Schools

[Carrotcakeforbreakfast]

I know this has been done 1000 times but my search function isn't working.

With the extended lockdown and daily numbers, when do you think the schools are likely to go back.
I believe lockdown won't end anytime soon but just wondering if anyone thinks schools opening will have changed?

It’s not just about the teachers and staff. The children are the most important in this and they ALL need to be ready to learn in the busiest terms of the academic year learning wise. Especially if they miss 7+ weeks this academic year. Otherwise even more damage to ‘educational progress’ will happen next year. Incredibly shortsighted.

I imagine few of us will be wanting to go abroad this summer even if it is allowed.

They not go abroad but, if lock down is relaxed enough, many may want to holiday in the UK though. I'd like to. Let's face it - if its suddenly safe enough for me to be in a classroom with 30 children, surely it's safe enough for me to drive to somewhere nice (and more importantly, different to home) in the UK for a week or so.

@FlamingoAndJohn they can do that stuff at the weekends. If the price of having 6 weeks school holiday instead of two weeks is mass unemployment and austerity that price is too high.

@Itisasecret much more short sighted to ignore economic collapse and not take action to prevent it

@Snog yeah sure, we will just keep taking the scaffolding up and down on Friday and Sunday (the scaffolding that blocks the path into and out of the school) or squeeze it in to 2 weeks. More likely we would potpone it til next summer and just have the increased fire risk until then. I know people are desperate for flexibility but as low paid admin with a premises hat, that 'break" is a very busy time for me.

Schools are placed of education, not childminders. Hopefully that clarifies it. Not a clue.

@Grasspigeons exceptional times, difficult decisions must be made. It's not all peas and carrots right now.

@Itisasecret that is not functionally true.
The UK relies on schools for a large
Proportion of its workforce to be able to work.

Are you happy for the economy to collapse?

Get with the programme people, the world has changed

@Snog i mus say its very refreshing to have someone acknowledge the whole economy hinges on schools being operational. It gives me real pride in my work. I really feel schools are underfunded considering their importance to gdp.

The economy won’t collapse, children have been out of school two weeks. Parents manage over the six weeks holiday usually, they will manage again.

So @snog what’s your solution? Get with the programme? You sound like a mini Donald trump!

The answer is not to open schools now, most countries who shut down well before us have yet to open their schools. Honestly the vast majority of kids aren’t likely to become seriously unwell, but there will be some who do, and some who die. Same goes for staff, a higher proportion of whom will also become unwell as they are older and more likely to have underlying health conditions.

Then there is cross household contamination, one child mixes with hundreds of others and whilst they maybe asymptotic and merrily shedding viral load the parents, grandparents etc of the homes that are infected can become seriously unwell.

@Itisasecret I think you're on your own there with thinking the economy will be fine

@Zofloramummy RTT

@Snog

The only thing that makes me feel better after reading this thread, is the knowledge that ... no matter how many times you state your shit idea, it’s not going to happen.

And I’d put money on holidays going ahead in the summer. Maybe not abroad, but here definitely.

These kids have largely been relaxing at home and will probably be keen to go back to school after 6 weeks or more of lounging about at home. They will be well rested.

*Wow! Do you have kids?

I would not say rested is the word.

But again poor key workers children .*

@DBML you're probably right but really at the moment nothing is off the cards

I think travel much beyond your local area will still be limited in the summer

@snog your idea of to shorten the summer holidays? That’s about all I can glean from your posts. How exactly does that reduce the risk of cross infection and deal with the lack of social distancing in schools?

@RigaBalsam there is a big picture that you seem to be failing to engage with here.

The world has changed. We are in more trouble here than whether some children are less than well rested or not.

Snog someone on another thread said 60- 70 percent of the workforce could work without childcare.

I don't know this for a fact. I have yet to clarify if it is correct not sure your summer argument would have that much weighting. Not sure it would in the grand scheme of the modelling even if incorrect.

They will probably offer childcare to key workers anyway.

@DoubleTweenQueen

I don’t think so. We are talking 13 weeks away. Even if we start to phase things open from the start of June, that would give us a good 7-8 weeks to get a little bit of normality back.

If we are going to be locked down into the summer, or even social distancing to the degree that we can only stay local, the school conversation is redundant anyway.

They aren’t going to say, yep let’s put 2000 kids and adults together in one big building over the summer, but no, you can’t go and stay in a cottage in Devon for a couple of weeks.

Our contact pet year is 195 days ! We are not paid for summer holidays so there is nothing to cancel. I really can’t understand why some posters are so stupid

@Zofloramummy I'm addressing the fact that we cannot afford financially to have a huge proportion of the population off work and funded by the government on an open ended basis, surely you must see that?

What exactly is your plan to handle the economy?

Long school holidays are nice to have, they are not essential.