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!

This idea of bubbles is great. Until you look at what will happen in practice. Say you have three kids. Reception, year 4 and year 6.

You also have to really trust that every child and everyone in that family in that bubble isn't a selfish bellend and is socially distancing outside school.

There are certainly parents I wouldn't like to be in a bubble with, because I can see from my front garden some of the crap they have been up over the last few weeks and how many people have been coming and going. I've not said anything about it, as I don't think its helpful to do so and its not affecting me directly. But what if their child is in my bubble? It makes it much more of an issue. It could impact on my family's health or income. We've had enough examples of people reporting their neighbours to the police. Imagine that amplified in a school setting, with the emotion of children being involved.

It will create enormous tensions and divisions both in school and out of it. How are people going to react if they know someone has been acting a dickhead and its their kid who brings it into school, meaning that you have to take time off work (especially if this means you lose income as a result).

The community infection rate is still much higher than other countries reopening schools (and will be still in three weeks time). This is a significant issue and does make the possibility of hotspots centring around schools a much more likely prospect than in many other countries at this stage. Our early case detection ability is also significantly lower and has yet to be operational, whereas some countries have made efforts to maintain this throughout the crisis. What happens here is unlikely to be the same as elsewhere as a result.

Wish I lived in Scotland, they seems to be much more considerate of people's lives.

@RedToothBrush you are spot on about us vs other countries who have reopened schools, that's the point I think so many people are missing.

Yes Germany have some kids back in school but their new cases are less than 1,000 a day & deaths have been in double digits for a few weeks. They are shit hot on testing & tracing too. Are we going to be in that position in 3 weeks? Pah hah, no chance!

NAHT response to the guidance

www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/news/leadership-news/advice-for-school-leaders-on-phased-returns/?utm_campaign=1903074_New%20guidance%20for%20members&utm_medium=email&utm_source=National%20Association%20of%20Head%20Teachers&dm_i=3OT7,14SF6,4Y21RI,3ZU34,1

I've mentioned this in another thread but yes I am still being bloody paid!!!
This week I've recorded loads of lessons/stories, done a mountain of paperwork, spent a whole day calling my parents for a catch up and then visiting the ones I couldn't get hold off with resources etc The list goes on....
Dh is a graphic designer, he earns twice what I do and is currently working from home.
Is it ok that he's still being paid? Thought so.

@QueenofmyPrinces In general though, especially hospital staff, the key workers are wearing masks and PPE to prevent them contracting the virus - therefore the children aren’t getting it either. When the schools go back there will be lots of children from different families where parents are out and about in public without masks who are potentially going near lots of infected people and bringing it back to their children. The two scenarios can’t be compared

Many of the keyworkers whose children are attending DD's school do not work anywhere near hospitals and do not wear PPE. Of the top of my head I'm aware of children whose parents work as: train maintenance staff, social workers, bus drivers. One of her friend's mum works in a hospital but has no PPE. She is on reception dealing with out patients. These parents are 'out and about in the public' and could presumably be bringing the virus home. And yet none of these children appear to have infected their teachers in the 10 weeks they've been at school.

The virus was spreading throughout the country for a few weeks before schools closed. Why, during that time and the weeks following, didn't hundreds of teachers fall ill if children are super spreaders?

Again, I'm not stating teachers must return to work if they feel it is unsafe. I wouldn't want my DC to be taught by someone who was resentful, fearful and did not want to be in the classroom. I just don't understand why teachers are a breed apart and are being described in some quarters as lambs to the slaughter. Millions of people have had to return to places of work such as warehouses and factories where it is impossible to maintain social distancing. The idea that their exposure to risk is less than that of teachers just because they are not working alongside children doesn't make sense.

Our head teacher has put out a video showing the new classroom layout. Two groups of 5 tables, laid out in an H shape, with one child on each corner of the H. So 8 children in a class.

That means that for DD3's year group (year 6), they'll need 8 classrooms.

Why, during that time and the weeks following, didn't hundreds of teachers fall ill if children are super spreaders?

They did!

Any evidence of this piggywaspushed?

I haven't heard anything about this (my sibling is a teacher so I've been keeping an eye out). If hundreds of teachers have been infected by their students I'm surprised they and teacher's unions haven't spoken out about this as it would be a compelling reason to keep schools closed.

It was widely know that in the two weeks leading up to lockdown staffing levels were at an all time low.

I am a bit surprised the unions haven't mentioned this : maybe because the government will just say 'ah but testing'.

You have to remember that teaching is a huge workforce so '100s of teachers' is not really as hyperbolical as you perhaps thought.

Eastie77.
Part of the reason is the behaviour of adults vs little kids.

I very much doubt if the daily life of a factory worker includes the sentence “Please don’t lick me. No, I like you very much too, but we don’t lick people to show them we like them. We can just use our words, ok?”
I doubt they clean up the wee when their co-worker wets themselves because they didn’t go to the toilet until it was too late. They don’t have their co-worker picking their nose then holding hands with them. They might not be at 2m all the time but they probably don’t deal daily with the bodily fluids of those around them.

On the one hand, some shops have banned children, in part because they touch loads of things and might spread the virus. But on the other hand, the children won’t spread it in school. Which is it?

Mme this has been badly handled by the government....
But realistically what we need is thoughtful solutions. You can't social distance in schools and have kids back... You just can't. The bubble idea has some merit if you only have one or two year groups. But given that we have the virus in the community and we don't have a vaccine (it could take a year from now) what is the solution. If you wait until there is huge track and trace capacity then kids could be off school for another 6-9 months. I think it's important to know if teachers are anymore at risk because of their profession than shop workers or social care staff or those in construction,.If not then we are back to an understanding of risk. For healthy under 50s the risk is low....

Are parents aware that the guidance allows for no lunch breaks for the adults on charge of your children and has cast teachers in the role of toilet cleaners and equipment cleaners? I am really sure most parents don't want those levels of potential cross contamination or children being cared for by exhausted teachers.

No break is, of course, illegal, but given the bubbles idea , not sure what is planned there.

And parents also need to note the guidance spells the end of wrap around care, so vital for so many.

From what I can gather lots of parents choosing to send their children back are doing so because they want to see their friends. No concern for their child's education, just their social life.

I'm sure teachers will be so pleased that they're putting themselves at risk to facilitate kids seeing their mates.

It will probably be easier in London as we now know we have a very low R rate now here so risk will be getting pretty low even if we didn't do social distancing or bubbles at all now.

From what I can gather lots of parents choosing to send their children back are doing so because they want to see their friends

I also worry that if a child's friends aren't in the same group, some parents will think nothing of socialising outside of school with children from other bubbles.

@stardance do you think parents may be thinking about their children’s mental health, I’m pretty sure seeing friends would help that.

@Bigfishylittlefishy it’s difficult with mental health as for our year R dd we are worried that she’s happy and settled now but returning and yet NOT being allowed to play normally with friends might really upset her

@stardance do you think parents may be thinking about their children’s mental health, I’m pretty sure seeing friends would help that.

Some will be, yes. Like someone else just said though, they'll be disappointed when they find their child's best mates are in a different group and the closest they'll get is waving through a window.

Others will just want them out from under their feet.

I honestly think that many parents don't realise what the school environment is going to actually be like.

Hottie.
The other thing with the bubbles is it relies on no cross contamination across bubbles. But if my two go back to school, then they will be in two different bubbles. So if one of those bubbles has someone in it with Covid, then my child could bring it home, pass it to their sibling and away we go. In fact, I work in my kids school and they will have to come in with me, and we could potentially be in three different bubbles. We are a small school and have 3 bubbles. So my kids could potentially cross contaminate all 3. As could one other staff member and her kids.
Siblings generally could do the same thing.

I think most parents realise it’s not going to be normal school. Learning resilience though is about learning to adapt to change. Even socialising in a smaller bubble will be beneficial to some children’s mental health.

I don’t want my children out from my under my feet but I do really want some time to myself, and I will not be made to feel bad about that. I’ve worked full time from home with three young children and I need a break. You cannot pour from an empty cup. I have worked in education all my life, still do. I am itching to get back.

What happens if a member of staff from a bubble is ill, not Covid maybe but just ill. Can another teacher from another bubble cover them?
It’s absolutely mad. Two schools in our town had to close before lockdown because so many staff were off sick or isolating because family members had symptoms.