‘School will have to look different from now on’....

[Starrynightsabove]

‘With a mix of home schooling and in-school learning’

So said Nicola Sturgeon.

So how does this work for a single parent trying to work full time from home with a full on job who needs to pay the mortgage. Literally how does this work?

@catsandlavender what about teenagers, why aren't they allowed to go to the bathroom.

That is just one aspect of how awful the school system is.

Teenagers committing suicide because of bullying was a huge, huge problem.
I am just trying to get you to see that the old school system was in inhumane and cruel, and caused alot of suffering to children and teenagers.

The whole school system needs to be changed

Buy we can't keep schools closed because you personally don't want to go in? The risk of you dying is minimal. If you don't want to take that risk it's entirely up to you but we surely can't keep schools closed indefinitely so what's the solution?

I agree their needs to be measures to keep teachers safe but keeping schools indefinitely can't be the solution.

When do you propose we do marking, planning, resources prep and assessment, then?

The PP talking about longer days said 'longer days but less days' so you could do your marking on the days you don't need to teach anymore.

Buy we can't keep schools closed because you personally don't want to go in? The risk of you dying is minimal

Actually, if I contract COVID, I am statistically going to struggle on 3 counts. Please don’t assume you know me, or any other teacher.

I am ready to go back to school and can’t wait to see my students. But some kind of protection needs to be in place for everybody’s sake.

But some kind of protection needs to be in place for everybody’s sake

I agree with that.

From telegraph
Age group
% symptomatic cases requiring hospital % hospitalised cases requiring critical care
Infection Fatality Ratio
0 to 9 0.1% 5% 0.002%
10 to 19 0.3% 5% 0.006%
20 to 29 1.2% 5% 0.03%
30 to 39 3.2% 5% 0.08%
40 to 49 4.9% 6.3% 0.15%
50 to 59 10.2% 12.2% 0.60%
60 to 69 16.6% 27.4% 2.2%

How does the risk of catching covid as a primary teacher in a normally operating school differ from being a picker at the supermarket? or nurse? Or a carer? Is it much higher, lower or similar? We can't ask teachers to take a much higher risk but equally it would be unreasonable to think it OK to keep them at home but not supermarket pickers if their risk is much lower.

I'd say we will be more exposed than shop workers because of length of time in contact with individuals. Depending on age of children possibly similar to carers.

It's difficult to hypothesise about vulnerability due to exposure because there isn't enough evidence yet about how those without symptoms (often children) transmit the virus. It's a matter of ongoing research.

Retail workers will come into contact with more individuals but for a shorter period of time. Teachers will come into contact with fewer people but it will be closer contact for a much longer period of time. Primary school teachers spend all day every day with the same group of children.

Research so far indicates that prolonged contact increases 'viral load' which seems to lead to a worse case of the virus. So we have to firstly ensure that no children with symptoms come into school. As for asymptomatic children, we'll just have to hope they don't transmit the virus. There's no conclusive evidence on that yet, so I suppose school staff will be guinea pigs.

It is not just about dying, though - that is a bit of a blunt tool. I have been ill for six weeks now with presumed covid19 and no-one can tell me how or when I will actually recover. I was previously fit and healthy, and working full-time and I am a single mother. There is no fallback if I cannot work.

anamaria
Can i just stick up for schools a bit here. Not the education system, that sucks and was made elitist and irrelevant to many thanks to Gove , bit the actual school and staff.
Kids these days get so much support, on school councelling, anger management, positive play/therapy. Free breakfasts and lunches (for some) staff going the extra mile, clubs, sports, arts, trips. So much better than the 80s and 90s. One to one extra turoring for free. It is amazing.

But we do still need rules regarding movement, toileting etc. Teens can be absolute arses, blocking toilets and sinks, setting fires in sinks, meeting mates in the toilet, accessing porn.

Toilet are a safeguarding issue. What if it's self harm? Or a sexual assault? We need to know where kids are at all times.

@asuitablecat. No, it is about control.

Look online, there are many, many stories from teenage students saying that teachers would not let them go to the bathroom, and they wet themselves, or got their period in class.

@Asuitablecat you are missing the point.

Why should any human be allowed to say to another human, "you cannot use the toilet".

In actual prisons, they are not allowed to say that.

Welsh Govt has just announced schools in Wales will not open to all pupils on June 1st. Current arrangements will stand.

It's really not about control. If a kid has a toilet pass or clearly needs it, then fine. But many kids tend to suddenly need to the toilet when they're bored, the work is hard or their mate just walked past the door. Most teachers can tell the difference.

Funny how teachers manage to go hours without managing to wet themselves. Even post baby and knackered pelvic floor.

I'm not allowed to go to the toilet in lessons either. Couldn't if it was busy when.I worked in a bar. Definitely couldn't when i worked in.a factory.

@Asuitablecat - you’re an adult. We cannot judge kids by adult standards

@Asuitablecat which leads on to the next question - why should children or teenagers not be allowed to leave a room. The school system was like a military system. Way too regimented.

If they are homeschooled they can leave the room whenever they want, to get a snack, drink, go to the toilet.

It's quite natural to have children from different families together all day long
It’s really not. Children wouldn’t have been free to play with other children. They had to work - on the family farm, in the family business, as an apprentice or assistant - surrounded by adults. They were lucky if they got to go to school one day a week, or perhaps for a couple of months in the winter if they were from a farming family. Prior to that in tribal days they would have been in a group with their mothers or fathers. It’s a very recent 20th century development to put children in a large group with a 1-30 adult-child ratio and no real work to do.

What about teachers with young kids....

starrynightsabove

*With a mix of home schooling and in-school learning’

So how does this work for a single parent trying to work full time from home with a full on job who needs to pay the mortgage. Literally how does this work?*

Either

• you shrug your shoulders at Nicola Sturgeon and the school, say “no can do” and leave your kid to play Lego and watch TV

Or

• you accept that you are going to be shit at your job for the foreseeable and hope your employer is sympathetic

I’m doing both. Just got a thing from school to say DC had only achieved 25% of his learning objectives this week. Would have bothered me at the start of term, not so much now. The final straw was last week when I yelled “what on earth are you doing, you’re not doing ANY work!” at him while the mute button was off on a call to a bunch of corporate and bankers. Cue horrified silence.

Village halls etc aren’t appropriate venues. Not all subjects can be taught in them at secondary level and even at primary level these spaces will lack appropriate resources.

Plenty of people on this thread are conflating home schooling with remote learning and seem to have no idea how different the two propositions are.

I'm a nurse so my child has been going to school anyway, but only on the days both me AND his dad are in work. I'm shattered but wouldnt send him more than I had to.