Schools to remain closed until October half term?

[stopcollaborateandlisten]

Lots and lots coming out in the news how schools will finally be re-opening - anyone else think it might get pushed back at the last minute to after the October half term?

I love the thought of nightingale schools.

Its such a shame that the request for ex and retired teachers didn't work out as planned. (sarcasm)

MoreListeningLessChatting

You also have to take in to consideration class sizes, Social distancing and all the other preventative measures put in place and include population density,

whatsthecomingoverthehill
- Parents are not going to be socially distancing from ill children in any meaningful way, and certainly less than teachers (who shouldn't be touching the same surfaces etc). So will almost certainly be exposed to the virus.

Who do you think is going to be wiping down the surfaces in the classroom before the next lesson.

I think this is the first step to permanently closing schools as part of a wider experiment to see what happens if we just stop educating our children Covid-19 is just a front for this. It is the logical extension of Gove and his 'we have had enough of experts' thinking

No they will be back on September for sure and I think stay open

Teachers will be advised not to socialise and risk getting infected outside the school.

This is all well and good but the school has no right to dictate my social life to that extent- and I have given up days in the holidays and chosen not to have a summer holiday this year for that reason.

BUT I have commitments I can't give up easily outside of school. As, I'm sure, a lot of teachers do. I need to socialise a bit for my own mental health.

It's not reasonable to expect school staff to have a highly restrictive life, when there are no/very limited protective measures in place for us inside school.

Why do you expect they will be struggling staff wise? I doubt that there will be more problems than normal

As others have said, teachers normally struggle in when they're ill because setting cover takes ages and we all know the kids won't do it anyway which means we'll lose precious time which is especially bad if they're an exam year.

The staff room in the autumn term is always a plague zone in normal times. Plenty of coughs/temperatures etc but normally we'd drink lemsip / dose up on paracetamol and come in.

Now, everytime we have a cough or temperature or loss of smell or taste (I get this every time I have a cold), we will have to isolate and take a test. Even if it's negative the guidance says we should stay off if we're still suffering covid symptoms. Probably because (a) the tests aren't 100% reliable and (b) these symptoms indicate a respiratory infection of some sort and if someone gets this at the same time as covid the prognosis is much worse.

It's not just the staff though. If the close contacts of a positive test need to isolate that could knockout around 20-40 kids for 2 weeks. One asymptomatic kid could spread it to that many of their peers and no-one will notice until some of the others develop symptoms and then each of those will knockout another 20-40 kids. That much absence is going to have a huge effect on continuity of education. Unless the whole year group is isolating, staff won't have time to provide any sort of quality remote provision so it'll be oak academy / bitesize / online textbook.

I wouldn't worry about strikes by the way, despite media representation the unions don't hold any actual power and the last few months have made it very clear that we (teachers) don't have the respect or backing of the general public.

Why do you expect they will be struggling staff wise? I doubt that there will be more problems than normal

Also - we know what happened in March. Yes, testing is better now, but we're still supposed to stay off if symptomatic covid style and the isolation for someone positive is now 10 days not 7.

Struggling staffwise?😂

Those who are too scared to come in.
Those who have a cough and sore throat who will have to stay at home before testing. By November this is probably what 3/4 of the staff usually have. But we just struggle in.

And now we can’t. And no cover teacher in their right mind is going to cover it.

I really, really hope I’m wrong as schools being back up and running fully is so important. But when the return of Reception, Year One and Year Six children came in the summer term there were 197 “outbreaks” in those 5 weeks as opposed to 3 during lockdown. And that is with only 40 percent of primary children and only key workers in secondary schools. Plus more strict distancing policies were in force than are set to be in September. With that information, how can things not be worse if all children go back in September?

@FarTooSkinny

I think this is the first step to permanently closing schools as part of a wider experiment to see what happens if we just stop educating our children Covid-19 is just a front for this. It is the logical extension of Gove and his 'we have had enough of experts' thinking

Eh?

It is the weird full time, no rotas insistence that will scupper schools I think.

If we started off in September part time and built up slowly, then we could probably come up with something sustainable in schools. I think Y10 benefited a lot from coming in just one morning a week in June/July. If we could have all children in secondary in part time, and keep this going over the winter that would be good.

But if we try and get every child in full time, you run into problems as soon as a relatively small number of staff go off. The situation is obviously different to March, as there is more testing available, but every secondary school I'm aware of did a closure or partial closure before the government announcement due to staff shortages.

I guess the government's hope is that due to "bubbles" of students having to self isolate too, partial closures can happen, but they just won't be called that. But students and staff rotating in and out of school on an adhoc basis won't be good, educationally for anyone, and at a primary school level it won't be good for working parents either.

The reports from Israel are interesting. We don’t (quite) have as many children per class or air con to deal with but they did have masks.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/middleeast/coronavirus-israel-schools-reopen.html#click=t.co/QYQKN3Vmu8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/middleeast/coronavirus-israel-schools-reopen.html#click=t.co/QYQKN3Vmu8

Masks initially that should have said!

@TraffordDad75

I really, really hope I’m wrong as schools being back up and running fully is so important. But when the return of Reception, Year One and Year Six children came in the summer term there were 197 “outbreaks” in those 5 weeks as opposed to 3 during lockdown. And that is with only 40 percent of primary children and only key workers in secondary schools. Plus more strict distancing policies were in force than are set to be in September. With that information, how can things not be worse if all children go back in September?

Let's hope and pray that full reopening doesn't have the same percentage increase from 3 outbreaks to 197 outbreaks in relation to percentage of attendance. That's a 6466% increase, and if I have calculated that alongside attendance correctly then that would be approximately 462 outbreaks per day for each school day until October half term.

@UnaCorda

No, it isn't in the news - just thoughts.

I don't mean to be rude, but I wish people would stop bloody speculating! If you have some sort of insight or expert knowledge, fair enough, but otherwise just having a funny feeling in your big toe is pretty irrelevant to what will actually happen.

Thank god someone speaking sense the fact is no one knows .... it changes every day

I never said it was in the news?! I said there's been lots regarding the schools reopening in the news but not that it had been in the news that it was pushed back to October?! And yes, this is a discussion forum, can we not discuss thoughts or musings or opinions anymore?

It wasn't speculating - just idle thought on the way to work this morning whilst the news was on the radio!

@LegoMaus

does anyone know if there is a likelihood that teachers could strike? They could. I don’t think it’s likely because the weight of public opinion would be against them. What I do think is likely is that individual teachers will find reasons to avoid going to work. Some will call in sick with anxiety and stress or whatever other health condition they can reasonably claim prevents them from working. Others will take loans, live on their savings or their partner’s income, and just quit. Others will take early retirement. A lot of teachers are already unhappy in their jobs and this is just the push they need to get out. The first sign of a sniffle and they’ll self isolate. Imo there will be a significant staff shortage. Supply teachers won’t solve the problem either, because nobody is dumb enough to go into a class where the teacher has gone off sick with Covid.

Here in Scotland the union has asked us if we are willing to strike. So yes, here it could come to that if there is enough support and the Government doesn't take the union seriously with mitigations.

They will open. Handwashing, distancing, and staggered lunch and break times will happen. Students won't do group work, any contact sports, or share equipment. We wil all get used to it.
In the event of a 2nd wave, I can see some schools trying to operate rota systems with priority given to exam groups at secondary. Most students did not manage to learn very well during lockdown (partly failing of teachers, in other cases, parents could not handle it) so they need the structure that school gives them and the social connection. We have to go back, create new routines to support them and get them engaged.
Hopefully, most schools will be staffed by people who don't need to shield, and those who do need to shield will be able to work from home.
It will be a slightly more rigid learning experience but it has to be better than students staying at home, struggling to learn.

Hopefully, most schools will be staffed by people who don't need to shield, and those who do need to shield will be able to work from home.

Unfortunately not. All shielding teachers are expected to work in September.

All shielding teachers are expected to do so here in Scotland. They have a risk assessment to protect them

Gosh that is shocking ! And looking on news tonight various bars in Aberdeen are all shutting for deep cleans as they have been visited by COVID positive guests. This is how quickly it spreads following one cluster.

Here in Scotland the union has asked us if we are willing to strike
Even in the absence of a formal strike, I think a number of teachers will “strike” and find a way to avoid going to work. This isn’t just about pay or conditions - it’s about lives. Some teachers will take steps to protect themselves if the union doesn’t.

Yes and they are employing more teachers to help in school to take the class when we all get covid