So the school guidance is out...

[Norecallpup]

Sorry if this has already been done. I could cry, I really could. Absolutely nothing. Just wash your hands, wipe down surfaces and encourage kids to cough into tissues! I don’t know why I’m shocked. Our government are a bunch of twats!

I thought it was more that children get in the way and mean you have to reduce the number of shoppers that can be in the shop eg if they have a limit of 30 people in at one time, the the number of people actually shopping can be reduced drastically if everyone took their children. Same reason they don’t want couples in shops.

That is very worrying Queen.

QueenofmyPrinces That's terrifying!!! How the fuck can people still spout that children are not at risk when they read accounts like yours.

My two will be going. Covid is no risk to them and what is the alternative, waiting for a vaccine?

@FirTree31 please don’t worry about any of those things. If all this goes ahead and we teachers end up in school on 1st June there is no way your child will be treated any other way than with love, comfort if needed and a knee to sit on. That is what we do. That is who we are. Certainly in my school, all staff will do the same. Nobody will hurt themselves and not get a quick cuddle!

Don't assume to speak for all teachers. many are saying they will not teach in unsafe conditions. Social distancing essential.

Teachers will not be the next sacrifices on the Tory altar to Covid 19. And neither will the children they teach.

@Eastie77 I asked the same thing yesterday, I can't find any data.

Because you would think the kids of key workers are most likely to pick up/pass it on, resulting in all the schools reporting a sudden influx of illness?

But that doesn't seem to be the case?

Londonsky. It must be really really tough for you and your son.
But how will he cope with school not being normal? Different rules, different ways of operating.
One boy on the spectrum that I know has been going in to school as he has a ECHP. But he has found it unbelievably stressful. It’s school, but not school, with different teachers, he’s in a different room, the routine is wrong...
He got so stressed yesterday that despite normally being quite calm in school (prelockdown) he threw chairs at two different staff members.

School won’t be normal. All the new precautions, plus, at least in our school, we probably won’t be doing lessons as normal because we also have to manage learning for those children still at home (we have mixed year groups, in my class we have Y1 and 2 but obviously the Y2 still can’t come in so will be at home needing home learning).

And if he’s reception, the way of learning is going to have to change because we need to take out loads of the things we use for teaching because they can’t be easily cleaned.

And he might not get much 1 to 1 because there might not be enough adults. We certainly won’t have all our staff because there are several who need to remain shielding, so our ability to support individuals who need it will be compromised. And those of us who are in will be needing to spend more time cleaning.

It just won’t be normal.

@foggybits
@RedToothBrush

It is a long way from correct that all children who would be safer in school are allowed to attend at the moment. From my class, two children are entitled to a place. I know of at least three others who would be safer at school than at home, for reasons including sibling violence and extremely low income (in one case, the low income has only been since March, as parent business has dried up). There are others who might be better in school in terms of their mental health. Some children are coping really well with the situation, but others are definitely struggling.

I sincerely hope that it will be entirely parental choice whether to send a child to school for the initial period.

"There have been 238 deaths so far in England so far due to Covid 19 for those in hospital, with no preconditions and under 60.

www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-daily-deaths/

Stay fit, stay under 60 and carry on?"

It's also not just about deaths. It's the long term health impacts. I know a previously healthy 40 year old who was not sick enough to be admitted to hospital (well at least not sick enough by UK standards) and who is still not well 9 weeks later. There will be a proportion of people who catch this disease who will suffer the consequences for months if not years. Looking at the death rate alone is simplistic.

please don’t worry about any of those things. If all this goes ahead and we teachers end up in school on 1st June there is no way your child will be treated any other way than with love, comfort if needed and a knee to sit on. That is what we do. That is who we are. Certainly in my school, all staff will do the same. Nobody will hurt themselves and not get a quick cuddle!

It’s a bit of a catch 22. I won’t be sending my child in unsafe conditions, such as above. But nor would I with PPE, masks or social distancing. School just isn’t appropriate right now unless absolutely necessary.

Snog
Maybe it would be sustainable in the long term to halve all of the class sizes and have distance learning for 50% of the time and face to face for the other half. So classes of 15 will become the new normal.

And long term how will this work? That means one parent can't work and wouldn't be practical for single parents. We're wall going to have to get back to normal and live with the virus. With a mortality rate of under a few percent or lower we'll have to. We still live with SARS. They never got a vaccine for that. It's still around. It just mutated into something less serious.

It is a long way from correct that all children who would be safer in school are allowed to attend at the moment. From my class, two children are entitled to a place. I know of at least three others who would be safer at school than at home, for reasons including sibling violence and extremely low income (in one case, the low income has only been since March, as parent business has dried up).

DS's school are allowing any pupil in situation like this to attend school. Other schools I know are being far stricter.

There are a high number of key worker parents at the school and those kids who are vulnerable are particularly so due to very high inequality in the area.

As a result it has just about the most kids attending school in the entire local authority.

So I do believe that headteachers have a certain level of discretion about criteria for children attending school rather than it merely being a black and white thing.

If DS's school is operating a more relaxed policy, why won't / can't others, before we get to this nonsense of shifting all the classrooms for two weeks before all the other classes return and they have to shift everything back again?

It's utter bollocks.

That's terrifying!!! How the fuck can people still spout that children are not at risk when they read accounts like yours

Exactly - everyone seems so focused on the death rates of children but what about the rest of them? Do they not count? Does getting the virus only matter if they die of it?

The youngest we have seen who had to be ventilated with respiratory issue was 10 months old, though he did have underlying conditions.

The children we have been seeing with respiratory symptoms, who can be treated on the ward and have no underlying conditions have been as young as 18 months.

The worrying thing is that when we are getting back the positive results of parents/children where their admission isn’t related to Covid at all, they are obviously not isolated. So by the time we have their results back they have already been in open areas with other children and families, nurses, doctors, porters, kitchen staff etc for up to 36-48 hours - and it’s pretty safe to say the bed spaces aren’t 2 meters apart.

Although we swab all children and their parents the nursing/medical staff themselves aren’t tested - even if we have been in close contact with the children/parents who come back with a positive result.

The nursing/medical staff all wear the flimsy masks but the parents/children don’t.

I understand people wanting their children back so they can socialise and see their friends. But they might be in a bubble that doesn't contain their friends. They will be sat at tables all day on their own and not allowed to interact with each other than to shout across tables. They won't be allowed to properly play together. Returning to school won't be going back to normal

Schools that are open just now should be relatively safe, key worker parents who should be very alert for symptoms, ill kids send home straight away, small classes and schools virtually empty otherwise. As such would we expect to see cases spiralling in schools? Most are using outside space, cleaning is being done by staff in our local authority who do it unpaid because otherwise the semi deep clean doesn't happen. This isn't sustainable when a full school is in. The point isn't that there will be massive outbreaks or that anyone will get sick, the point is the nobody knows what will happen. That's why other countries are taking very small steps, testing the waters. I am not sure that the steps proposed, with the guidance issued by government are small and measurable steps. However, I hope and expect all will be okay, just like nonplanning ahead was okay atvthe start. 😂😂

.....ill kids send home straight away

The problem is that by the time the children show symptoms and become ill they will already have been carrying and spreading the virus for a week, if not longer.

Just saw a dr on tv. He said it’s fine because children don’t suffer from the virus and don’t shed it. In which case, why do we need to split classes? why aren’t all children going back to school? Why can’t the kids see their grandparents? Why can’t they play out in the street together?
What a load of bollocks!

@qweryuiop

It is a long way from correct that all children who would be safer in school are allowed to attend at the moment

Do you have facts to back that up apart from anecdotal evidence?

@RedToothBrush
Different catchments may be very different, and different headteachers, trusts and local authorities have different perceptions of the risk. It shouldn't be left down to them to be the gatekeepers and deny/allow access to school. The current dfe guidance is so wishy washy that this is what it had become.

I'm not arguing that schools should reopened as planned, but I do think it's naive to think that children not in school are all safe right now.

Just saw a dr on tv. He said it’s fine because children don’t suffer from the virus and don’t shed it. In which case, why do we need to split classes? why aren’t all children going back to school? Why can’t the kids see their grandparents? Why can’t they play out in the street together? What a load of bollocks!

100% agree!!!

There is no sense to their logic at all!!!

If they don’t suffer with it (which they do) and can’t spread it then why all the planned changes to schooling? Why not just lump them all back together, all years at the same time?

If there is no risk to teachers, pupils and parents because the children can’t spread it (apparently) then why not just let them be educated as normal?!

The whole thing is ridiculous. They can’t have it both ways.

And there is yet to be a response to the replies given about the passage of time and the setting up of a proper track and trace system amongst other reasons.

Actually I have replied, saying I don't see how a better system is going to eradicate the virus, which I still stand by. It will still be there in September.

I am not goady, I am not a tory, I am not a Bojo fan. I am simply trying to determine whether or not it is any safer to go back in September than it is in June. At the moment I've seen nothing to persuade me that it would be.

There have just been some teachers on BBC. One British, one Danish. Interesting.

Not impressed at all that the British head had known she was going on telly and has not yet read the DfE guidance.

@FirTree31 are you really...REALLY...going to be cuddling and sitting children on your lap come 1st June, despite ALL of the advice? I’m actually shocked to read this. As a parent, this would conflict me greatly, as a teacher it would really shock me that you would go against ALL of our safeguarding training in this current horrendous pandemic climate, and as a union rep I would be absolutely advising you to do no such thing!

Yes, we care greatly about our children. Yes, we want to get back to school. Yes, we want our children to feel secure and safe whilst they are there....BUT...we HAVE TO DO IT SAFELY and not put them, ourselves, or anyone else at risk. Do not ‘cuddle’ and sit children on your lap for heaven’s sake!! 🤦‍♀️

I dont trust the government at all BTW and think they've handled this appallingly but I still don't see how anything is going to be safer now prior to a vaccine. They missed the boat on that in February if not January.

HaveAtEm

In early years settings there will have to be physical contact, there is no avoiding it