Why are primary schools obsessed with social distancing when it’s not a requirement?

[whenthejoyreturns]

I’m sure I’ll be told I’m stupid but I’m genuinely confused.
Our local primary will only allow 8 in a class because apparently there’s not enough room to socially distance more. I thought dc were supposed to be in bubbles of 15 or so dc. Why have our primaries gone down the route of sitting dc at desks spaced 2m apart?

Sunshine good to hear.

I work in a school.
Children are disease vectors.
HTH.

What I find bizarre is that looking at photographs of key worker children at a local infants school on twitter (lovely school, rated outstanding) - 10/12 children aged 4-7 are not socially distancing at all - in fact they are very close together for a group photograph.

Because schools are run by real people who don't actually want to catch the virus and put themselves and children at risk. Government gives a maximum number as a guide, it's not a must have. They are theb leaving the species up to shools.

It's like when the government says you are allowed to go for a walk with a friend. Doesn't mean you have to.

@whenthejoyreturns are you spending 5 hours in a room with 15 people you don't live with every day, not 2m apart? No? Why not?

Ohhh, because it isn't safe. Right. So is it purely the teachers' safety you don't care about, or the children too?

*specifics

@Clavinova I find it hard enough to properly social distance with adults. Small children can't do it, so once they're in your class it's like you're a household and you all stick together and try to do the job of teaching them properly, which is hard enough normally.

Because the unions hold all the power

This is bullshit.

OP schools are trying to open up amidst an absence maelstrom of ever changing guidance from the DfE. Every time they get a plan in place, the guidance changes.

Trying to adhere to social distancing is part of why “bubbles” are small (as well as reducing the total number of contacts) and schools would’ve daft to not try and implement every they can to protect children, staff and the wider communities,

I’d imagine they will still be vilified though 🤷🏻‍♀️

So the whole bubble thing that’s working so well in other countries has been ignored?

Is there another country which has bubbles of 15, no resources for extra cleaning and kids not in masks?

Ignorance.

I won't return to this thread as my tolerance for the "oh you don't care about safety and if people die" responses this sort of comment inevitably attracts is pretty much zero at this point, but it comes from ignorance of the actual risks and the best ways to manage them.

And it is not the teachers' fault. They are only working with the information they have and it is not on them that a skewed picture regarding risk and safety has been presented.

I didn't realise it wasn't a requirement - is that true for offices, etc?

Because nobody in the chain of command above them explicity said they can relax the two metre rule when considering spacing for capacity calculations.

@Somerville Nope, not remotely helpful.

I hope those people using the word "vector" know how pretentious they sound

Because as a nation we appear to be terrified, far more terrified than any other European nation for starters. It's just beyond embarrassing.

I think you have to look at the bigger picture OP.

Hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost globally. Each additional social interaction has the potential to contribute to a network of epidemiological pathways, the sum of which will influence the course of the epidemic in each country.
The situation is complex, dangerous and unpredictable.
The response of each school reflects this reality.

Thank heavens they are committed to keeping our children and their staff as safe as possible.

Because noone actually reads guidance.

And there is increasing evidence that children are much less likely to catch and spread it. See BBC article on the review of 18 different studies carried out by UCL and the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine.

Because although the Government has said they don't need to social distance it doesn't mean they shouldn't if they can.

Children, staff and all their families will be at less risk of catching the virus if social distancing takes place.

With very young children it won't be possible. My 9 year old at Primary is very capable of keeping her distance if reminded to. I think many children from age 5 up (depending on personality/abilities) could do it pretty well with reminders and support.

Q
Some LAs and academy CEOs are worried about potential legal action if staff or students die. Therefore the risk assessments have to be rigorous and show they have done everything possible in case they are used in a court of law.

The government could put out actual legal rules about social distancing in schools. Instead they have left it wide open for heads to interpret and implement.

I don't agree with what some schools are doing however I can understand their reasons behind their choices.

Is there another country which has bubbles of 15, no resources for extra cleaning and kids not in masks?

No. But let the teacher school bashing continue.

Some are starting to realise (learning about new virus all the time) that 2m distancing is pointless if you're spending more than 15mins with people anyway...

www.spectator.co.uk/article/should-the-uk-relax-the-2-metre-distance-rule-/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Why would anyone want a larger group? Because more than 8 families want their dc back in school obviously.
Keeping them used to socially distancing outside schools. That’s up to parents. Most dc have got the ability to apply different behaviour to different situations.
All this sneezing in faces so let the dc sit facing walls. I’ve heard it all now.

Looking at all those pictures in the media of people on beau he's, I'm not seeing a nation that's "terrified?"

And to those quoting other European countries who have opened up parts of their schools, isn't it rather too early to be championing them as a success?

When you sue for exposure to a dangerous substance you don’t actually have to prove that it was that specific exposure that made you ill just that you were exposed and it was possible for that exposure to make you ill. So if one child had confirmed covid and their teacher caught covid with no other apparent exposure it’s not a non-starter at all.

Kids are far less likely than adults to catch, suffer from, die from, or spread the virus but hey ho...

'The government could put out actual legal rules about social distancing in schools. Instead they have left it wide open for heads to interpret and implement.'

Exactly this. People going to the beach for a day out are better protected than teachers and children returning to schools under the government guidance.