What would make you feel less worried about your kids returning to school?

[whattodo2019]

I'm ready for my two children to return to secondary school but I am very nervous. Tonight I was wondering what the schools/ government will put in place to protect the children and staff.

I would like to hear that they had increased the cleaning regimes and were using products like milton rather than the old smelly mops and cold water which I often see.

More Hand washings /sanitising stations

Should the children and staff wear PPE or is it not necessary?

How do they think they will encore social distancing? Is it even possible?

I would be interested what you would like schools to be doing.

In a dream world they would have smaller classes and more teachers. The schools probably don’t have the space.

I think parents shouldn’t be allowed in the school office for any reason they can call instead. No parents in the classrooms.

I think I am more worried about Ds travelling on a bus to school than anything, the buses are heaving so it just won't be possible for him to get to college by bus. It is probably a little too far to cycle ( 15 miles) and he hasn't really cycled for many years so could be unsafe. I can see us having to drive him there each day which will be a pain.

The day schools go back is the day social distancing ends

I think school return wont be any time soon, so hopefully we'll know more about the virus. Cleaning regimes after touching anything, , hand washing, eating outdoors, less people in each room. Face masks for all..... I'm a teacher in school a few days a week.... apart from face masks we do all of these. It's obviously not safe but not much else we can do... until someone gets sick.

I think the measures need to be done at government level, though obviously with clear directions to the schools. Mine would be:

• a law which makes it a criminal offence to send your DC to school if you have reason to believe that anyone in your household is potentially infectious with covid. Obviously, the law would need to go into some detail about what amounts to "reason to believe", and I think parents should be asked to provide regular declarations that none of the circumstances apply, so that no one can claim they didn't know;
• a duty on headteachers to report to parents and let them know as soon as there is a suspected case of covid in school (whether staff or student) and to provide daily updates on numbers. Again, guidance would need to be given as to what amounts to a suspected case, so that it wasn't left to individual head teacher discretion;

-mechanisms in place to ensure that individual schools are swiftly closed if there is reason to believe a school is experiencing a covid outbreak, with testing and contact tracing carried out before the school is allowed to reopen.

R below 0.5

I’m not worried at all. The virus was in my DC’s school for weeks before school ended. There is no more risk now than there was then.

I too would want to know how they are going to manage school transport and are they going to temperature check everyday .

Well, fundamentally, a vaccine but it’s not in the best interests of the vast majority to wait until then and I personally wouldn’t want to keep my children off that long.

So, effective mass testing, contact tracing and quarantining. Early admission to hospital/access to oxygen and CPAP for people with moderate symptoms.

I don’t think we’ll get that really either so will probably have to accept as much distancing as possible, thorough cleaning, regular hand washing, no sharing resources and daily temperature checks (goodness knows how that will work in reality though)

Ultimately it won’t be completely safe but neither are many other normal activities.

15 double decker buses pick up most the kids - I'm not sure how they start....

Lilypond i agree but think gov need to be testing so people can see the like lihood of it being cv
Eg week after half term dd2 got a slight fever for a few days and vomit once. No cough. Few days later a runny nose and day 7 a cough.
But italy
1 at the time no testing of anyone not from italy
2 We hadnt been abroad
3 there were no cases
4 they weere saying fever and cough at that point.
5 runny nose wasnt a symptom
6 dd has been getting something similar almost monthly and we suspected the pool

So she went into nursery day 5 with just a snotty nose. Also think it was being said kids dont really get sick and that we would all have to get it. Plus she vey likely caught whatever at nursery.
Now was it covid who knows but as you can see the messaging and errors at gov level probably made me and others send kids in when obviously now we wouldnt.
That is where the gov being honest about how prevalant is is matters. so many people think they are safe there are no cases but there are jyust not in hospitals.a

Sept
And masks for adults and kids and 1m apart or more. This is wbat countries are doing that have schools open with low cases and deaths.
Your kid might be ok but if they pass it on to an asthmatic one etc or vulnerable or older parent.

Schools are not sfe at all until cases are much lower and we all wear masks wheb going shopping etc and we quarantine the new uk arrivals and i mean from the airport somewhe re not involving the people getti ng public transport

Symptoms wont help particularly as kids often dont get fever 50% and 20% asymptomatic.

Transportation is a key issue - more parents will be dropping off and collecting

Parents to keep children who are ill at home or at least have the decency to collect a sick child if called.

Lots of hand washing.

Everyone brings in packed lunch

No sharing of equipment.

All homework to be uploaded onto school system. I can’t see staff writing in books for a while - lots more will be done using IT.

Reduced class sizes and regular testing to check the impact.

I hope schools don’t end up like this it sounds awful just reading these suggestions.
I think children would be better having their lunch at school at least you now the kitchen staff have followed the hygiene process. Rather than every child bringing food in from home.

Nothing. I'm not worried at all, I'd be happy for DS to go back with school at full capacity.

I'd like to know more about the possible complications of covid in children and adults - the big grey area between "dead" and "recovered". Watch and see what happens elsewhere, especially the Kawasaki complication.

Schools can either social distance properly or give children a nurturing teaching experience. Not both.

The large school I teach in can safely socially distance about 120 kids at a time. That’s not a whole year group.

We’d only use the big spaces, not classrooms. Socially distanced exam desks. Each child having a folder containing their stuff. Limited help from staff - from 2 m away. Packed lunch only. Very staggered lunches outside, socially distanced (nope, I have no idea how)

Frankly, a horrible, disjointed experience for kids who are already a bit all over the place.

I'm not especially worried about us catching the virus, as i think weve had it. However, I'm not sure how school would work if it opened soon. DD is in a large inner city sixth form with very limited space, and some kids travelling in a long way on public transport. The current working at home support has been good. If school were to open, teachers would have to find a way of supporting those that can't get in as well as teaching those that can. Some teachers may not be able to come in. At this age there is no point to lessons with a supply or non-essential specialist teacher they are better working from home doing work set by their actual teacher. I guess those that need specialist equipment for their subject will be getting behind and will need to be prioritised.

A parent on fb arguing for schools to go back
'Ive got 7 kids and im a key worker, they all caught it'

Umm that may be why people are concerned then.
1 key workers catching it despite ppe
2 key worker spreads to all dc despite knowledge of precautions to avoid it spreading
3 key worker sending 7 kids back to school (bear in mind people are clearly contagious after that arbitrary 7 day or 14 days. (Or will do when school go back)
4 with 7 kids im sure some are not under the 10year old suggestion they do not transmit
5 when trying to keep r0 low 1 person has already transmitted to 7 others at least
6 that would likely be to 2 different schools
7 result = mini outbreak from just 1 family.
8 sounds a bit strange anyway as supposedly all kids do not catch it and also seems unlikely to have spread it directly parent to all 7 kids.
9 gov are not testing to see people are clear of covid.

If we wait to reopen schools hopefully KW carltching it rates and their families will have dropped significantly by sept

Well some statistics would be helpful as a starting point. From what we have at the moment it appears there is 0% risk to young children with no underlying health conditions. Yet there's a big fear agenda.

So what's the risk of complications, hospitalisation, serious illness as compared to flu, chicken pox etc. Very low from what I've been hearing, so why are any measures needed? Clearly not the case in adults, but risks also very low in the parent age group.

So a bit of honesty so that all the people who are too frightened to go out can gain some perspective.

I will be upset if I’m expected to go back to school (as a TA) and wear a mask, or social distance from the reception and ks1 children I work with. I don’t go to school to constantly reject children and their natural behaviours, either towards me or their peers. It would be horrible, and I want to welcome them back to a happy classroom that feels secure, not a scary one where they are being constantly told to stop being normal in case they get the illness that has already turned their worlds upside down.

@Tfoot75 I am not so sure that's what the evidence says any more. I think it was more an absence of evidence in the first place, which suited a "just a cold, back to work" narrative.

I'm not worried. We've all had this evil virus so from our point of view I just want her back in school learning now. She could transmit to others though so better infection control measures around school would help.

@NailsNeedDoing just what you said. Mine are yr3 and 5 so a bit older, but I also dread to think what their psychological experience of school will be like under these conditions. DH is desperate for them to go back as he's trying to homeschool whilst working full time in a job with a very heavy meeting schedule. But he doesn't want them to back unless it's safe.