Nightingale schools

[Crimples]

In the same way they knocked up all those hospitals in next to no time, why can’t they do the same with schools?
Genuine question, apologies if it’s has already been discussed

Social bubbles will slowly increase to include more people as more and more of society re-opens so that come September there will no longer be a need for social bubbles in schools - it will just be a case of maintaining the new lower social distancing measures "where possible" so staggering lunch times, start and end times etc.

I just think it was very shortsighted of all these businesses and councils to have spent money on all the signage stating 2m distancing when it has been blindingly obvious that it was never going to stay at 2m.

Even if you just considered primary schools, in our large village you would need 49 extra spaces for classrooms . I can not imagine any village, town or city having enough 'extra spaces' to double the primary provision and certainly not enough staff. I think the only option is a part time rota as planned by many schools before the government said not to have a rota and as recommended by SAGE.

Our school is a special school so slightly different but all pupils (who can be/are wanted to be) are in school for at least two days a week. The outside areas are divided for each class to have their own space and the classes come on different days to enable social distancing in corridors and have staggered start times and end times to enable social distancing at these times. As lockdown is relaxed the set up can be slightly adapted so students can increase their days.

"I do think using other spaces would be an interesting idea, but organisers would have to bear in mind that children will need child-sized toilets, separate adult toilets, outdoor space, all tables/chairs/equipment transported there, be within a reasonable distance of the school, security during the day and overnight, at least two DBS-checked adults, a paediatric first aider on site... Many potential venues just don't have the right set-up to have classes in."

This is why it would require a lot of money to be spent and that is where the equivalence with Nightingale Hospitals would come in.

If we need huge numbers of rooms that can house separate multiple groups of 15, massive buildings are no use at all.

We need to decrease the social distancing to 1m and get all dc back to school. Shielding teachers and pupils of course would not be expected in but everyone else needs to get on with it now.

Even with 1m social distancing, we couldn’t get more than 15 to a room.

Without our shielding and vulnerable teachers in, we cannot staff out school.

I’ve been thinking about this. Also about building new classrooms on school fields. I know some inner city schools only have a small playground but others have plenty of land.

My dc’s primary has acres of fields and so do the three secondary schools I have I worked at in recent years. They could certainly provide for all the pupils on their roll if there were new buildings on site.

Our education system has been systematically underfunded under a decade of Tory rule so we now have huge class sizes crammed into tiny classrooms. That isn’t going to be solved overnight. Many schools modelled to open up on a part-time basis so that a wider range of pupils could at least get some time in school. Only to be told by government that rotas weren’t acceptable. Our country has one of the highest death rates in the world because the virus has been allowed to spread unchecked. Yes children have lost out because of this but sending 8 million children (plus the adults that work with them) back up unsafe conditions is only going to add to that disaster. We need to get more children back but it needs to be as safe as possible. Just abandoning any form of social distancing isn’t the answer. A blended approach of part-time in school learning and improved home learning is far more preferable to thousands more deaths. These are human lives we’re talking about. People should not become desensitised to that fact.

For primary school pupils I think all children should go back and their class is their bubble, with their normal teacher. Admittedly 30 children can’t social distance but better than also mixing with other classes. Eat lunch in their classrooms either a packed lunch from home or a cold lunch from the school canteen, and short staggered break times when they can go to the toilet if need be

Not ideal necessarily but children have to go back soon, by September they’ll have had 6 months off and not all employers are understanding of childcare needs by the looks of some of the threads on here

Move heaven & earth to get your kids into a 'good' school & then send them to ....some random pop up school staffed by who knows who, located who knows where, running under who knows what policies & in an oppressive atmosphere where they are obliged to treat everyone else they see like toxic waste.

and no clue whatsoever how most the kids could commute, if buses are stopped

Be still my heart with faux enthusiasm.

that is where the equivalence with Nightingale Hospitals would come in.

Really?

7 Nightingale hospitals.
32770 schools.

Our council would need an additional 1000 buses/ minibuses in order to adhere to current social distancing guidelines - we are a very rural county and a lot of routes are only suitable for minibuses. The council could only get an additional 7 vehicles! Hence they are not providing transport

BrieandChilli our school is exactly the same. A rural secondary. No public transport at all. Around 60% of our students are bused in from LA school buses. The LA spend half a million each year on school buses. Social distancing would make it impossible. We've thought of doing extra journeys instead but it would take half the morning. to get everyone in, plus be extortionate in cost.

@Iwantacookie it would be interesting to know if it has ever been considered.
It is a time when we all have to think outside the box. It just struck me as incredible how the hospitals were pulled together in such an impressive amount of time and wondered if schools could happen too.
Strange times indeed. I’m sure if we had been told this time last year that we’d be into our 3rd month of homeschooling the nation we’d have deemed it impossible.
Appreciate everyone’s points about the sheer logistics/cost of it though, maybe not a workable idea after all

I’ve been thinking about this. Also about building new classrooms on school fields.

Oh god. Round and round we go...

Appreciate everyone’s points about the sheer logistics/cost of it though, maybe not a workable idea after all

Hurrah!

sunshineanddaffodils
We need to decrease the social distancing to 1m and get all dc back to school. Shielding teachers and pupils of course would not be expected in but everyone else needs to get on with it now.

they have already got around this by reducing the class sizes to 15, which would be 1mtr apart.

@Iamclearlyamug that could be a good compromise.
Clearly SD would go out the window but like you say, less risky than the “normal” school day

Lots of reasons why it won't work here but not many people proposing alternatives.

Meanwhile my children in secondary school haven't had a single contact with a teacher since schools shut, virtual or otherwise. I'm regularly told by the many teachers here that it isn't true but it is.

I would make mine cycle miles to a Nightingale school if it meant they had an education.

Eh? Why is new buildings on site as a suggestion ‘going round and round?’

Well before they built Nightingale Hospitals, they came to an agreement with the private hospitals to take NHS patients.

Certainly where I live, if the private schools chipped in in terms of space and resources, it would be a lot easier and presumably a massive marketing opportunity for them.

That's why part time school and part time childcare would be easier. The childcare part wouldn't be compulsory and parents who don't need it for work would have to keep children at home on childcare days. This means less provision would be needed than for a full school week with social distancing.

All of these convoluted, unworkable plans. What is so much simpler is to have everyone wear masks, teachers to wear visors too and ensure rigorous hand washing and track and trace.

Why is new buildings on site as a suggestion ‘going round and round?’

Because there are so many similar suggestions on so many similar threads.

There are 32770 schools in the UK. How soon could they get “new buildings” built? How many schools have room? How much would this cost? Who would teach in them?

I love the idea that we are educating kids in pubs and hotels : I think the pub and hotel industry are expecting to be up and running at some point...

Surely in primary bubbles of 30 would be OK in September? If children have lunch in their classroom and don't use areas such as the library and each class had playtime at a different time I think most schools could make it work.

Secondary schools will struggle though. My DDs school have enough classrooms for 15 in each room (yes really) but nowhere near enough staff. And then lesson changes would have to be one way and could take a long time. The answer would probably be pupils staying in one room and staff moving round (except where will the staff come from?).

However, I think being in school 50% of the time is better than nothing.

Igtg
Eh? Why is new buildings on site as a suggestion ‘going round and round?’

Its been done on at least half a dozen threads.
New builds
Portacabins
Marques.
Tents
Potaloos
town halls
Libraries
empty buildings.

etc. etc.

I am at the idea of our local private schools suddenly educating the huddled masses.

Although, to be fair, they don't have additional space either.