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If you don't think schools should reopen...

271 replies

TeaInMyStoneCup · 18/08/2020 09:29

...what do you think should happen? Genuine question. I work full time (from home), as does DH (though not at home) and we have a soon to be 5 yo (in Sept). Do you think that we should just carry on as we had to in lockdown when nurseries closed, when we were at breaking point attempting to work and simultaneously look after him? It was shit for us and it was shit for him because I could never give him my full and undivided attention. I'm still catching up with work now and he went back to nursery in June.

I understand concerns but they don't seem proportionate to what we know is the mortality rate for this illness. Genuinely - what do you think should happen? Parents should just home school?

My two sisters and my mother are all teachers and can't wait to get back.

OP posts:
Morfin · 18/08/2020 12:17

@CountessFrog

The problem is, nobody agrees what ‘safe’ means.

And we seem to have lost sight of the original point of lockdown, which was to endure the NHS wasn’t overwhelmed.

I think we are now going for a ‘eradicate the virus’ or ‘await vaccine’ approach, which was never the intention, and it muddies the waters.

No, I want schools as 'safe' as my workplace, as 'safe' as the shops or pubs. None of these are covid free or without risks but they have plans in place to prevent uncontrolled spread and exponential growth.
TheKeatingFive · 18/08/2020 12:18

Education was never about free childcare

I thought we were done with this nonsensical phrase?

Schools are (in part) about facilitating work. Work that generates tax revenue that pays for education (among many other things). Everything depends on everything else.

We can’t just dismantle it without enormous economic and societal implications.

doubleshotespresso · 18/08/2020 12:18

@Nellodee

  • mrshoho Oh dear Us4them are going to have to pile in and argue with themselves on this thread this time as no one has posted that they don't want schools to open. We're three pages in and I'm still waiting.

I've heard Trump supporters exist as well, but I've only ever met one in real life and he was an actual crack addict.*

Let me be the first then.... FYI I'm no crack addict.
However I'm desperately keen to see the 5 points (remember them?) fulfilled as promised before sending in my SEND primary DC to what spirals to be a Covid bath despite significant efforts of the school.
I'm deeply concerned not just by children catching the virus but spreading it to the larger community which lets face it seems inevitable. 22k children in Florida have tested positive in the last month. This and many other "scientific facts" feature heavily upon the pages fir BRUTUS, if you check their numbers they actually way exceed that of Usforthem.
Interestingly the desire isn't keep schools shut forever, it's "show us proper evidence it will be safe and we will send them and no we don't want to deregister thanks".

Seems a fair and logical argument to me-there are thousands like me clearly visible if you choose to look!

TeaInMyStoneCup · 18/08/2020 12:22

A lot of assumptions made on this thread. I have never heard of us4them, I do not think Bill Gates has got anything to do with anything, I'm fully supportive of social distancing and I'm most certainly not an anti vaxxer!!

OP posts:
TeaInMyStoneCup · 18/08/2020 12:23

I think we are now going for a ‘eradicate the virus’ or ‘await vaccine’ approach, which was never the intention, and it muddies the waters.

I agree.

OP posts:
Morfin · 18/08/2020 12:25

double but would you be happy for your DC to return in a bubble of 15 with SD?

CountessFrog · 18/08/2020 12:25

I agree with you morphin, I think you should have the same measures in place, but I’ve learned from reading mumsnet that, actually, it can’t happen.

It can’t happen because it’s impossible to SD, or to ventilate classrooms, or to keep a distance from pupils. And it’s impossible to teach in a mask.

So I do understand what you want, and I agree, but I’ve also learned that it’s not possible to achieve.

So now what?

netflixismysidehustle · 18/08/2020 12:25

The problem is, nobody agrees what ‘safe’ means.

If Cabinet Meetings are socially distanced like this why are secondary staff and kids ok not to be socially distanced from others? I'd like someone to explain this at a Daily Briefing.

Boris is in his 50s which is an age that a teacher could be and as PM probably knows his current antibody status.

If you don't think schools should reopen...
mrshoho · 18/08/2020 12:32

@TeaInMyStoneCup

I think we are now going for a ‘eradicate the virus’ or ‘await vaccine’ approach, which was never the intention, and it muddies the waters.

I agree.

But the UK is not going for this approach to eradicate the virus. The approach the UK is following is to slow/stop transmission as and where infections crop up. I don't know how you are reading this to mean eradicate the virus ?
Swelteringmeltering · 18/08/2020 12:35

I want schools to return, the only thing I'm happy about in younger dd school is that they do seem to be on the covid ball.
So I'm not so worried about her + her age.

Older dd however... Huge massive comp, no masks, bubbles of 100s....it's crazy!!
My dc have coped very well under lock down. But they need peer interaction.
Older dd needs proper lessons.

I just wish they had basic ppe in place and for teachers. I cannot fathom why visors at the least are not mandatory.

Swelteringmeltering · 18/08/2020 12:37

It's impossible to teach from the the front in a mask. It's not impossible to teach in a visor. It's also not impossible to think about doning a mask at other times, when getting close to dc or asking dc to wear visors.

HipTightOnions · 18/08/2020 12:41

Boris is in his 50s which is an age that a teacher could be

I’m older than Boris and will be spending all day in a small room full of fully grown “children”.

HipTightOnions · 18/08/2020 12:42

I just wish they had basic ppe in place and for teachers

To protect teachers, the pupils would need to wear masks.

Sleepyblueocean · 18/08/2020 12:42

"I think there should be remote learning and leave schools open only for where all the adults in the household are keyworkers"

What about vulnerable children or children with sen who cannot learn remotely?

walksen · 18/08/2020 12:43

Realistically all that can be done is mask wearing in corridors etc but primarily proactive testing of all staff at least and pupils particularly in high risk areas or if there is an outbreak. The frequency of this could be varied based on prevalence in the area etc. No plans for the extra capacity this needs were made though so the only real protection for anyone in school is statistics.

I don't know the plans Nicola sturgeon had for this in scotland.

At the moment it seems government are unconcerned about outbreaks in schools as long as the contacts are easy to trace.

RubyMuseday · 18/08/2020 12:45

Op I didn’t say you were! At all. I was talking about a separate group definitely not you.

chickenyhead · 18/08/2020 12:48

Children need to be educated.

They need social interaction.

Schools must reopen. But there should be special measures for vulnerable children. There aren't.

Swelteringmeltering · 18/08/2020 12:51

The children could wear visors. They could even wear masks at certain times.

doubleshotespresso · 18/08/2020 12:53

@Morfin

double but would you be happy for your DC to return in a bubble of 15 with SD?
As long as the measures (we are yet to receive) for their 1:1 supervision read right and all specifics if the EHCP support are possible within reason yes!
chickenyhead · 18/08/2020 12:54

visors and masks protect others from you, not you from others. So if my DC are the only ones in masks?

Its not even been considered by the government

guilttripjourno · 18/08/2020 13:05

I would prefer blended online learning

Sunshine6 · 18/08/2020 13:06

There’s over 7000 parents on the Boycott Return to Unsafe Schoola group, so a fair few that are worried.

randomsabreuse · 18/08/2020 13:20

The issue with the part time option is what are the children who are not "in" actually doing? I assume most people would agree that an 11- 12 year old (y7/8) is not really responsible enough to be home alone from 8 to 6, and even if they were probably unlikely to come to any immediate physical harm, the probability of them doing all their set work rather than messing around on the internet is quite low. Also what is actually stopping them going off to find some mates and hang out in a park?

In some ways the motivated students in the exam years are the most capable of working effectively on line, but I'd definitely want the current Y11 and 13 (September) in as they lost a bug chunk of learning time, and the Y12s are probably less secure than in a normal year, leaving only Y10 and Y9 as candidates for part time learning - which doesn't gain much space.

With unlimited budget in the right location Y12 + 13 in written subjects (not science) could be taught in conference facilities in hotels and empty office buildings, but safe transport questions might negate the gain of rooms being larger - if schools only have standard sized classrooms I would assume that most A-Level classes would be able to distance as standard as many A-Level groups are smaller than GCSE and below.

Primary going part time would be a disaster for so many families.

The focus on keyworkers is not ideal because all too many keyworkers are a family's lower earner, and not all roles that require physical attendance at work are keyworkers (ignoring that working from home is not easy with young primary aged children that you are in charge of!)

You also have the issue that younger children are easier for parents to teach (content wise), but require more direct supervision and teaching while older children are probably more receptive but the topics covered will be beyond the expertise of many parents!

It's not an easy conundrum, made much worse by ongoing lack of investment in facilities for schools.

chickenyhead · 18/08/2020 13:23

My kids are vulnerable but I want them physically in school for their education and mental health.

I just wish mask wearing was mandatory.

TheKeatingFive · 18/08/2020 13:24

The idea of key worker priority is pretty well redundant by now anyway. We desperately need those in revenue producing jobs (often not ‘key workers’) to go back as otherwise we’re making a truly dreadful economic situation deliberately worse. Which is madness.

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