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Original poster

Government reportedly considering schools going back in 3 weeks

999 replies

FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue · 18/04/2020 23:38

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.

OP posts:
PurpleFlower1983 · 19/04/2020 07:38

No way are they going back in 3 weeks.

Mascotte · 19/04/2020 07:39

Great news!

MarginalGain · 19/04/2020 07:42

Raab is not going to be in charge in three weeks time.

Johnson is making moves to return.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 19/04/2020 07:43

Of course it's going to be nerve wracking moving forward looking for signs and symptoms but the alternative is we all stay at home indefinitely for the sake of our own anxiety and condemn the next generation to being a bunch of nervous wrecks.
I've had my fair share of health anxiety and come through the other side maybe that's why I am so gung ho ! 2 years ago I lost 4 close family members to cancer , 1 after thr other within 18 months. I was terrified of cancer , couldn't sleep was close to a nervous breakdown, it set off a chain of events in my life I am just coming back from.
We are in the middle of a pandemic, it's very serious , people are dying , but life is harsh and we need to carry on .

Widget123 · 19/04/2020 07:43

Reading these posts a lot of people just seem to want to send their kids back because they can’t cope with having them at home and want to get their lives back to normal. I get it, I’m struggling too, I’m trying to run my own business whilst managing a 4 and 6 year who fight 24/7. It’s hell. But I wouldn’t for one second even consider sending them back right now under current circumstances, and to even entertain the thought that we could be ready to send them back in 3 weeks is not only a joke but it’s bloody cruel. Not only to your children but also to the staff.

MarginalGain · 19/04/2020 07:46

I want my kids back because it's not normal for them to be home 24/7.

I've loved having them here - they've been incredibly good sports, way better than I have been, but I want them back at school.

Widget123 · 19/04/2020 07:46

@Dontforgetyourbrolly ‘...but life is harsh and we need to carry on’

What a rediculous comment.

Widget123 · 19/04/2020 07:47

@MarginalGain we all WANT them back ... I WANT to but I’m not willing to let people die because of it!?

Yurona · 19/04/2020 07:48

You need to get kids out for mental health reasons, education, and to allow adults to work. And you need to fo it in a traceable way, for infection control reasons. So (part time) school it is... no other option really

Mascotte · 19/04/2020 07:49

@MarginalGain I completely agree. My boy is great, but it’s not good for him to be stuck home alone with his old mother 24/7. It’s his interests I have at heart, not mine.

Yurona · 19/04/2020 07:50

Keeping the kids in 24/7 until September would lead to incredible damage.

Widget123 · 19/04/2020 07:51

Oh my god. I’m off. I can’t handle the amount of deluded and down right selfish comments on here. These are your children for Christ sake. What is wrong with people. No wonder our countries been hit so bloody hard.

Mascotte · 19/04/2020 07:52

@Dontforgetyourbrolly that’s interesting.. I too have conquered health anxiety and am very gung ho and accepting of life and death.

MarginalGain · 19/04/2020 07:52

That's a completely unreasonable test for return to normalcy. People die, it's normal. The covid19 hysteria is disproportionate to the actual risk.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 19/04/2020 07:54

Widget why is it ridiculous? You think like is one long song and dance ? It's not. We all worry about our kids who hasn't been there with a lump in there chest when they see the school on the phone- you think oh no ! What's happened?
Of course we need to sheild the vulnerable but we also need to assess the risks for ourselves and make our own decisions.
I don't think any one on here is being ridiculous whatever your opinion, you cant help how you feel .

MarginalGain · 19/04/2020 07:54

Oh my god. I’m off. I can’t handle the amount of deluded and down right selfish comments on here. These are your children for Christ sake. What is wrong with people. No wonder our countries been hit so bloody hard.

Oh my god. Goodbye. Grin

NeurotrashWarrior · 19/04/2020 07:56

Shame it's not year 9. We've had the virus so I'd like her to go back to school.

It's not about individual circumstances. People don't get it do they? Once you've had it you can still, by being around other people, pass it around and increase risk for others.

There's a slim possibility some schools may take more pupils on, widen the list of key workers. For example some schools have had to take only children where there's two parental key workers.

But I really doubt it.

The 12 week period affects many staff; can't see pregnant women going back at all, many primary teachers are women and there's always 1-2 pregnant in large primaries. The 2 weeks of self isolation affected staffing badly so many schools were forced to close before the official closure due to staffing. Some will have family who are shielding etc.

There may be a lifting of the directive to close but it will be voluntary and up to schools how they manage accepting more pupils. They're going to be offering childcare over the summer so it's definitely not business as usual.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 19/04/2020 07:57

Marginal, you put it much more eloquently than me, thank you .

We are unfortunately the generation with social media etc . One day polio appeared, as did malaria and other diseases , but this couldn't be documented or tracked worldwide. This isn't the first pandemic and it wont be the last.

towers14 · 19/04/2020 07:58

Hope so, DS is year 10 and really struggling working online, he's not learning anything as no one to explain things except me which is very limited. If he has to wait till Sept it's far too much too miss.

We need to ease out of lockdown and get the economy going again with the vulnerable still isolating. This would be a start.

Dontforgetyourbrolly · 19/04/2020 08:00

We are so lucky we have medicines that save lives , the top scientists in every country are working towards a vaccine and treatment , there is light at the end of the tunnel we need to look to the future instead of this ' the end is nigh' mentality .

NeurotrashWarrior · 19/04/2020 08:01

Have any teachers died?

Yes I know if a young female teacher who died.

nuttymomma · 19/04/2020 08:02

Not going to happen.

Schools in Scotland close end of June for Summer. No bloody point in sending them back for just a few weeks.

allyjay · 19/04/2020 08:03

I hope they do send them back

midgebabe · 19/04/2020 08:04

I suggest marginal gain looks at the weekly uk figures for deaths in the UK , a huge spike at the end of March and it's going to be an even bigger spike throughout April.

A death rate of 1 in 100, or 1 in 1000 if you are young is not insignificant. Do you think people would fly if 1 in 1000 planes crashed?

delightfuldaisy19 · 19/04/2020 08:04

I really don't get the outrage.

Schools can't do social distancing and they aren't going to be able to do it in June or September either. So, if the virus is still about in May, June and September then it really doesn't matter when we send them back. Might as well do it sooner rather than later.

Are some people really considering not sending their children to school until a vaccine/cure is found? That would probably mean them being home for over a year.