I saw this response today. Could write similar for Secondary.
For those who think that schools should reopen for all students.
Dear Lancet Scientists
You have recently been quoted as saying
”Data on the benefit of school closures in the Coronavirus is limited, but what we know shows that their impact is likely to be only small.”
Far be it for me, to question the work of scientists studying the Coronavirus but I find it difficult to believe that the bringing together of the offspring, of 30 different families, into one room approximately 50-60 square metres in size, would not impact on the spread of the virus? The reasons being;
Have you ever been in a Primary School classroom?
Of course you have!
But was it this century? Or for more than, the ten minutes you spent at a parent teacher meeting.
Teachers deal in snot, blood, sweat, tears and other unmentionables on a daily basis and without the protective clothing and equipment currently recommended (but not being provided) for care workers and the NHS.
I doubt very much in your line of work you have ever been required to utter sentences like;
“Please don’t lick George’s face. He doesn’t like it!”
or
“Glue sticks are not food!”
or my all time Winter favourite,
”Your jumper is not a hanky!”
I’m pretty sure you will not be required to extract a colleague from their trouser leg because they have forgotten to take their shoes off whilst changing for PE and are now trapped and hopping around your room crashing into the furniture. (Perhaps this was how Joe Wicks really broke his wrist) Nor will you have to manipulate a coat over their head without undoing the zip because it is jammed. Try dealing with these scenarios whilst social distancing.
I also doubt very much your work colleagues ask you to tie their shoe laces for them every time they want to go outside either, and neither will they try to hug you, then sneeze over you whilst you are trying to analyse your scientific data!
As for your suggestions for how returning to school may look, well perhaps you are gazing back into a dim and distant past, hazed in the rosy glow of the glasses you are peering through! This must be a time before the expectations of active learning, positive behaviour management, inclusion and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child existed.
Perhaps you can offer a social distancing solution to the problem of catching Jimmy, the Primary 1 with additional support needs, who is a veritable escapologist and needs to be permanently attached to a member of support staff. Where upon may I also suggest to you, that banning playtimes is in contradiction of article 31 of The United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child: The Right to Play’. Which by the way, any good educator will tell you, is exactly what children need to be doing right now and that play outside in particular, is more important than ever, and probably a lot safer than being inside a classroom coughing and spluttering.
This is all an aside from the reality, that asking a bunch of 7 year olds to social distance when they haven’t seen each other for several weeks, is like letting loose a flock of seagulls near a half eaten bag of chips and expecting them not to touch it!
Dear Mr Scientist I am not suggesting that your findings are wrong but as you point out, data regarding this subject is limited and surely common sense must play a part. Whilst teachers will try to implement the impossible task of maintaining the social distancing of their pupils, they will not be able to do the same with the gathering throng that drop off and collect their children at the beginning and end of the school day.
Before we do reopen our schools I ask that you please consult with the experts on how it should be done ie. the teachers. They will be able to tell you what is realistic and practicable before you impose upon them yet another set of government guidelines (all be it of a different sort) that are impossible to achieve!
I also find the timing of your article very interesting, two and a half weeks after home schooling started...
Your faithfully, The Emotional Freckle