Is journalism dead or controlled by the state? Warning Schools

[Morfin]

These photos show what the MSM are using as images, the three are the BBC, Sky and Daily Mail (that's who BJ gave his interview to) images are powerful they influence the reader. This is the image that is being peddled to the public, is there really no journalists working anymore that actually research a story? As an aside I bet these 'news' outlets have pictures condemning our children for not SD when they flood out of school.

[Clavinova]

Schools are on tight budgets and extra staff cannot be conjured from thin air.

Schools that rely on supply teachers all year round will have saved quite a lot of money since lockdown - thousands of supply teachers have not been paid since March.

[Letseatgrandma]

@Clavinova

Schools are on tight budgets and extra staff cannot be conjured from thin air.

Schools that rely on supply teachers all year round will have saved quite a lot of money since lockdown - thousands of supply teachers have not been paid since March.

I don’t know any schools that rely on supply teachers like that-they are too expensive. Schools around here seem to have one TA who they pull out of a classroom to use for cover, and call an HLTA and pay them an extra pound an hour for the time they are ‘teaching’.

I am on a FB group for supply teachers though-they were mostly furloughed from their agencies, so were paid just like everyone else who was on furlough.

[WhenSheWasBad]

Schools that rely on supply teachers all year round will have saved quite a lot of money since lockdown - thousands of supply teachers have not been paid since March

The 3 1/2 months of supply saved has been spent on.

• Extra resources for the kids to take home over lockdown - cdp revision guides for all years.
  
  
• Sanitation stations all over the school, it costs a fortune to keep these stocked.
  
  
• Some new laptops for staff where the old school one simply wasn’t up to the task of setting online lessons.
  
  
  Schools aren’t being provided with any more cash to cope with Covid / safety measures.

[Keepdistance]

Not sure but at least 3 closed in Leicester and 2 or 3 Bristol.
Even if it is mainly teachers then 100% they can spread it to the pupils who may not be that ill but would potentially have virus on their stuff that goes home/on buses/etc.
I think even ignoring covid spread - spreading cold/flu due to no measures will be a huge issue for parents and teachers and not pleasant for kids having swabs every few weeks. With no SD that cold or flu could mean 10/30 say people having a swab for a cough or temp.

They havent even given money for cleaning.
Masks are cost free to gov and most 11yo will have 1 now for shops or PT.
Putting wash stations in wouldnt be that expensive.
Money to let schools buy online subscribions for books etc so none need to go home.
Saying no uniform parents to spend towards laptops or wifi.
Or one off CB payment for that.
Moneu towards funding before/after care so it could stay by class.
Saying that all year groups could be outside at the same time as unlikely to spread outside. Safer than all stuck inside
Or money towards outside covered spaces for lunch or lessons

[Heatherjayne1972]

I’m surprised anyone is surprised by this
This is how governments use the media to get the population to do whatever it is they want They’ve done it forever

In March the narrative was ‘be afraid stay at home’ And We did
Now it’s ‘look how safe it is’ - it’s no safer now than it was in March
This virus hasn’t gone anywhere

[CKBJ]

@Clavinova no need to just ban teachers from pub, they’ll all be shut by September along with restaurants and non essential retail as Boris is going to prioritise schools for the first time this pandemic!!

[Piggywaspushed]

Not surprised at all heather : surprised that people don't spot it, or try to deny it!

I think they also rely on people not reading between lines in reports, or interrogating the since. It's that 'use an expert with a fancy job title and it must be true' approach!

[Clavinova]

WhenSheWasBad
It will be interesting to compare how much individual schools have spent over lockdown - the figures come out in November I believe.

USA -
"Jersey City schools to use cash saved during COVID-19 shutdown to reduce next year’s tax increase."

"realistically there is going to be money saved while schools are closed."

“You have to think about the supplies, the field trips…over time these are payments that we don’t have...substitute teachers….all those costs will not be occurring,”

www.nj.com/hudson/2020/03/jersey-city-schools-to-use-cash-saved-during-covid-19-shutdown-to-reduce-next-years-tax-increase.html

[Piggywaspushed]

Our long term supply teachers were still used and paid during lockdown to do remote lessons.

[Clavinova]

Clavinova no need to just ban teachers from pub

Obviously I was being 'tongue-in-cheek' - although it would be ridiculous if teachers were visiting pubs in September whilst children were prevented from going to school.

[balloonsintrees]

My classroom looks depressingly different from pre lockdown. I teach secondary and a discussion based subject, instead of groupings, I now have rows facing the front, cloths and cleaning fluid on every desk, no shared resources and my 'decorations' are boxed away.
Schools are trying so, so hard to make it work, please stop trying to undermine it.

[Wakemeuuuup]

Long term supply teachers continued in their roles at my kids' secondary school too.

Their school will also not look quite as bad as that picture near the op. Each year has different start and finish times along with break and lunch. Each year has different ties and will be given different coloured lanyards to wear so they are easily identifiable.

Corridors are one way and pe kit must be worn on pe days so the changing rooms won't be open. Year groups are 180 kids so quite small compared to most secondary schools.

I trust their headteacher/slt/staff to keep things as safe as possible. There is also an agreed process in terms of which year goes home first etc if there aren't enough teachers

[ANewNameIsWhat]

There’s no real winning.
If they are SD - unsettling for children, especially young children and negatively affects their MH.
If they aren’t - greater risk of spreading it.
They are opening purely for childcare purposes, I agree government is controlling the media at the moment. But if they say that then parents will think it isn’t safe to send them, contributing to collapse in economy.

[EvilPea]

Most Primary’s can safely manage it. It’s secondary’s that are the issue.

The media should differentiate better

[careerchange456]

@EvilPea

Most Primary’s can safely manage it. It’s secondary’s that are the issue.

The media should differentiate better

I would edit that to say most primaries can manage it.

Nobody has a clue how safe it will be.

I teach in Key Stage 1. People have no idea how many particles of bodily fluids an infant teacher must touch in a normal week.

[Keepdistance]

The outbreaks would have been in primary as secondary werent in. Most of the rest of the economy was shut when schools reopened. Pubs werent open straight away.Obviously we now have masks but we also have gyms open and swimming pools, trampoline parks and playgrounds.
Imo they are saying about the pubs so people dont freak out thinking ah the pubs shutting will reduce it back down again. But gov have no intention of doing it.
I think having anywhere free of quarantine is silly as so many countries they cant all be keeping on top of it.
I think everyone thought it would carry on reducing over the summer but it seems travel is a huge issue, but the weather may be reducing how ill people are getting

[nellodee]

Given the history of our past and present governments with Murdoch's empire, I feel an equally relevant question would be, does the media control the government?

[pooiepooie25]

@SnuggyBuggy

Surely anyone who has been through the comprehensive system themselves remembers how crowded their school was.

You would think so but people believe anything they read in the paper or on social media.
I was told yesterday that schools are building extra buildings in their playgrounds so children can be in smaller bubbles...

[IceCreamAndCandyfloss]

There may be a few primary schools with space to SD but I’d imagine the majority wont have that kind of room.

It goes against everything to have them reopen. Can’t have more than x families meeting, must wear masks indoors, can’t sit close in a restaurant but suddenly it’s fine to pack classrooms full of different families with no PPE/SD.

[Lazypuppy]

@SnuggyBuggy not all schools are crowded, some have a low number of pupils anyway

[Letseatgrandma]

[quote Lazypuppy]@SnuggyBuggy not all schools are crowded, some have a low number of pupils anyway[/quote]
Schools with a low number of pupils don’t tend to be very big though, so are still often overcrowded.

Except private schools.

[Kitcat122]

I don't know why people think schools have saved money over lockdown. Schools have been open with all staff still working and being paid. Plus we have been delivering lunches to children all over our city. Plus it's been years since I've seen a supply teacher in my school, TAs cover the teachers.

[Kitcat122]

Most schools are over subscribed. My school has more than the legal amount of 30 in each class because we have to take lac/vulnerable as extra.

[ColouringPencils]

Op, I had the exact same thought reading the story in the Guardian today. No point linking as it is basically a government press release. Maybe the papers have furloughed so many staff they just have to run press releases now? I thought they were supposed to hold government to account and ask the awkward and annoying questions their readers want to know the answers to. Disappointing.

[NeurotrashWarrior]

I await the BBC's fact check o the PM's words about schools.

It'll be silenced.