Labour councils preventing schools going back

[Carycy]

So it is mostly labour run councils across the country that are preventing state school children from going back in their areas.

Within these areas most private schools are reopening and state schools are not. So much for being the party that wants to close the attainment gap. Talk about playing party politics with children’s welfare, mental health and education.

I live in a labour council, schools are open to R,Y1 & Y6, as are the 2 nearby labour run councils. My nieces school is still closed, they live in a Tory run council. In my experience geography is the factor.

@Carycy

Oh so there are no adults working in supermarkets, hospitals, IKEA, McDonald’s, delivery services. They can go all go back but the teachers can’t...

Apart from care like in hospitals and care homes, all those other places can take measures to prevent risk of spread, for example insisting on social distancing when queueing outside or limiting the number of people inside, allowing staff to wear PPE or provide screens, allowing or insisting people who come in should wear PPE or one adult at a time etc. etc. Plus, people are in contact with staff for a few minutes or just passing by.

Schools can do none of these things, really. Sure, we're can say no more than 15 children to a bubble and they have to socially distance, but essentially it's adults spending six hours a day in a fairly small space with a dozen other people who can't or won't socially distance and no-one is wearing PPE. There are reports that suggest children do not spread the virus but it is not completely proven yet. That's why schools aren't fully open yet.

It’s always the same with Labour. They must always go against the Tories no matter what

As they lift the lockdown restrictions I find the priorities of government do make me wonder sometimes. I can have a cleaner or tradesperson in my home but my own mother can’t come round. My child can go to nursery and play with her best friend but but we can’t go to her best friends house. In terms of schools I think it could get to the stage in some areas where schools are still closed but restrictions are lifted and then we will have young people hanging out all day in shopping centres and parks etc instead which I’m sure won’t be popular either

So that’s it because we are going to fail our children because it is not quite 100% safe while hospital staff, supermarket staff, restaurant staff, shop staff go to work. There is plenty of evidence that children are not spreaders. We cannot keep failing our children like this. There has to be a point where you accept that and go back to work. This virus is going to be around for a long time.

I don't think most people expect it to be 100% safe to go back to school, but it does need to pass risk assessments. These will vary by region but also school building, pupils and staff.

School risk is not equivalent to shop risk.

I also understand the apparent weirdness of children allowed to mix at school but not at home. I would assume it's because restrictions are being lifted a bit but not all the way.

I agree different councils are recommending different things. There is no evidence that the differences are politically motivated. If they are, that's wrong. Equally, to suggest there is political motivation here with no evidence is also wrong.

I expect there is a political aspect but within that, Labour councils tend to be working class areas, where there will be more people doing the kinds of work that has lead to unavoidable contact and therefore higher infraction rates. Plus people living in closer confines etc, so the risk is higher in their areas. The private schools won't have the same issues.

Labour, by definition, tends to focus more on the welfare of the people than on the economy. I'd argue that the economy has a direct impact in the welfare of the people but there the line/balance should be is not a simple matter.

The private schools are businesses wanting to re open for financial reasons, it doesn't necessarily mean they believe it's entirely safe to do so, just that they have decided the benefits outweigh the risk.

Labour councils tend to be working class areas, where there will be more people doing the kinds of work that has lead to unavoidable contact and therefore higher infraction rates.

That is a bit of a stereotypical assumption Lace
Yes we are all working up the mill in our working class, labour run areas. No “naice” middle class jobs here. Sorry do you not have supermarkets, essential tradesmen and hospitals in your lovely Tory middle class areas? Do you have to ship them in or something?

Our council is doing this and it is a Tory council. Our schools haven't opened yet. We're in the Midlands and our R number is below 1.

The areas where councils are pushing back against school opening are areas with high levels of deprivation Carycy? I'm sure there are pockets of affluence, but that's not what got the areas a Labour council.

The kind of work that is being done is the essential work. Therefore is is being done in every town Lace!

OK, I should have said low paid, essential work and you know as well as I do that the peope doing it arent living in "naice" areas.

I bloody hope they keep the schools closed. Party of putting peoples health first if you ask me.
Missing out on education isn't going to be healthy in the long run.

Ours were set to go back but when the R number here jumped over 1 they decided to hold off. Given we keep being told by the government that the R number above 1 is a point we need to be locking back down that seems smart to me.

The Northwest overall currently has the highest rates of infection in the country. We also have a large percentage of labour councils. therefore it makes sense that many councils making this choice are labour.

Welcome to MN, OP.

According to Sage:

Opening schools in the limited way we have raises the R by around 0.2, regardless of how many precautions the teaching staff take.

Opening stores in a socially distanced way doesn't.

Therefore, if the local R is more than about 0.8, there isn't enough wriggle room to open schools and local areas will see a rise which may overwhelm services.

This is all from the government, not local councils.

HTH

Yep let’s put health first, damage our children’s development, their mental health their futures for the sake of an illness that affects so few. I hope in a years time people will be pleased with themselves. When the country is destroyed, our children are struggling, people are dying from the effects of austerity. But hey the R number was a bit too high. It’s not safe!

Yep let’s put health first

Pretty much, yeah.:o

So it is mostly labour run councils across the country that are preventing state school children from going back in their areas.

Or could it be that labour run councils happen to be in areas where the infection rate is higher.

Correlation is not causation.

Vulnerable children are already allowed to go to school

Parents should not project their weaknesses onto children.

Children can be home educated successfully

Get lost attacked. My year 1 child is super bright. Was right at the top of his class when this started and enthusiastic. He refuses to do any work now. He doesn’t have the personality for home schooling. He comes from a loving and well off home but I have three children. I work. My husband works. Just because your child is suited to homeschooling doesn’t make you an amazing parent.

I heard a retired lady speaking on the radio in the week. They had a phone in where they were dus using the merits of letting younger people go back to work.

A chap in his thirties with three kids phoned in. He owns/runs a coffee shop employing five or six staff all under 35. He was desperate to go back to work as really struggling financially.

Lady in her seventies phoned in and said he was being very selfish, she wanted lockdown to continue for a while yet.

I assume her income is unaffected, she isn’t working from home, juggling kids, paying for kids, educating them, safeguarding their mental health. Her tone was so dismissive, made me so angry.

That’s what it feels like countess. That smugness of the people that want to stay locked down. They are totally don’t get that people might be suffering because of it and don’t seem to care. As long as they are all right jack!

quite. I suppose it bothered me more because she was of the age that she would be more vulnerable to the virus, and yet she didn’t seem to care a jot for anyone who was having their lives trashed to reduce the spread.

I lost all sympathy for the whole thing I think.

I live in a labour council & all schools are back. Conversely, the town next to me is Tory & they have refused to open the schools. Yet that town has one of the lowest amount of cases & deaths per 100,000 people in the country. Blows my mind. My daughter goes to nursery in that council area but thankfully it’s private so they’ve opened!

Even if the Council say the children can go back it does not mean the school will open.

Lots of schools are not open in areas they are able to.

It is up to the school and their risk assessment.