Aberdeen ...

[noisaidellobuthatscloseenough]

So that’s us back in a local lockdown it seems with all travel to Aberdeen advised against - not sure about the shire ... Anyone else feeling thoroughly pissed off at the behaviour seen over the weekend that’s led to this? Seems half the pubs in the city, plus golf and football clubs are affected ... for those of us who have followed every rule to the letter it’s such a kick in the teeth and so frustrating ...

Do you think schools might stay shut until October?

No I think pubs might be shut by then, or at least eating and drinking indoors, but i thinK school opening will go ahead. They have to as there is no plan B and children cant stay home indefinitely.

@AgeLikeWine

Further evidence that when alcohol is involved, social distancing goes out of the window.

I get the distinct feeling the governments in Edinburgh & London are rapidly coming to the conclusion that allowing pubs to re-open was a mistake because people simply cannot be trusted to behave responsibly when they have had a drink.

I'm sick of them hiding behind the 'Great British Common Sense' when those with common sense warn them exactly what will happen and they take no notice.

Maybe I didn't express it very well. I don't agree with opening up almost everything and then saying we have to have blended learning with 1 day a week in school. I think ideally the schools would have opened first, with at least 50% of pupils in. I understand that in Scotland that would have been hard since it would have meant opening in early June or leaving everything shut till August. Drinking indoors is in my opinion a huge risk and should be the first thing to close at any sign of rising virus.

And outbreaks are inevitable the big test will be if we can contain them. If the numbers in Aberdeen go down again that would be a positive sign we can manage Covid19. Schools reopening will then be the next big test.

I would be wary of that and see how things develop in the south WSest after holiday season. I wonder whether the SW may just have been lucky in locking down very early in the outbreak and being protected because of holiday lets etc being closed.

Covid tends to be a city/urban problem and where there's high population density. The bulk of Scotland's Covid cases have been around Glasgow and Edinburgh (major UK cities) and other big cities like Aberdeen.

The South West is sparsely populated out of season for the most part. Less so now we've hit the summer holidays which will see an increase in cases.

@Callisto1 i totally agree. Schools should have been the priority from the beginning. Everything should have remained closed till we had our children back in school and proven it was safe, then worked out from there, instead we have opened everything, numbers are rising and we are through schooling into the mix to see what will happen. I do think nicola sturgeon is seeing this now though.

I do still think that blended learning should have been invested in as a plan b as now kids could be facing schools opening and closing in different areas putting them at bigger disadvantage come exams etc next year.

Schools should have been the priority from the beginning. Everything should have remained closed till we had our children back in school and proven it was safe

It was partly timing. March to May we were in lockdown. Very slowly in June we were opening things back up. The pubs only opened in July and that's when the schools shut for summer anyway.

Schools opening in September is the priority but the trade off should be either pubs shutting or advising people to work from home.

@annabel85 i agree timing wasn't great but in scotland the pubs in doors havent long opened and most schools go back next week. Indoor pubs etc should have been kept closed to allow schools to open.

@Justdonthavethefirstone from what I understand the 50% blended learning is still plan b in Scotland. I fear though it will be like March when the schools had to scramble to put something in place with hardly any notice. I think this year will be very chaotic with lots of absences and closures

@Callisto1 thats my worry too. My son has already suffered this year with 2 of his grades downgraded, i would have preferred good blended learning As a plan b rather than schools closing and opening depending on where a person happens to live.

Inevitably there will be much controversy over the exams results and grades etc that they wont be worth the paper there written on meaning all young people are going to miss out.

@Justdonthavethefirstone I think for secondaries good online provision and blended learning would probably be a safer bet. Mine is early primary and short intervals of learning and play at home with siblings are not doable.

Clearly there's a long-standing issue with teachers being unrealistically generous with their estimates, and SQA haven't done anything out of the ordinary at all
Where do you get this stuff from? There is a long-standing issue with the SQA being completely unfit for purpose. Their name is mud with teachers I know. If it was like England with different exam boards available no one would use them.

Mistressiggi,

Exactly the same issue will arise in England when their results come out.

As results are being moderated according to schools' usual performance, unusually good students in schools with historically poor results, and cohorts in improving schools, will be unfairly penalised, and poorer students and weaker cohorts in schools with historically good performance, as well as cohorts in declining schools, will be unfairly rewarded.

It is an obvious flaw in the process followed.

Can'tkeepaway am I right in thinking they didn't actually use the schools earlier results for that cohort? (Ie N5 ones for H students). We all know there are particularly strong cohorts and also weak ones - could easily have been checked by looking at S4 results.

I don't know - the SFA has been more cagey about the process than Ofqual has about the English process. It is entirely possible to predict hat will happen in England based on what has already been made known about the process.

Sorry, wrong acronym. You know what I mean, i hope.

The lack of a robust plan b for Scottish schools comes down to parents, some might not like to hear it but clamours from certain groups tgreatening legal action if pupils were not back full time without restructions or safety measures are what fully changed policy. Yes Edinburgh councils bizare 33% was farcical and pronpted to changes for 50% minimum if blended learning happens, the problem with that is teaching staff will be working 100% so won't be able to set online work, but those that shout the loudest got what they wanted and ignored the warning of those working in education. It was these lobby groups , not Boris' bizare open, not, for some, for few plans tgat changed Scotlands direction. Now with cases so low it does make sense to get everyone in and give it the best go we can. However we missed a chance to actually really support children's mental health by even taking the firat 2 weeks part time so small groups learning focussed on ensuring our kids are ready to learn.
As an aside all schools have a plan b as when most broke off that was what we were set up for, they now have days to plan for all pupils in next week.

You cant now compare the shops etc with schools now though as they are masked so probably not affecting r very much.
It is the workplaces/care homes/hospitals/pubs and schools
With pubs and schools worst as no SD and indoors no masks.
Obviously travel
Is the other big one. So hopefully they can get meaningful testing.
I would keep drinkers outside as they had been. People can sit out for an hour of so in lots of weather.
Keep ones with no outside space shut.
Bookings and not allowing pub crawls would help too. Contact with lots of staff /several toilets/customers. And not fair to shut down a whole town.

[quote Justdonthavethefirstone]@Callisto1 but look what has happened across england and now in aberdeen because we opened shops, restaurants and pubs. The numbers are rising.

Its not working[/quote]
it's a virus
it's not going away
some people will catch it
sadly some will suffer badly
most people will only suffer mild or no symptoms
yes, cases are rising but hospital admissions and fatalities aren't.
we need to learn to live with it - otherwise there is no point in being alive anyway

@annabel85

I would be wary of that and see how things develop in the south WSest after holiday season. I wonder whether the SW may just have been lucky in locking down very early in the outbreak and being protected because of holiday lets etc being closed.

Covid tends to be a city/urban problem and where there's high population density. The bulk of Scotland's Covid cases have been around Glasgow and Edinburgh (major UK cities) and other big cities like Aberdeen.

The South West is sparsely populated out of season for the most part. Less so now we've hit the summer holidays which will see an increase in cases.

the South West includes places such as Plymouth, Exeter and Bristol which are definitely not sparsely populated

@AlecTrevelyan006 agree completely.

[quote Justdonthavethefirstone]@rookiemere i agree that last terms blended learning was not great, but that was a rushed job, with no planning etc. The teachers were given 48 hours notice of lockdown. Education scotland have had 5 months nearly 6 to put something more fair and sustainable in place.[/quote]
Blended learning refers to schooling at home and in school, ie some at school and other days at home with work set by school. Which we have not tried yet.

It's like a blended family. It wouldn't be blended if it just involves one type

@EachDubh

The lack of a robust plan b for Scottish schools comes down to parents, some might not like to hear it but clamours from certain groups tgreatening legal action if pupils were not back full time without restructions or safety measures are what fully changed policy. Yes Edinburgh councils bizare 33% was farcical and pronpted to changes for 50% minimum if blended learning happens, the problem with that is teaching staff will be working 100% so won't be able to set online work, but those that shout the loudest got what they wanted and ignored the warning of those working in education. It was these lobby groups , not Boris' bizare open, not, for some, for few plans tgat changed Scotlands direction. Now with cases so low it does make sense to get everyone in and give it the best go we can. However we missed a chance to actually really support children's mental health by even taking the firat 2 weeks part time so small groups learning focussed on ensuring our kids are ready to learn. As an aside all schools have a plan b as when most broke off that was what we were set up for, they now have days to plan for all pupils in next week.

Agree with all of this, except the description of Edinburgh’s 33% as “bizarre.” I work at a large school in Aberdeenshire and, with 2m social distancing required, 33% of schoolchildren is was all we could manage in at once too. It wasn’t some bizarre notion, it was checked by someone with the guidelines in one hand and a tape measure in the other.

I do think it’s really, really bizarre that next week, I will join hundreds of children in a playground with their accompanying adults and no social distancing will be possible. I hope none of those parents have been out on the piss in Aberdeen. Wish me luck.

How come social distancing won't be possible in your school?