a plan for what they are going to do. Our school has announced we will be setting tasks according to the regular timetable and be available to answer questions via email or messenger.

I'd far rather teach kids in school than remotely. As long as it is safe to do so. And I do not understand how going to the pub is dangerous for my "vulnerable" sister, but going to school with hundreds of mini germ factories is fine.

1. Children are super spreaders and will certainly take the virus home to their families
2. Many children are affected by the virus a lot worse than we think. There have been cases of children succumbing to Covid-19. It isn’t a ‘mild’ illness either, when they take it home for their parents - they don’t leave Covid at the school gate.
3. Stringent rules enforced by government would also stop irresponsible parents taking off...plus lots of flights stopped now and borders closed.
4. Parents can only work as long as they are fit and well...as you mentioned earlier, children are super spreaders
5. Plenty of charities are preparing for vulnerable children.
6. Trust me...no one is learning when there are no teachers, classes doubled up with supply, excited children and TikTok videos to make to ‘its Corona time!’ - because that was what school was like today.

There should be a choice for parents. If you have immune compromised people in the house and you want to /are able to keep dc off, you can without being penalised.

I think we should bring the summer holidays forward and have them now. We can all work more in the summer. Instead of lots of time off now and then again in the summer. I’m keeping my lot off tomorrow. For some reason I don’t trust Boris. Does he care about my kids? Does he even know what’s going on? NOPE

Teachers will be working when schools are closed, and teaching their own kids at home too! It’s probably going to be harder to manage than going to work every day if it’s done properly to be quite honest, we’re not envisaging a holiday. Already our working conditions are changing to deal with the situation, we’re not getting off lightly here!

Most teachers given the chance would prefer to stay in school and see the year out properly but we have real valid concerns that are not being addressed.

My husband is in the vulnerable group. The kids or I could bring anything home at any given time. We're already sleeping in separate bedrooms and airing the house out twice a day but I'm not relaxed at all. Keeping the children home will be hell... and I worry about the missed education. I'm definitely not teacher material.

So what do you suggest we do with the children then it's not like the holidays and we can book annual leave , book them on holidays clubs as relatives to help there is none of that if schools close .

Do you not agree that as this virus spreads, children will inevitably take it home to their parents?

How will their parents go to work then?

Will they go to work regardless and continue the spread?

Or do you think children leave the virus at the school gate?

This is shit. No one here wants to be off work to be isolated over a sodding virus. But it’s happened and everyone is suffering in some way. Some more than others.

I’m a teacher and frankly would rather things be back to normal. I was in the house for two days straight this weekend with a headache and sore throat. I was going nuts watching rubbish telly. Why the devil would anyone choose to isolate for months, for no good reason?

@SkaLaLand I agree on a case by case basis. Local decision making is crucial. Blanket directives are always more severe, and don't take individual context into account.

I’m a teacher. Today we were 5 staff members down self isolating.
We sent home 25 students today with symptoms of either persistent cough or fever; around the same number of students self isolating.

With the new 14 days guidelines for “anyone” in your family we have already projected we won’t be able to stay open past the end of this week. And yet we are in a large academy trust and apparently we had the least number of staff off today.
And to top it all off my 2 year who is immune compromised has a temperature tonight and I am scared stiff.
I understand the logic I really do to keeping schools open; but I don’t see how mass closures are going to happen very soon anyway; but these would be far less safe as we will be running on unprecedented staff to student numbers even tomorrow.

Even something like this turns In to teacher bashing 'teachers who don't want to work'

Some people clearly Have no idea about hygiene in schools. A cleaner didn't turn up on Friday as they were ill. The other cleaner on that floor was told not to wipe the tables and just do the floors as she had the whole floor to do. She is allowed
One cloth a day to wipe probably 60 tables. So 120 tables were not wiped on Friday. We have over 1200 pupils.

We have kids being sent in with temperatures and coughs but nowhere to isolate them. Their parents don't answer the phone to pick them up. Kids are sent back to class. There is no school nurse, no sick bay.

We have no hand gel in the toilets or around the school - just cheap liquid hand wash in the toilets which are filthy. Rooms are tiny and my smallest class 32. I have three to a desk made for two. So no room to spread out.

The majority of our kids come by train. Probably 500 swashed in the three carriages provided.

We have pregnant staff, staff in remission from cancer, staff who care or live with sick relatives. I have no hand gel or wipes left. I don't have a face mask. I am not trained in medical matters, I am trained to teach and I love my job. I totally get that for some adults and, even more importantly, children need support but don't have the answer- all I know is that pupils and staff are scared.

1. Teachers are on the front line to face the largest carriers of the disease. Even GP surgeries are closing.

1. Well over 50% of children are cared for by elderly grandparents after school. Spending all day around other kids is going to put them more at risk.

1. It's not possible to implement social distancing in school.

1. Some schools have more than 500/1000+ students in them. How does this come in under large gatherings especially at lunch and dinner time.

School staff as usual receiving little support and protection.

Here here OP