School re-opening may not go well.

[jomartin281271]

Here's an article from the New York Times documenting what happened when the Israeli government decided to re-open their schools. They thought they had beaten the virus (which this country certainly hasn't) and within days it was spreading again like wildfire. One section of the article is particularly interesting. It reads:

'Public health experts worldwide have coalesced around a set of guidelines for reopening schools.

A major recommendation is to create groups of 10 to 15 students who stay together in classrooms, at recess and lunchtime, with teachers assigned to only one group. Each group has minimal contact with other groups, limiting any spread of infection. And if a case of Covid-19 emerges, one group can be quarantined at home while others can continue at school.

Other key recommendations include staggering schedules or teaching older students online, keeping desks several feet apart, sanitizing classrooms more frequently, providing ventilation and opening windows if possible, and requiring masks for staff and students old enough to wear them properly.'

Our government are going to be cramming the kids into the same old classrooms, students won't be wearing masks, and the older students won't be able to study remotely. And this in a country with one of the highest mortality rates from Covid in the world.

You can read the full article here.

www.nytimes.com/2020/08/04/world/middleeast/coronavirus-israel-schools-reopen.html

[Trackandtrace]

@Jihhery

I don't know. They get eight hours one to one at home... Thought this was standard.

sadly not the same across the UK. my child had zilch unless in hospital.

Im still waiting on being contacted to set up from Last sept. the LA had no issue back then with long term absence for recovery time, but now despite being in a pandemic it is imperative that my shielded child has education by the LA.
The paediatrician informed this week that almost all children wont go back on the shielded list if shielding is re-instated due to pressure to cut down the list and get back into school. However, it is imperative that social distancing and reducing risk to said children continues.
Basically, up to you to decide, still not safe but their hands have been tied.

[mamamia2020]

I'm currently living in a North African country and watching this thread with interesting as we're moving back to the UK.

Where I live, we reached our Covid-19 peak about 8 weeks ago. This is a country with excellent private doctors and hospitals but very poor Government hospitals. All I can say is that it truly brought it home to me how 'unlike' flu this virus is. I know numerous people that caught the virus and I know 6 that died including one British Expat in her early 50's.

Many people live in multigenerational households and I have lost count of the number of families that caught it because their children were still out playing with their friends then brought it home to parents, siblings and grandparents. I know of three young people (early and late teens) who have severe lung scarring and are on a number of medications.

This virus is nasty and I just hope that the schools in the UK can put in measures to stop it spreading and students taking it home to their families as has happened here. At one point I knew of a family where both parents and grandparents were in hospital. One of the grandparents died, the others recovered.

[canigooutyet]

Unfortunately it's not.
That one hour he used to get, I had to fight for it, and almost every week I would be on the phone because that weeks session was cancelled.

Schools do what they can, when they can, but realistically they haven't got time and resources. Every sheet printed costs, some schools have to give departments printing budgets.

Every year there are thousands who miss education because of health. Every year a lot of their absences could be reduced if other parents gave a shit and kept their ill child off school. But instead, lets dose them up with calpol and send them in anyway.

Or the call home to say at 9:30 their child is vomiting and explosive diarrhea. They even come out with rubbish like oh they were fine before they went to school, meanwhile child has told you differently. And then trying to get them to collect? Yea sorry it's going to be at least X hours.

How many threads pre CV were there about banned foods because of allergies, suggestions that the child with the serious allergic reaction be isolated from everyone else etc? All because their own child can only eat that food at that time.

And nits. Come on. After 6 weeks of school holidays if we cannot eradicate nits from primary especially, what chance do you think of this thing not spreading once they are all back with nothing in place. And of course, nits are still a thing in secondary, as any parent can tell you who also have nits rife in their younger siblings school. Even staff end up with them and they try and not get that close!!

[Bupkis]

@Trackandtrace
We had an attendance letter the term before lockdown, threatening us with a welfare officer. This letter acknowledged that ds has complex medical needs, that he had had an operation, that he is vulnerable to a variety of illnesses that hit him hard that he had lots of appointments (which can't be had at other times)....and yet we still got the letter!

Now after nearly 5 months shielding we are being to just send him in...oh and we'll fine you if you don't.

The paediatrician informed this week that almost all children wont go back on the shielded list if shielding is re-instated due to pressure to cut down the list and get back into school. However, it is imperative that social distancing and reducing risk to said children continues.
We are expecting similar from ds's paed, from whom we are waiting for a call. The chance of social distancing happening in a class room of 12 children with complex needs and 5/6 adults is pretty minimal.

[canigooutyet]

Although the 8 hours a week still isn't that great.
Fit and healthy around 25 hours a week education.
Ill if you're lucky, 8 hours a week.

If this blended learning dream was possible of them having a full education both in and out of school, it would already be in place.

The government, DoE, those working in schools and many parents have known this for decades. These government departments have instead reduced funding again and again whilst putting more pressure on schools to deliver.

The model is designed to assume everyone is healthy. Take your healthy kids out for a holiday, omfg, think about their education, they will fall behind and it's hard for them to catch up. Another child is off school with d&V for 2 weeks which could have easily been avoided, oh well, and have a few too many of these and threatened to have other agencies involved, fines and/or court action.

What about the parents who neglected their child when they sent them in ill to begin with?

How many young children are at risk because of type 1 diabetes (hospitals in America have done research and produced a detailed risk group list. At the time they were published it was on the now debunked children aren't a risk narrative)

[SmileEachDay]

This virus is nasty and I just hope that the schools in the UK can put in measures to stop it spreading and students taking it home to their families as has happened here

Unless the governor do a U turn on getting all kids in full time, then schools cannot put in place measures to stop Covid spreading.

It’s not possible.

[TheHoneyBadger]

Definitely not standard. I constantly get all teachers of so and so emails reminding us they’re off long term and we should be providing work. It’s actually hard to do in any meaningful way if you’ve never met that child and don’t have a clue what they’ve missed etc. It seems like sending the email is a tick the box exercise.

There really needs to be, as I believe there once was, a proper education service for long term sick children but as with everything else it’s been eradicated by cuts and kicked back at school teachers in the schools can be everything to everyone farce.

[HeyAsdaIAintGonBeYourBitch]

So many good yet terrifying points on this thread. My dcs are due back at school and nursery from September and I am quite worried.

Secondary schools especially, I mean, how the actual fuck are cases NOT going to rise when they go back to business as usual?

I do see them opening and then closing again pretty sharpish.

I am slightly dreading the autumn / winter flu and sickness bug season, but multiply that by ten due to covid.

Anecdotally, friends and family of mine who have had the virus have been incredibly lucky, but I have an older relative who has some underlying conditions, who I am very worried for. Also, just general worry about the NHS again. I know people have to get back to work and it is all very well people like me saying it's better to not have them in schools if they aren't safe, but I'm not about to starve or become homeless if I don't get back to work.

It's the fucking worst.

The points teachers have made on here about what could have been planned for but hasn't been planned for, because, shocker, a Tory PM knows better than to have to plan for anything.

[HeyAsdaIAintGonBeYourBitch]

Hit post too soon!

...anything...are bang on and it is beyond infuriating that the arrogance of this government has basically sabotaged any hope of getting children back to school safely.

[ClimbDad]

Professor Sir David King says schools won’t be safe in September. I’m inclined to agree

www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/uk-heading-back-lockdown-next-22491159

The government is simply ignoring all the evidence that demonstrates children transmit the virus. And we don’t know what the long term risks of infection are in children.

[sorryforswearing]

mathanxiety

The keyworkers' children were going to schools at a time when pubs were shut, restaurants and many businesses were shut, and hardly anyone was using public transport.

Not only this but the bubble sizes were smaller. It’s not just that they will be much bigger in September but primary school children often have siblings in secondary schools and working parents. This means the number of contacts for both staff and children will be enormous. Not exactly a protective bubble. As usual it either hasn’t been thought through or the government just don’t care.

[SophieB100]

Boris and his new slogan and how it will work at our high school:

HANDS - not enough facilities will be in place, or time given for almost 2000 students (and 200 staff) to hand wash thoroughly between classrooms.
FACE - will high school students be wearing masks - hopefully this will be announced, but who knows. Will we be able to?
SPACE - not enough. Not enough in classrooms, even with students sitting in rows. They will be squashed in to poorly ventilated rooms. And piled onto school buses.

Schools will be the final thing to close when it all goes pear shaped:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53710472
Boris says that schools must return safely.

Yet, apart from hand gel and bubbles of 300, differing start times and finishing times (which are a waste of time because most of our students have siblings at the school), there is nothing in place for this to happen "safely".

Shambles.

[ClimbDad]

New study on impact of school closures and predicted rates of infection in teachers.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.08.06.20169797v1

[Piggywaspushed]

PHE are delaying effectively a report they have just done until , presumably, , the week that schools go back. It is apparently 'all reassuring'.

Interesting how the SAGE report from last week has barley seen the light of day. That'll be the one that pinpointed concern over universities, over transport networks and called quite vociferously for masks.

[Piggywaspushed]

That study is one of the few I have seen that acknowledges the issue with teacher illness!

Reduced available to work teachers is the biggest threat to schools remaining open : I don't get what people don't get there.

It also goes against the RIF tables I have seen that puts nursery nurses and primary / SEN teachers at a much higher risk than secondary teachers. Obviously , that is for all contagious illnesses : this virus does need to be seen differently.

Nothing is being done to mitigate risks against secondary teachers. yet they are far riskier environments than primary schools.

[canigooutyet]

Since March/April Scientists, NHS, Unions, Teachers, those that work with kids and more have been saying it's not safe.

There was calls to get rid of the unions because they cause more problems. Hopefully more people are seeing why we need unions, think without them, schools would have been fully open by May.

Teachers called various names.
Parents ridiculous for having serious concerns. And told how bad and neglectful they will be if they say fuck it, I will homeschool. How their kids futures will be fucked, when let's be honest, either way they are going to be fucked, but at least with home schooling they will have some consistency and it's within the guidelines they can meet a mate or two outside the house anyway.

There were posters saying oh I'm not going back until the teachers are. I'm not going back until SD is in place at my workplace.

Why don't we do like other countries and introduce social distance and masks.

Oh I'm not going into a supermarket don't know what I will catch from the maskless. Omg they aren't even enforcing SD in there anymore, not going back.

An airless room with no social distance, no masks, no regular handwashing, at least 31 people - what you all moaning for? Just stop moaning and do your job. Other countries are doing x,y and z and it's going fantastic (well good for them, shame this isn't that country!!), although google that country and find out different 🤪

Don't be daft of course it will all be fine. Just get over your issues. I need time away from them, I need peace to wfh. I need to get to my workplace, talking of which anyone recommend any decent ... Or well my employers have given all their staff X amount of reusable masks. But don't want to go to the usual Friday night work piss up, because masks aren't required. 🤣