British Medical Association saying too soon to open schools

[HorsesDoovers]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-52669441

I have been undecided about sending my Year 6 DS back to school in June if they reopen. This has made me think I will be keeping him at home.

The troops that say you are scaremongering should be along shortly

adc.bmj.com/content/early/2020/05/05/archdischild-2020-319474?fbclid=IwAR3cUVibjccgKRmRluxOttGSUDVnKgIk_9zpxnyQwRCLh2eEvACrKgUYnio

So, who do I believe then? Completely conflicting reports there.

As a teacher and parent I’m going for the British Medical Association. As a parent I have informed my son’s school he will not be attending.

Also scientific advice only gives low confidence that children won’t transmit

TiredMummy thank you for posting that.

The teaching unions, teachers and the BMA are all saying this. NHS staff wrote to the government urging them NOT to re-open schools yet.

And still, multiple posters on Mumsnet are insisting there is no danger to the children and they should all be back in school.

I wondered how many of these posters are qualified medically or scientifically to state that? I'd rather trust the BMA.

I just said this on another thread but the BMA's position is not really about scientific or medical evidence, it is one union supporting another union and is primarily about union politics. I say that as someone who doesn't have primary age children, I'm not fussed either way but don't think the BMA taking this position is evidence that they don't think it's medically safe, that's not where they're coming from.

@Llamapolice that's simply your opinion, though, and in my view is incredibly naive.

Unions of different professions don't stick together just for the sake of it. They represent their own members interests and the BMA would look ridiculous if they spouted 'politics' that are not justified by medical evidence.

The letter doesn’t appear to have the normal BMA logo. Is it possibly fake news?

Not fake news. The BMA shared it from their official Twitter account.

While it's just year 6 in the juniors, we've got the best chance of it working with less numbers.

Having said that I work in a school, not a teacher, and I'm now having a wobble about going back to school (I have another job with lots of face to face contact so not a case of not facing up to work). I want to go back for the children but also for my own well being as five months is too long to be away. Ok

I have a teacher friend who was in tears last week that years 10 and 12 weren't going back straight away. This week, she's been on the rota at school and was in tears again saying distancing won't happen, and there's no way the level of cleaning and hygiene can be done. It's a no win situation I'm afraid

No. It's not fake news. It's in the Guardian, it's an official statement by the BMA, it's in TES...

It's well publicised and official.

Sorry I’ve had a couple of days off media watching. But as others have pointed out the BMA is a representative body for its members. Not all doctors will be members. It is one of many medical ‘unions’.

One of New Zealand’s biggest clusters is a secondary School. It is not a union conspiracy
www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-current-situation/covid-19-current-cases/covid-19-significant-clusters