Government reportedly considering schools going back in 3 weeks

[FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue]

On BBC News 24 now, article in tomorrow's Sunday Times says that ministers are considering schools going back in three weeks time. Plus allowing some shops and social gatherings, but not pubs and clubs.

@FrippEnos I was thinking easier for the teachers to maintain distance. The kids will mix of course.

In three weeks time they will have been off school for 7 weeks. That's a long time

What are you talking about?

In three weeks, they will have been off for five weeks. Two of which were the Easter holidays!

So far, they have missed 10 days.

But it isn't. When did you last see inside a secondary classroom? They are crowded.

And dirty.

I’m sure schools can come up with some arrangement for drop-off and pickup that avoids parents being close together. Probably queuing 2m apart on the pavement with your children brought out to you.

This would be utter carnage.

My school is on a massively busy main road at a three-way crossroad with no other access.

So the most important hears acafemically are also the most at risk - year 10 and 12?

I was thinking easier for the teachers to maintain distance.

Eh? They’re in the same classrooms and corridors as the kids.

I took my kids out of school before lock down. I lied and told the school they had a temperature. I will lie again.

I do wonder if some people who think everyone is else is lying if it doesn't follow the narrative they want is projecting on their own ability and morals to lie and encourage others to...

@Appuskidu No, they have been of 4 week already, another 3 weeks will be 7 weeks. Including 2 weeks for Easter.

@alloutoffucks the economy back to normal after 3 years following what is predicted to be the worst recession this country has seen in 300 years? LMAO. More like a generation, if we are lucky.

2 years*

Sorry, they have been off for 4 weeks (2 were Easter). Another three weeks will be 7 weeks, but they will have missed 5 weeks of school.

They have missed 10 days so far.

Hadenoughfornow

Oh no, I'm gutted.

@IheartNiles

It really isn't. classrooms are packed, as are the halls.
The expectation to greet the children at the start of every lesson. + duties.
Everyone using the same canteen.

Surely this will put teachers in harms way. There are still many people dying from this. It is way too soon.

*What are you talking about?

In three weeks, they will have been off for five weeks. Two of which were the Easter holidays!

So far, they have missed 10 days*

@Appuskidu

I think you’ve got your figure a bit wrong....

The NAHT have released a statement:

www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/press-room/whiteman-irresponsible-speculation-about-re-opening-schools-must-stop-immediately/

“Private briefings about senior ministers’ responses to Coronavirus simply must stop. It is irresponsible and is causing confusion and fear.”

Journalists like Sian Griffiths should also stop this irresponsible reporting. Especially when they should know that it’s bollocks.

@Hunnybears

Yes, I have said.

I don’t think this virus is going anyway anytime soon so we need to work out how we will live with this for the next year or so. That does involve children going back to school.

Staggered drop offs and pick ups could help. Half days for each year group ir alternate days etc. Hopefully combined with mass testing.’

Before someone shouts me down I know it will be hard to do any form of social distancing in schools but we need a plan.

We can’t keep children off school for over a year. It won’t be any safer in September. I haven’t heard of any good ideas how we manage this. Unless people are planning to keep kids off until the vaccine that may never happen?

It will be interesting to see how other countries who are ahead of us manage this.

Denmark are back 10 to a class including the teacher. Some ‘classes’ of ten have a teacher, some have a TA. They have stringent testing and hygiene procedures.

We can do that. It would mean children were in approx 3 days every fortnight.

Delatron

I agree that we need a plan.

Years 10 and 12 should be a priority. Hopefully for obvious reasons.

But any plan needs to be done in conjunction with the profession and not by those that just want to get back to normal as soon as possible without considering the full picture.

What reasons are there to suspect children do not spread the virus much? I keep seeing this statement with zero reasons and zero evidence.

I mentioned up thread what had been said by academics at Munich, who are looking at how contagious children who are actually infected are (their findings: very early but in many cases they can’t replicate the virus in the lab when taken from the sample of infected child; they say they have seen no evidence of child to adult transmission) as well as the hypothesis (Uni of Liverpool and others) that children may be biologically protected from contracting the virus because of ACE2 receptors.

These sit alongside the studies from Wuhan that found that children in close (eg family/household) proximity to an infected person were much less likely to become infected than an adult in the same proximity, and the Iceland population sampling.

So the evidence base is very small and very early and not at all conclusive but there are encouraging signs - both that children may not contract it as easily as adults, and that when they do contract it they may be less contagious.

I have seen nothing to support the idea that children are, conversely, ‘super-spreaders’ of COVID-19 or that schools are super-spreading environments for this particular virus. Can you point me in the right direction?

Can someone please link to the German research?

A medic I know caught covid-19 from a 17 year old.

My Dd caught a virus that went to her brain at New Year. She was perfectly well beforehand. None of the rest of us had it as far as we are aware. They couldn’t identify the virus which apparently isn’t uncommon. They couldn’t tell us why it happened except it happens to about 6000 people a year.

There are children who have died from this. There are children who will be susceptible. It’s just so difficult weighing it up when you don’t know what you are dealing with. And at some point schools will go back.