School re-opening under threat

[jomartin281271]

Headline in the London Evening Standard today that this new surge could threaten re-opening of schools. I'm not surprised. The government know that it's not safe to open schools under their current guidance. Cramming children, teachers and admin staff into those tiny spaces could cause a catastrophe. I feel sorry for teachers. Most of them are really committed to the job and their lives are being put at risk. Scary times.
www.standard.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus-second-wave-schools-september-a4511516.html

I would also urge you to look at the graph for before lockdown at the grey section vs the burgundy for. The grey is educational settings and you can see how much bigger that proportion of the bar is vs care homes. This is why schools were closed.

Are you actually for real? I don’t want free childcare, I want my children to have the education they need whilst being able to keep my own job. This will be the case for millions of working mums and dads including many teachers. The government have set out guidelines to open schools as safely as possible. Yes there will be risks but we all risk our lives every single damned day in a variety of ways. My children’s school has over 900 pupils and staff and have managed to implement safe systems to allow all children to return in September. It is now time for other schools to do likewise to stop children suffering any longer. People need to get their head out of the sand and look at the bigger picture here.

If people think blended learning is the way to go then please tell me how I can implement that whilst trying to keep my job? Come up with workable solutions because at the moment all I hear is “it’s too dangerous, we must not allow schools to fully open, the government needs to throw even more money at employers to be able to allow parents to take even more time off to support this” for some companies this will never be possible. How on earth do people think they can make this work in the real world?!

Care homes were very low then compared to the rest of the chart. So low that I think you have a knowledge the difference since we see care home as extremely high (as it came to be later on)

I agree it's not as simple as opening schools up as normal but again, I don't see anyone coming up with solutions. IF schools are to only open part time then the government should think of ways to provide funded childcare for those parents who need it.

@neutralintelligence

Yes, a proper plan for part-time/remote/local lockdown learning should have been put in place in all schools. Many people want normal full-time education because at the moment the alternative seems to be almost no education, just like during lockdown for those with older pupils in state school. I am very worried how my sixth former has any hope of studying A levels with constant 2-week quarantines. I would also be worried if I had a GCSE-age child. It is horrifying the gap opening between private schools and state school in how they are managing learning from home.

I really don't understand why the government haven't suggested blended learning for post-16. There are no childcare issues (except for a very few children with SEN needs who are less likely to be in mainstream education). As a teacher I feel like the vast majority of my y12 group made good progress through lockdown. A small amount of face-to-face contact in smaller groups (1-2 hours a week out of the normal 5 hours) would have made the progress comparable to full time. This would be far less disruptive to learning than constant quarantine and students missing lessons. There could be some place set up at school for the small number of students who need access to technology or are not engaging with the work at home.

Also there is a matter of sheer numbers. When you close something you won’t get reporting from there. When you have half the number it has an effect on numbers in that location. Hard to say how much more spreading is happening overall.

We don’t know the numbers for children outside schools. And the factor of dc left with gps when schools are closed.

@LyndaLaHughes interesting figures.

I thought educational settings had some special magic where no one caught the virus.

Funding childcare not school is depressing. I’d rather government funded smaller class sizes and children are educated.

Throwing money at employers to allow parents to take time off isn't really a solution either. At my workplace I'm the only one with a school age child, the work still needs doing and I doubt my colleagues would appreciate me having half the week off paid while they do all my work for me.

Or funded visors or allowed them

The government have set out guidelines to open schools as safely as possible.

You know this isn't true. Having bubbles is simply give the illusion that something is being done. As is telling people to wash their hands more. When in reality schools have limited hand washing facilities, and there is no extra funding to increase this. They've given schools guidelines, but they're not measures that allow schools to open as safely as possible.

My children’s school has over 900 pupils and staff and have managed to implement safe systems to allow all children to return in September.

They've implemented measures, but that doesn't mean these measures are actually making the environment safer.

Masks and PPE should be a basic starting point.

I thought educational settings had some special magic where no one caught the virus.

What do you want Staff close the schools? for how long

Blended learning is ok as long as some in school

Or increase who can go to school , eg only children really do have to go back now,it’s not sustainable for them to be alone anymore, plus far less risk (to others) our household is two and I can wfh but the overwhelming priority for me is getting dd back into school.

Hoping the govt will recognise the impacts on and prioritise single children in the same way they recognised the impacts on single adults which was much appreciated.

My children’s school has over 900 pupils and staff and have managed to implement safe systems to allow all children to return in September.

I’d be really intrigued to see what they’ve put in place.
As the government guidance is laughable for secondary.

My priority is to get dc back to school even if not alone. No way to the same children missing out. If people want to homeschool it needs to be a choice.

My children’s school has over 900 pupils and staff and have managed to implement safe systems to allow all children to return in September

No. The school will have put in place the distraction techniques that the Government have asked them to.

A lot of time, and a lot of effort, spent doing things that everyone who works in schools know will make vanishingly little difference to actual virus protection, but which can be communicated to parents in nice jolly letters saying 'We've put safe systems in to allow all children to return safely in September'.

I do wonder what parents would say if schools communicated the glaringly obvious holes in the arrangements instead of the scanty figleaves the government has allowed them in the name of 'safety'.

All those saying 'my priority is to get my child / children back in school - what do you regard as acceptable collateral damage for this? In terms of staff illness and death, and in terms of increased community spread leading to the illness and death of those in the community around a school?

The same amount of community infections and deaths again as we have already had? More? Less?

Or is any amount of adult infection and death allowable as 'children don't get it too badly so their education has to take priority'?

I can’t see them closing all schools tbh. Surely it’s a regional issue from now on. Which means at some point all children will be in. Thankfully !

There are so many other measures that can be introduced before closing them, eg using other sites to increase snd, temperature checking, closing bars and restaurants and non essential shops .

I don’t think there’s a chance there will be a full national school closure again.

Ok so I’m talking large catchment secondary’s now and thinking about part time learning.

I wonder if they should do it by postcodes rather then year groups?
So your bubble is that area? It would stop the sibling bubble issue, make transport less of an issue, as your all bubbled anyway. Local lockdowns easier to implement and makes the childcare aspect (appreciate they are older so less of an issue, however, it’s still an issue)

Maybe the year group break down doesn’t make that possible to make it viable. But as a head I’d be looking at numbers on that. It has to be safer surely?

Cant we need to stop prioritising some dc. Completely isolating some children so others have small bubbles is no longer acceptable. Wasn’t really before but no choice.

I’d like to see PPE in place to keep transmission down and ft education.

@cantkeepawayforever. It’s a risk benefit to society . Do you drive? What about the risk you might kill someone?

We must not forget that the vast majority of people are not seriously ill with Covid.

It’s not even just about education, but the impact on society of an entire generation with serious mental health issues in the future. That risk is higher than the risk of Covid in my view

but the impact on society of an entire generation with serious mental health issues in the future.

Is there any reason why you think an entire generation would have serious mental health issues?

Tooty, as I have said before,

• Some schools, in regions such as Blackburn, will not open in September - as happened in June for the partial opening.
• Some schools will open and very rapidly shut again due to area lockdowns - like Leicester.
• Some schools will go through a long series of partial openings and closings, hugely disruptive to the learning of their pupils.
• A few schools, mainly in more rural areas with low infection rates - e.g. South West, unless current holidayers raise community infections there substantially - will stay open more consistently.

By half term, the community infection caused by schools will, I suspect, be so substantial, and the second wave so obvious, that the vast majority of schools will be shut again (as the government seems to be working on a 'last open, first shut' approach, which will mean schools shutting first). A few in remote regions will be kept open so the Government can claim no national shutdown.