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.

[PigletJohn]

"Is journalism dead or controlled by the state?"

No, it is mostly controlled by tax-dodging right-wing billionaires who support the Conservative Government, which is not at all the same thing as supporting the state.

[NeurotrashWarrior]

What we need to be thinking about is the way school is organised in order to prevent the spread of the virus so that schools remain open

Exactly this with bells on!

The assumption here and in places like the DM, is that teachers complaining about the guidance, government, articles and so on about schools reopening is because they don't want to go back.

The complete opposite. We can't and won't stay open if we can't control infection and transmission effectively.

We genuinely don't know what transmission is in the U.K. in schools (larger class sizes, less outdoor teaching, varying classroom sizes) nor between primary and secondary.

Barely anyone was being tested in March - April unless presenting at hospital. Even less so asymptomatic children and teens. No contact tracing then. It's not even up to full operation yet.

The government have a few studies ready to start in sept.

The government knows all this and is undoubtedly using the media to help keep the faith.

Teachers have a level of intelligence and inside experience to know wtf is going on. Why does no one listen to them? Or scientists who say the same?!

[NeurotrashWarrior]

building extra buildings in their playgrounds so children can be in smaller bubbles...

🤣 ROLF!

[NeurotrashWarrior]

Oops, *ROFL...

[Ickabog]

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...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact that someone believed such a ridiculous statement.

[KittCat]

What *@PigletJohn said

[pooiepooie25]

@NeurotrashWarrior

Oops, *ROFL...

That's exactly what I did!

[pooiepooie25]

@Ickabog

*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...*

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at the fact that someone believed such a ridiculous statement.

I wanted to tell the person how stupid she was- but she was cutting my hair at the time, so didn't think it was the best possible way to respond. I did laugh and say it was not true.

[Morfin]

@NeurotrashWarrior

What we need to be thinking about is the way school is organised in order to prevent the spread of the virus so that schools remain open

Exactly this with bells on!

The assumption here and in places like the DM, is that teachers complaining about the guidance, government, articles and so on about schools reopening is because they don't want to go back.

The complete opposite. We can't and won't stay open if we can't control infection and transmission effectively.

We genuinely don't know what transmission is in the U.K. in schools (larger class sizes, less outdoor teaching, varying classroom sizes) nor between primary and secondary.

Barely anyone was being tested in March - April unless presenting at hospital. Even less so asymptomatic children and teens. No contact tracing then. It's not even up to full operation yet.

The government have a few studies ready to start in sept.

The government knows all this and is undoubtedly using the media to help keep the faith.

Teachers have a level of intelligence and inside experience to know wtf is going on. Why does no one listen to them? Or scientists who say the same?!

It is interesting that the comments on the DM are less lazy feckless teachers and more questioning how it's going to work in senior schools, there has definitely been a shift in opinion.

Piglet that's even more depressing but I agree.

[ineedaholidaynow]

Schools that have small number of pupils (other than private schools) tend to have mixed year groups rather than individual year classes and reduced numbers of teachers. We have some local village schools that have 2 classes one for KS1 and one for KS2. They will also have small classrooms.

Other slightly larger schools have more classes but still mixed years due to budget constraints and have class sizes of up to 35, no social distancing going to happen there.

The media reporting of education has been atrocious.

Even when reporting on the revised exams for 2021 the BBC had the headline that poetry was being dropped from English Literature whereas in fact it was one of 3 options, one of which would be chosen by a school to be dropped depending on what the school had already taught.

[Piggywaspushed]

Kenneth Baker trotted that out in an otherwise we'll balanced editorial today in the ST, too.

No fact checking by anyone.

[sunseekin]

One of the first lessons on my pgce (many years ago 🙄🤫) was to make sure that any images used on worksheets were relevant otherwise it could cause confusion.

Deliberately misleading for sure, even if they’re only hoping to tap into people’s’ subconscious.

Mumsnet is definitely my media outlet of choice at the moment, obviously every outlet has stuff you need to ignore but I don’t like to feel

[sunseekin]

@NeurotrashWarrior

What we need to be thinking about is the way school is organised in order to prevent the spread of the virus so that schools remain open

Exactly this with bells on!

The assumption here and in places like the DM, is that teachers complaining about the guidance, government, articles and so on about schools reopening is because they don't want to go back.

The complete opposite. We can't and won't stay open if we can't control infection and transmission effectively.

We genuinely don't know what transmission is in the U.K. in schools (larger class sizes, less outdoor teaching, varying classroom sizes) nor between primary and secondary.

Barely anyone was being tested in March - April unless presenting at hospital. Even less so asymptomatic children and teens. No contact tracing then. It's not even up to full operation yet.

The government have a few studies ready to start in sept.

The government knows all this and is undoubtedly using the media to help keep the faith.

Teachers have a level of intelligence and inside experience to know wtf is going on. Why does no one listen to them? Or scientists who say the same?!

Exactly! And it boils down to 💰.

If we can’t afford it why don’t they just admit we can’t have it rather than try and force through something unsustainable and potentially dangerous in the hope that it gets stopped by teachers/unions/parents so that they can just shrug their shoulders and say they’ve tried.

And when this is all over can we think about how to get more people with a strong, steely moral core into politics?

[Pesimistic]

Trouble is you cant rely on the information given by the MSM, I've read from another source that primary children can and do spread it just as easily as adults do. And to be honest where are they getting the data from, schools havnt be open as they would normaly so how do they know, it's a ticking time bomb, they have put this out on a small study of the children that were In before lock down and probably before lock down, saying they cant spread it is ludacris, let's all live at school then shall we if it's a covid free zone

[Beawillalwaysbetopdog]

The relevant to OP part:

Most teachers have been taught about dual coding which is giving the same information in picture form as text. So the incorrect images actually are really important. If the text narrative is schools are safe but the picture is a normal crowded classroom or corridor then the safe message is undermined.

The off-thread part in response to PP:

Yes, an outbreak could only be 2 people.
But, a covid contagious pupil/staff member last term would have been much less likely to pass it on to others because of the massive safety measures in place. No-one was within 2m of each other for anything like 15 minutes, usually as long as it took for us to shout 2m at them, so about 10 seconds. School for keyworkers felt very different. Outbreaks would have been small numbers of people per outbreak because of the safety measures.
One covid contagious pupil in Sep will have been within 2m for an hour with something like 30-50 students in 48 hours. So much more potential for a big outbreak, even ignoring the fact that we have 10 times more pupils in.

[Perihelion]

DD is back at high school this week ( Scotland ).
There's going to be a number of hand sanitizer around, but you can bring your own.
Adults should where possible stay 2 metres away from other adults and young people.
Follow the one way system.
They ask pupils to refrain from gathering in groups, before and after school and at break and lunch, and eat lunch outside if possible.
So I think we'll know quite soon if high/ secondary schools are safe or turn out to be daily, super spreading events.

[Piggywaspushed]

Just read that 9 pupils at the school in Georgia (the phot was posted very early in the thread) have tested positive!

[Gwynfluff]

everyone went to one...but the population is hugely larger now and the schools are the same size they were thirty, fifty, a hundred years ago when they were first built.

Strange claim. In my city there have been lots of new builds and extensions, mergers and an extra secondary built to accommodate a larger 11-18 population. 100 years ago pupils left at 13 and often when straight through in one school, so most secondaries wouldn’t have been around.

[Morfin]

@Piggywaspushed

Just read that 9 pupils at the school in Georgia (the phot was posted very early in the thread) have tested positive!

Couldn't make it up.

I just watch Sky news and again the person being interviewed (via video link of course as newsreaders get to SD) just kept going on about how much the kids needed to be back no shit and that children didn't spread it, and that the guidelines and SD would keep everyone safe. WHY is no one in the media asking how this is going to happen.

[ohthegoats]

What I don't 'get' about today's schools stories, is that they are totally made up. There was never any intention of schools not opening, no teacher has mentioned it, no union has mentioned it, the only people mentioning it are Tory MPs. It's a complete shout out to the public to make it look like they are doing something about dreadful leftie unionist teachers.

And the minute Johnson uses the word 'moral' to discuss anyone's behaviour other than his own, in which case he should use it in the negative, he loses all credibility. He's a liar and a cheat and is the most immoral person we've had as PM ever in our history.

[ohthegoats]

So I think we'll know quite soon if high/ secondary schools are safe

We won't get told. It definitely will not be on the BBC news in any form, or in the Daily Mail. Same as no notice has been paid to the 200 outbreaks in schools in the last 4 weeks of term.

[Oly4]

Can you send links to these 200 outbreaks in schools in the last four weeks of term please, I’d love to scrutinise the evidence.

[Piggywaspushed]

It's by the ONS and is on the public domain.

[Piggywaspushed]

in

[Morfin]

@Oly4

Can you send links to these 200 outbreaks in schools in the last four weeks of term please, I’d love to scrutinise the evidence.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-covid-19-surveillance-reports

You will need to download the document and scroll down. Remember that this is with the majority of children still off school and those that were in were in bubbles of 15 with SD.