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 ...

Before the scottish summer holidays, boris was talking about english schools going back, so nicola jumped in, promising schools back here in full come august. Boris backtracks to september. He now has plenty time to watch and see what happens north of the border.

Boris might watch but he won’t change his mind about schools opening whatever he sees. He’s determined to have the schools back at whatever cost and as a member of staff I feel like a lamb to the slaughter . No social distancing and no PPE. It’s disgraceful and will only add to the odds of schools closing again quickly.

Let’s face it. Not one single one of them knows what they’re doing. They are making it up as they go along. Bray goes for both Boris and Nicola.

I am in Dundee. I swear to god I cannot do another lockdown if the schools and nurseries close. My daughter needs to be in school.

And while I genuinely feel for the teachers (my mum is one and she’s worried) there are people like me who cannot do blended learning. I have a full time job. I need that job. It nearly broke me in half, trying to homeschool and hold down that job. My mental health cannot take that again.

Honestly. I’ll wear the damn masks until the cows come home. I’ll stay away from the pubs and restaurants and I’ll stay indoors. But I cannot do the work/HE mix. I can’t.

@OhioOhioOhio

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

I really hope this is joke post. But just in case.

My school has 1800 young people aged 11-18 and nearly 300 staff. It was built for 1000 pupils but by cramming in extra desks, using every available space including an area that was designed as an airy foyer which is now a tutor group area we have managed to cram in and extra 800 kids. We have no spare classrooms and tiny corridors. The government, in its wisdom, expects all of these children back full time. So for most classes that means 33 young people (biologically adults in the majority) in a room with 28 desks but 33 students, with minimal ventilation.
They are not allowed (yes not allowed!) to wear masks or use PPE. They are told to wash hands regularly but the toilet blocks are old and again only designed for 1000 students. No extra washing areas and no extra money to finance it. Being rural about 75% of these children come on buses, these buses already struggle to make a profit so there will be no SD on them (although at least there they can wear masks)
We have to teach the full curriculum so the children will have to move around the school, all corridors were one way before covid but were still jam packed. Each year group will be kept apart where possible but won't be required to SD during break within the year group. Then if this wasn't enough you have to tell teenagers who are naturally programmed to want to take risks that despite being in a sardine tin at school they have to SD and not hang out inside people's homes. They also have to wear masks, in shops, museums, transport but are magically safe from it all at school. And these are not small children who can be fobbed off, they are enquiring and critical thinkers and can see the madness.

@OhioOhioOhio ^

@GinwithPinkGrapefruit

Honestly. I’ll wear the damn masks until the cows come home. I’ll stay away from the pubs and restaurants and I’ll stay indoors. But I cannot do the work/HE mix. I can’t.

But with the plan in place at the moment it's going to be school closures and isolations. I can't face the fact we might have to have the kids home full time which is why I'm so vocal about actually making schools safe. I work ft, have children with very different needs and next to no support.

Will city lockdown be sufficient if there is a link to a golf club in Aboyne? Could other areas be in lockdown shortly to try to prevent spread?

For me it's a right pain as I have not seen my parents since Christmas and was planning on coming up (I live in Surrey) later this month. Plans to visit now on hold as with the travel restriction it is not reasonable to be travelling to Aberdeen for a social visit.

@GinwithPinkGrapefruit

And while I genuinely feel for the teachers (my mum is one and she’s worried) there are people like me who cannot do blended learning. I have a full time job. I need that job. It nearly broke me in half, trying to homeschool and hold down that job. My mental health cannot take that again.

Has it been better in the holidays, Gin?

I don’t mean that in a goady way, I wonder if we need to change our expectations of what’s possible at home? IMO we have missed an opportunity to figure out how to formulate and implement blended learning in a less pressurised way. If we need it now, it’ll be a hurried, stressful reaction rather than a considered plan.

@Dinoctoblock the issue at the core of blended learning is that it cannot be supported by most working parents and as a result people - mostly women - will have to give up their jobs.

If indoor pubs hadn't opened, or they had been better managed, the Scottish numbers would be incredibly low. Provided they keep doing a balancing act and look at shutting indoor pubs,DCs have a fair shot at full time education and that does involve everyone playing their part. I have no issue with DCs temperatures being taken in the morning and keeping DS off school at first sign of a cough. For those less responsible parents then school will need to act decisively and keep DCs in isolation until DPs can get them.

Yes rookiemere I’m all for shutting pubs, and other non essential things to allow schools to go back full time.

I don’t understand why we couldn’t have phased school back in addition to that, to check everything was safe and give us a better understanding of which school measures help protect us. I know people are sick of having their kids at home, but equally some people are sick of not getting to the gym, or seeing their relatives who live far away. This situation is shit, people not wanting It to be shit doesn’t make it so.

@Dinoctoblock I would have been relatively supportive of a phased back to school approach. But that's not what was offered, it was a full year of blended learning aka little time at school which flipped quickly to full time schooling as the only option.

A range of options would have been the most sensible approach and as the complete change of decision took place quite late I would have thought some plans had been made regarding blended learning.

But until the parents movement you are so dismissive of, it felt like DCs had been given little thought at all and were doomed to sub optimal learning whilst the pensioners are free to wander round garden centres and golf clubs.

Now schooling is at the heart of the matter as it always should have been. It's absolutely right that pubs, restaurants and shops should shut before they do.

I was a stay together in the devolution vote but I would vote to not have such a nasty judgememenal person as you anywhere near me.

You'd change your vote because of one random anonymous twat on an internet forum?

You're just as bad as her then.

@rookiemere

I haven’t been dismissive of any parents movements.

I can assure you that I have been thinking a great deal about the children in my class. Prior to the holidays I was working double my usual hours to ensure that they had the best I could offer. Perhaps the government hasn’t been considering children, but neither are they considering the safety of pupils and staff - they are not the ones who will be standing in rooms and corridors full of people with no increased safety measures.

I am never going to be pleased about working in an unsafe environment. Moreover, I am going to be extremely worried that my own young children are going into that same unsafe environment. Personally, being given a safe education should be the priority and I am deeply concerned that this is not what is being offered.

schools back here in full come august. Boris backtracks to september

Umm, schools in England always go back in September.

As an aside are Nicolas rules on children mask wearing a bit odd? Over 5s wear them in public places however no one needs to wear them on school buses or school? I find it quite odd and confusing.

@sorryforswearing

Before the scottish summer holidays, boris was talking about english schools going back, so nicola jumped in, promising schools back here in full come august. Boris backtracks to september. He now has plenty time to watch and see what happens north of the border.

Boris hasn't backtracked after seeing what Nicola has done - the schools in England go back in September every year

@Dinoctoblock sorry I must have confused you with another poster talking about the parents movement.

I agree it's a really hard situation for everyone. I do feel for teachers who I think should be provided with PPE and many of whom have had to work long hours to adapt to the forced changes.

But I don't think schools will be intrinsically unsafe. No one in Scotland has died with Covid in over 2 weeks. Test and track seems to be working quite well. Until the Aberdeen outbreak numbers in Scotland were dwindling pretty significantly.

Covid for the vast majority of us is at worst a nasty flu. We're at the stage where we need to act proportionately and getting DCs back to school seems the right thing to do. A staggered approach might be better, we simply don't know.

This situation is shit. People not wanting it to be shit doesn't make it so

This.

It feels a bit like for the first time, NS can't go two weeks after Boris and do something a wee bit different, using the two week lag also to boast about lower cases (which might well simply be due to the time taken to rise)

Because the schools go back sooner, this time she needs to go first. And after messing up the exams so badly, would anyone trust her on this? be interesting to see what happens.

Morfin I meant with the sd with parents. Sorry, obviously actually in the school. At least they are old enough for the extra body of parents to not be included in the physical dynamics of the matter.

The nastiest flu I've had took me six weeks to get over. There are people struggling for far longer than that with covid.

'Boris hasn't backtracked after seeing what Nicola has done - the schools in England go back in September every year confused'
People are saying that Boris backtracked on his earlier promise to get school students back before the end of term (July) and finally plumped for September after the Scottish schools have already reopened when initially he was saying earlier.