For those who want schools to go back..

[pfrench]

.. tell us how you think it should work. Primary or secondary.

In your ideal world.

How would social distancing be adhered to?
How about drop off and pick up?
How would classrooms operate?
How about lunchtimes and breaktimes?
What about after school childcare provision?
What about staff who are sheidling?
What about children who are sheilding?
What about staff who have family members who are sheilding?
Should only some children go back? Who should they be and why?

So many education and school experts on here, it will be interesting to read your safe solutions.

secondary should reopen first.

Classes tend to have around 30 pupils, so a third of the pupils at a time. Even 15 kids would be too many, 10 just about manageable.

Of course schools with outdoor spaces should spend as much time outside as they can - some already do, but not all schools have such luxury.

The UK has the worst death rate, but some people still insist on pretending that Covid19 is a mild inconvenience. Until a famous football player or reality tv star is dying they won't believe the reality of it.

Now, when the schools reopen, it means everything else can reopen too. Absolutely no justification to impose any restrictions any more.

Yes, there are lots of 'key workers' who are still working full time who have no access to PPE etc (my son being one) bubthere are also an awful lot of people who are currently furloughed - being paid from tax payers money for literally sitting at home doing nothing and they don't seem to come under the anywhere near the same level of criticism or scrutiny as teachers are. Or any at all!

Just the teachers again

I think shielding children/teachers would need to stay at home until a vaccine is made. Some shielded in time may be able to return before vaccines become available as they no longer fall into the shielded bracket - ie someone finishing cancer treatment and eventually no longer being immunocompromised.

I don't know about social distancing - it would depend on the size of the classroom. I like the idea of splitting classes into week a/b or half days

To be honest I think social distancing for children is impossible.

true, just ask any of the staff currently working in schools all over the country. Many schools are still opened. There's no such thing as social distancing.

Good luck with the mental health of the little ones though. Going back to school in such an oppressive environment is going to be horrible for them.

Now, when the schools reopen, it means everything else can reopen too. Absolutely no justification to impose any restrictions any more.

Oh yeah, that was the final point I forgot to make. I definitely agree with this.

Schools should go back when Parliament think it's safe for them to also return to the House of Commons and all sit together and not worry that there is a Virus out there with no cure and no Vaccine....

Schools should go back when Parliament think it's safe for them to also return to the House of Commons and all sit together and not worry that there is a Virus out there with no cure and no Vaccine....

And that!

@Xenia

Only under 400 people who are under 45 have died of CV in the UK so we let children get and spread it

No concern about the potential long term affects on children, Male infertility?

Secondly teachers with serious medical conditions, obesity etc may have to resign and be replaced

Oh might they just? Get serious. We already had a serious shortage of teachers, let alone good teachers

Still, as always, you git your dig in about weight

Now, when the schools reopen, it means everything else can reopen too. Absolutely no justification to impose any restrictions any more.

Oh yeah, that was the final point I forgot to make. I definitely agree with this.

Explain why?

I’d be interested to know what “year 6 transitioning” looks like in other primary schools. Our transitioning activities are all based around spending some time at the secondary school they are going to. So not a lot of point being back in Primary if that’s the focus.

But in all honestly... I don't think social distancing will work in school. Kids will get too close to each other etc. They don't really have concept of distancing so will forget etc.

Parents will have to be trusted to check kids temperatures/wash hands etc before sending in. Maybe when kids arrive teachers get them all to hand sanize on entry... Classes cleaned throughly at the end of each session...

I am a teacher myself and when this was all starting up we just got on with it. Hand sanitised etc... We will continue to do same when schools reopen.

Schools should go back when Parliament think it's safe for them to also return to the House of Commons and all sit together and not worry that there is a Virus out there with no cure and no Vaccine....

..and take their children & parents in for the day too

I've stated this in another thread so apologies for repeating it.

Social distancing is all well and good in school - if you can manage it. But if you think secondary school children, who come home alone, will all practice social distancing I think you're being naive.

We had kids coughing over each other in the week before our school closed. We found kids licking book covers in our school library and we, before Christmas, discovered a boy licking a wall. All year 9 or 10, some from top level classes in our streamed school so you'd think they'd know better - they supposedly act more mature. But when friends dare, peer pressure to 'defy' all comes into it...

During the week before we closed down I had to disentangle one of our SEN year 8's from her classmate. She's a hugger. Lovely girl, but the boy she did it to hates being touched. I couldn't have anticipated she'd single him out, she hadn't before. But I had to try to explain that she couldn't hug him now or in the future. Two minutes later I had to shout at her across the room as she'd homed in on him again.

As soon as the secondary school children leave school, social distancing will go out of the window. My DS was jumped on last year by a kid 'doing a dare'. He wasn't hurt, just a bit shaken up. But bullies, kids who want to fit in with the 'gang', those who don't care will all use a lack of social distance as a way to bully, prove their worth, intimidate. They do it already, Covid is not going to stop them.

I can't imagine many parents picking up secondary school age children so drop off and pick up is a moot point for them. They're on their own when they leave that school gate.

And what about bus travelling kids? How do they socially distance in the rain, in the town centre waiting for a bus to bring them to school? At school we can, at least, ferry them from classrooms onto the bus. But at the start of the day?

Here in Japan they are apparently looking to Taiwan to work out how to reopen schools. Masks will be compulsory, kids will be spaced out, unnecessary "stuff" will be cut. We can't eliminate risk, only reduce it. That is hard for teachers----but I don't have any solutions for that, and other public sector workers are going to be in the same boat, as will many of us in the private sector.

Re pickup and drop-off: they need to close off traffic (or require parent volunteers to supervise crossings) in the area right around schools, and establish a whole bunch of pickup points around the school where kids can walk to by themselves, and a parent can meet them there, for kids of 7 or over. Will reduce the problem of all parents crowding into one place. The UK tends to baby kids a lot in this regard, but in my experience kids of 7 or older are perfectly capable of walking a few blocks alone as long as the traffic issue is dealt with. Very small children can continue to be met at the school gate. Remember this is about reducing risk not eliminating it (outdoor transmission is rare with this virus in any case).

Where did you get the sanitiser from?

@hopeishere, I'm in NI too. Obviously we would normally go back in August, did the school say why they are being advised September specifically?

Now, when the schools reopen, it means everything else can reopen too. Absolutely no justification to impose any restrictions any more.

No it doesn't mean that at all. Anyone suggesting this doesn't understand risk versus benefit involving complex economical and societal factors.

I’d be interested to know what “year 6 transitioning” looks like in other primary schools.

I can't think of many things I care about less than "year 6 transitioning" to be honest. Every year the "transitioning/leavers" thing seems to get bigger and bigger. I wonder if all the endless buildup increases anxiety rather than reducing it.

I think these are the latest ONS stats of corona deaths by age:
www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19roundup/2020-03-26

This shows that 88% of deaths are in people over 65.

There were media reports this week that only a few hundred out of all deaths were under 45.

We should be far more worried about opening up shops and parks than schools, probably.

how are we as a society going to protect the many children at risk of abuse and neglect if they never have access to an adult outside of their household?

Honestly, as a country we do a shamefully fucking terrible job of protecting vulnerable children. But funnily enough nobody was bringing it up on here till the faux concern for vulnerable children was a nice way for them to push their own agendas.

I don’t see why lack of before or after school provision (which doesn’t exist anyway at my children’s school) prevents school opening.

If it's about getting people back to work, there aren't many people who work 9 - 2.45 around school hours.

Teachers too!! My child is in breakfast club and afterschool club at her school every day for the maximum time available. If I go back to work but she doesn't, my partner is stuffed. But if she goes for school hours only, then he'll have to try and work around school hours.

I am a teacher in China and our school went back this week after 13 weeks of being shut. For anyone who is interested, here is the list of measures we have been mandated to follow by the government :

Temp check getting on the school bus, cannot sit next to anyone on the bus, Temp check on arrival at school, hand in declaration that you have had no symptoms since you left school the previous day, enter school at strict intervals, classroom desks now single units and spaced at least 1m apart, timetable changed to allow 2 further temp checks in the day, wear masks all day except to eat and drink, no talking if mask is off to eat, lunch eaten at individual tables, provision of isolation rooms at school if anyone records a high temp, no ties or blazers or garments that cannot be laundered every day, classroom desks disinfected in between each use, lockers out of use as that’s where people cluster

We should be far more worried about opening up shops and parks than schools, probably.

Yes, and what happens if schools reopen but the wrap around care doesn't, or isn't available - ie, if wrap around care is 70+ year old grandparents.

Now, when the schools reopen, it means everything else can reopen too. Absolutely no justification to impose any restrictions any more.

I agree with this. I agree with lockdown and think it should be extended and schools remain closed - but if they open they need to accept it’s the same as ending social distancing. If my children are exposed to hundreds of other families (potentially many with siblings at other schools and parents in workplaces) there’s no point in trying to limit anything else and I won’t be bothering.