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!

The guidance does say that children attending school and their families will be entitled to testing. Hopefully that means those that test negative can return quickly without the need for long periods of isolation.

I think it’s more risky to the staff than pupils . The figures prove the virus is definitely ageist .

@cantkeepawayforever, it doesn't directly say that they can do this, but there are lines like,

'In schools and colleges, you may want to consider seating students at the same desk each day if they attend on consecutive days'

The 'if they attend on consecutive days' strongly implies, to me, that there is a possibility they will not be attending on consecutive days.

Just reading the other thread asking who'll send their kids in and it's almost 50/50 i think. So it's unlikely there'll be a full compliment of kids going in by the looks of things
Probably what the government are banking on.

It’s only remotely workable if there is a part time arrangement. The 15 to a class is not just a space issue, it’s a major staffing issue too when you normally have one teacher to a class of 30.

The 'if they attend on consecutive days' strongly implies, to me, that there is a possibility they will not be attending on consecutive days.

I think that's for the 10s and 12s, who are just supposed to have 'some contact with a teacher'. There is absolutely nothing within the reams of not-a-lot that implies part time attendance for primary schools.

Doing part time nursery (one day one group and another one another or morning done and afternoon some ) wouldn’t work for some parents (how many kids go full time to nurseries ?) and also those that are private nurseries wouldn’t get it enough cash I guess. If my son goes now part time then I’d like to see a decrease of 50% off or so in my bill. This wouldn’t be viable for sure. As they’d need to be swapping careers so that they’d not pass the virus from one group to another.

Also right now childcare is a reason for parents not to go to work but this won’t work for long so if my nursery can’t provide me what I need then I’ll need to search option b.

I get it, teachers / Caters won’t be in the best place cuz of social distancing but not sure what it’s expected when the class is full of 2yo and there is not enough ppe for the nhs workers and they are day after day treating confirmed infected people.

Part-time looks like the only way to me - it would solve the problem of not having enough teachers for a given year too...

I really feel for the teachers, they are in an impossible position and being thrown to the wolves by the government. Hopefully the unions will step in and demand a safe working environment.
My child won't go back before September, when it will hopefully be better planned.

Any teacher over 45 would be mad to go back. Any overweight teacher would be mad to go back. Any teacher living with a vulnerable person or caring for one would be mad to go back. First they sacrificed the elderly, the NHS workers and the care home workers. The teachers are next. We know kid transmits they virus just like any other person. I hope the unions kick off in an almighty way.

ensuring that transport arrangements cater for any changes to start and finish times

This is in the transport section.

There was a line that I can't find which said schools can change the timing of the day.

I wish I hadn't read this just before I'm meant to be going to sleep, I'm crying for my children and all children, especially the younger ones who cant fully grasp what is going on. I know my 5 year old son will want to hug all his friends (he has been crying over missing them) and his teacher. I can't imagine any child's upset at any reluctance from a care giver if they hurt themselves or feel sick at getting close to them.

This is just horrendous.

I'm too emotional to look at this, I can be pragmatic tomorrow. I'm not inputting anything useful, I just feel so sad.

It said classes of say 30 could be split into two groups of 15, one group led by a teacher and one by a teaching assistant or other school staff working under the guidance of a teacher if i remember correctly.

I'm sure childcare is why they have deliberately NOT mentioned part time - so when schools say 'we can only do this part time', the government can say 'schools' fault not ours, we didn't mention it at all...'

Whats the alternative?!

Teaching early years has always been up close and personal, by its very nature. So unless you are talking about kitting up teachers like they are in ICU, they are going to be at higher risk, but its the same risk that shopworkers and carers have been taking for weeks. I would say that more thought has been put into this than was ever put into how it would work for shop workers or HCAs. As a PP said, masks dont protect you anyway and gloves only protect as long as you dont touch yourself or anyone else in anyway and change if you do, so neither would make much difference in a school setting.

The simple fact is that unless you are vulnerable due to other conditions, you are likely to be ill but alive if you get CV19. The vast VAST majority get ill but get over it, there is currently about a 95% survival rate. WOmen seem to be less at risk of serious complications too, and as most primary teachers are women thats a good thing.

I dont get MN. On one thread you have people saying we all need to get back to work, that lockdown was all about controlling when we get the second wave, not eradicating it altogether, and then on here there is uproar about the kids going back. For a lot of us we cant do one without the other, and furlough pay will be cut in 6 weeks so something has to give.

Tell me, what do you realistically think is an alternative to what has been suggested?

@Harpingon

What do you think better planned looks like?

If there was a magic solution I'm sure the government would have chosen it.

But where will they put them?? Most schools are rammed to the rafters as it is.

Its like its guidance written by men who don't do childcare and have no idea about children...

'It said classes of say 30 could be split into two groups of 15, one group led by a teacher and one by a teaching assistant or other school staff working under the guidance of a teacher if i remember correctly.'

yes - so 3 classes become at least 6. Which is sort of fine temporarily, if you use other year group classrooms and staff. But no use at all once the 'ambition' of re-admitting all year groups happens - not only would everyone have to go back to normal class sizes simply to be accommodated within the building, but there would be more than 2x the number of children in school.

Care workers have been dying at a higher rate than NHS staff apparently Pyongyang. And pipnchops, that will probably mean TAs having to do yet more teacher work: and where is the space to come from anyway? All schools are pushed for space as it is.

What do people expect to happen regarding schools? Are we keeping kids off until the virus is gone? That’s a long time. People talking about September as if things will be different, there won’t be a vaccine by then either!

What happens with siblings then? They will have a different teacher with different children, so is that not just expanding social interaction 🤷‍♀️

@ThrowingGoodAfterBad Yes I read that, I have a friend who is seriously obese and a care home manager, she is terrified but still working because.....well what else can she do? If she goes off there will literally no one in charge and she is responsible for all the people in her care. Its wrong that they have no protection, especially when they are working with people most likely to be affected, but I still dont see why teachers are owed more in the way of protection. Especially when, generally, teachers are not constantly dealing with very personal hygiene for example (the odd shoe full of wee incident notwithstanding) in the way care workers are.

I want to go back to work but I am dreading it in equal measure, but when I am summoned I will go.

And that’s also assuming there are plenty of TAs and support staff to split classes. There have been major cutbacks and redundancies in my county and we have lost many of our TAs.

I'm fairly sure Raab already explained he was expecting part time schooling. They say all primary children, but not specifically all children every day. As there won't be new magic classrooms or staff, there'll certainly be part time schooling. This is presumably the reason for the oak academy and the mysterious laptops landing spoon.