90 kids does not seem like a bubble to me. AIBU?

[Rainallnight]

DD starts Reception in Sept. We’re really happy with our choice of school generally.

But the other day they sent an email explaining how their Covid arrangements were going to work, in which they said that each year group (not class) would be a bubble. In Reception, that’s 90 kids.

Reasons given were mostly logistical to do with space/time etc.

What do you think?

Our reception one will be 60. Which is stupid when they wont SD.
So minimum of 90 kids between my 2 dc.
Then after school and before in KS bubbles.
Yeah seems really safe for people returning from shielding and any vulnerable.
Basically it's the whole school plus parents plus siblings schools plus workplaces and wherever they decide to go on days out or holidays and extended family bubbles.
6 degrees of separation. We can probably link our 'bubbles' up.
I personally dont see how a school can risk assess this as they dont know where parents work, what sort of risks they are happy with. How many kids people have at how many different schools or preschools.
What seems like a small difference
15-30-60-90 is actually a huge difference maybe someone needs to do them a chart.

The reason why reception work better in larger bubbles is so that they can share the continuous provision (free choice play equipment, essentially). If your child was in a bubble of 30, there would be little option for them to move around freely and investigate their own choice of activity - they would be restricted to a desk and small carpet space all day, essentially, as schools are set up for children to share open plan areas and without these your child would likely have a poor learning experience.

I get that 90 is a scary number but in terms of effectively providing for children's needs I think this is a better idea than restricting the youngest children in school to a very formal table-top based learning experience that isn't able to be flexible and meet their needs.

Class bubbles are basically a load of bollocks invented to get schools open, and I for one am fine with that.

Boris has had it now so isn't bothered anymore basically.

Dont worry everyone, according to a lot of mn posters, kids cant catch it so everyones safe, and you are more likely to die in a car accident.

250 people bubbles in our high school as well, no social distancing, all going in on public transport and wearing the same damn blazers every day. Hello second wave, basically.

I must be more tired that I thought, I read the title and wondered what 90s kids had to do with coronavirus bubbles .

I think ds3's class are supposed to be in a bubble when they return in September, as far as that is possible- they're having dinner in the classroom, staggered playtimes and so on.

I have no idea how it will work for ds2 and secondary school. How do you bubble at secondary school, with all the classroom changes and so on? Logistical nightmare to arrange the timetables at the best of times, I don't envy them trying to plan for this September.

Don't really see what the alternative is. Schools don't have enough space and classrooms to bubble half classes, high schools have different subjects. Makes sense to try and keep year groups apart so that the entire school wouldn't have to close.

Short of only having part time schooling there is no other way and part time schooling isn't acceptable.

Or we could stay in lockdown for the rest of the year and see how that turns out...

@NotShiny 🤣🤣 spot on. I am working across at least 2 bubbles and have four children in different bubbles. 2 at high school with year groups of 345. Our household bubble is huge 🤔

The choice in 30 bubbles would be the same as in all 30 intake schools.
Though i do see that the shared outdoor space would be an issue. And the toilets. But more chance of everyone being off for non covid and swabbing...
In bubbles of a few hundred there will likely be one off being swabbed a week

120 in our reception bubble. This is the guidance from govt - they were told to use sets for phonics as it is best practice.

Bubbles of 30 for the rest of the year groups.

My eldest is in a bubble of 320 at secondary school...

Our local primary is Yr bubbles by what a friend said. We've not heard from ds secondary yet.
So basically pretty normal then.

I think calling them 'figleaves' would be better.

The best way to think of them is that they provide absolutely no useful infection control BUT they do provide a plausible-sounding reason why the whole school shouldn't shut down if there are a couple of cases.

So if a primary has bubbles of 90, then if there are 2 cases within that 90, it is possible that only the bubble shuts down (at least initially - as others have said, with sibling and teacher links, it is quite likely that those 2 cases will lead to others in other groups and the school will shut down by stages).

Whereas if we didn't have bubbles at all, those 2 cases could shut down the whole school at once.