Schools possible part time admission and cleaning

[obviouslymarvellous]

Something I have been wondering since Nicola Sturgeon said schools may go back on half days
or alternate days. Does anyone know how they are going to clean surfaces or if they are proposing to do so especially if it's half a day. If the virus can live on surfaces etc I'm just curious how this won't stop the spread again? Schools
are terrible for spreading germs and I'm just not convinced this will work especially as children will want to be together, play together.

No idea really but in hospitals, when we have to do outpatient work where the space is used by multiple people one after the other...the room has to be completely stripped bare, appointment time doubled to allow for surface cleaning before the next person comes in.

Not the same as schools but I guess you would have to leave at least an hour or so between morning kids leaving and afternoon kids starting. School stripped bare so every surface is wipeable and quickly and have 2 lots of resources in circulation for am and pm....all a bit shit and unworkable really!

Our cleaner takes two hours to cleAn our d ept.

Can't see any cleaning being done mid way through the d ay.

@infernotowering yes that's how I feel. I think it will be unworkable and too much for schools to undertake. I know we may not even go down that route but it is a possibility, but schools are big spaces especially high schools and to clean them thoroughly even overnight seems ambitious.

I have wondered the same. It won’t work. Its not only the classrooms but everything the children touch in between - from toilets to equipment.

I think they would be better phasing the year groups back and then staggering break/lunchtimes etc to reduce the amount of children together at one time.

Would week on week off with a weekend to clean maybe a possibility?

@ConstanceDoodletony it's the little things like stationary that children share (primary in particular) keyboards etc. Maybe I'm overthinking things and need to read a book or something to distract myself

@NothingIsWrong for cleaning purposes I think this would be better. Disruptive for the children though. Not sure how much benefit that would have for them.

A weeks focussed teaching with time to get into it might be better than 3 hours each day? Plus parents would be able to get a good solid weeks work in - I think a lot would struggle with a few hours a day, having a decent stretch might help WFH productivity

Our cleaners are only employed after school hours. Budget cuts also meant that two weren’t replaced when they retired and the LA guidelines said that each classroom should only be cleaned every second day.

Our cleaners are also lunchtime supervisors to make up their hours so couldn't clean in the middle of the day even if there was time. Teachers will be busy preparing for the afternoon/marking and we don't have TAs in the afternoons because of budget cuts. So split days wouldn't be possible.

Our cleaners are agency. The agency didn't send enough staff or allocate them enough hours to keep up with the standard level of cleanliness that we all wanted and expected before this - no idea how they will do any extra.

I would do mon-thurs
And switch so weeks 1&2.
Giving 3days for surfaces.
Also potential for 7 days for the group to show symptoms.

We will find a way to make it work. None of us want to be out of the classroom longer than needed. All spaces in schools will be used to allow smaller classes, it's already being discussed at our school. But cleaning will be an issue and guidance from Scottish government would need to be issued otherwise we will continue to clean with our basic, no harm ineffectual cleaners.
I want back to school, i want to work with my kids. I want my own children to go to their schook. Even social distancing and part time is better than this. Not sure how we will manage to ensure online learning whilst teaching full time but there will be a way. Although I hold a tiny hope that somehow someone will find medicine to help 😕

Initially I was thinking that I would have one set of children in the morning, one in the afternoon, half the amount in each class.

Desks and seats wiped in the change over hour. Toilets cleaned.
No one gets lunch. Play times are now supervised PE with planned activities keeping distance as much as possible.
It’s not brilliant but would probably do.

But as PP suggests one set one week, then a good clean on a Friday and another set on the next week is maybe better?

But then my family and I are about as low risk as it’s possible to be so fairly happy with minimal precautions.

I guess it’s up to the teaching unions, whatever they need to protect their members.

We lost most of our cleaning staff a few years ago due to cut backs by new Trust. Our huge high school was filthy until it shut in March. Part of it is now open for key worker kids, and the cleaners clean it regularly after every day the kids are in. But the rest of the school hasn't been touched since March - the bins in the corridors at the sealed off part of the school are still overflowing.
As for surfaces, etc., all I can say is that staff (me included) were taking in our own cleaning stuff to clean our rooms and desks, because they were lucky to get a quick wipe by the cleaners once a week, prior to this. The staff toilets - we took our own stuff in, because even the bins weren't emptied in the holidays. We would have to recruit far more cleaners than we have in order to manage this - it isn't their fault, they work really hard, but a handful for our huge school isn't enough.

I hope funds will be given to schools for extra cleaning because they’re already lacking. I’m not sure how it’ll work. At secondary I’m assuming it’ll be year group based with smaller classes to enable distancing and masks to be worn. Maybe years 10 and 12 first (poss y9 if doing 3 year GCSEs). At primary I just have no clue how it’ll work, and at nursery (especially babies who eat everything) it’ll be impossible.

The thing I don’t get is that you can’t deep clean the teacher. If the teacher picks up the virus in the morning or on the Monday or whatever, they will then have contact with all the children anyway. It makes the whole cleaning thing pretty pointless.
We could wear masks I guess but there’s no way I could read a story/do an activity with 29 wriggling 3 year olds with half my face covered.

I think that if it was half days teachers and class assistants would be having to clean surfaces etc. And tbh at least that would reassure the teacher of how it's been done. Each child would have to have separate set of stationery like they've done in key worker schools.

But as I said, part time school, will not get workers back for the economy which is the driving force for a return.

Part-time presumably means no wraparound care. What use for many if they cannot work from home is the ability to work 9 to 1145? Or even alternate days 9 to 3?