Safe to reopen schools

[askmehowiknow]

Article from oxford professor summarising new data that it's safe for children to be in school. Great pre September reading!

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/18/children-covid-19-english-schools-virus-safe-reopening

[quote Iamnotthe1]@askmehowiknow

Perhaps that is a possible solution. In classrooms where no-one is hearing-impaired, masks are used. In classrooms where someone is hearing-impaired, visors are used.

Not a perfect solution but it does aid communication whilst also providing some mitigation measures.[/quote]
I mean yes. Great. Just not sure how you'd test. As @Hercwasonaroll says

But from a legal point of view the government needs to issue guidance to prevent schools/LEA being sued don't they?

Government guidelines are extensive but with little substance, caveated mostly with "where possible".

The government won't admit schools aren't safe, hence spending billions on their advertising campaign.

It would be difficult to test who was hearing impaired as the bar for official diagnosis and hearing aids is quite high. Far above where you need to begin lipreading to aid your hearing.

So can a consensus be reached? Visors for teachers? Temperature checks daily for kids?

It's not unreasonable is it?

I'd also like parents to have to provide proof of a negative test following students being sent home/kept home for symptoms.

@Hercwasonaroll

I'd also like parents to have to provide proof of a negative test following students being sent home/kept home for symptoms.

Fine!

@askmehowiknow

Personally, I would say masks where possible and visors in the event of a hearing-impaired children or adult (whether diagnosed or not).

As long as there are adequate testing facilities. Honestly we're doing better than the government over last 6 months here lol

Can we have a fuck ton more funding too?

@Hercwasonaroll

Can we have a fuck ton more funding too?

😂 Only if your school/LA/MAT is run by one of Dominic's mates.

@Hercwasonaroll

Can we have a fuck ton more funding too?

Yep. Priority funding for schools. Always.

Priority over what is more difficult a question. And increasing taxes is never popular.

However in my ideal world school funding would be a priority lol

Investment in schools need to be a priority and it's what would solve many of the problems we experience in the long term. However, Governments will never do it because the benefits won't be felt in the country for 20+ years and so it becomes harder to justify that level of investment. It's something you only see in more left-inclined countries because there's more of a "plant trees whose shade you'll never sit under" attitude in those places.

@Iamnotthe1

Investment in schools need to be a priority and it's what would solve many of the problems we experience in the long term. However, Governments will never do it because the benefits won't be felt in the country for 20+ years and so it becomes harder to justify that level of investment. It's something you only see in more left-inclined countries because there's more of a "plant trees whose shade you'll never sit under" attitude in those places.

I absolutely agree. However in practice where would you cut funding to increase investment in schools?

This is the difficulty if the population don't vote to increase taxation

So there you go any Tory staff reading

Mumsnet consensus seems to be reopen schools. Visors for staff. Possibly masks if no communication difficulties (maybe for corridors etc?).

And increase funding. We all want that !!

HTH

@askmehowiknow

That would be impossible to say without having more in-depth knowledge of spending allocations and I'd have to work in the treasury in order to have that level of insight.

However, I think the money argument so frequently put forward by the right is a bit of a red herring. There's a constant repetition around the lack of a 'money tree' and yet funds are found for any project they wish to undertake. It's not that the money can't be found, it's that they don't want to find it.

I'd also say that increased spending on education would be an investment and lead to higher GDP and income from tax (both personal and corporate) in the future. We come back to austerity being an ideological measure and that, by investing in the right things, it's viable to spend your way out of a recession.

Here's a load of places where the funding could be found;

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/24/boris-johnsons-great-spaffometer/

Also personally I would have prioritised schools over meals out.

[quote Iamnotthe1]@askmehowiknow

That would be impossible to say without having more in-depth knowledge of spending allocations and I'd have to work in the treasury in order to have that level of insight.

However, I think the money argument so frequently put forward by the right is a bit of a red herring. There's a constant repetition around the lack of a 'money tree' and yet funds are found for any project they wish to undertake. It's not that the money can't be found, it's that they don't want to find it.

I'd also say that increased spending on education would be an investment and lead to higher GDP and income from tax (both personal and corporate) in the future. We come back to austerity being an ideological measure and that, by investing in the right things, it's viable to spend your way out of a recession.[/quote]
Totally agree!

@WhyNotMe40

Here's a load of places where the funding could be found;

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/24/boris-johnsons-great-spaffometer/

Also personally I would have prioritised schools over meals out.

Great article!

And I'm not sure re prioritising spending on school vs meals out as we do need to keep economy going and people in employment. But get where you're coming from

I'd happily pay more tax for better services!

@Hercwasonaroll

I'd happily pay more tax for better services!

Oh absolutely. I would too. They do in other countries.

However we need to consider what the U.K. population consistently vote for. We cant argue it's not the case. Sadly.

@WhyNotMe40

Here's a load of places where the funding could be found;

bylinetimes.com/2020/07/24/boris-johnsons-great-spaffometer/

Also personally I would have prioritised schools over meals out.

Yes, the Eat out scheme is actually embarrassing.

I’m Canadian and thankfully only one friend back home has mentioned this nonsense. Another friend is a kindergarden teacher and is worried about returning to school because she has 18 kids in her class. She usually has 15.

I became a teacher in the UK and had my children in the UK, so all my education experience and knowledge is based here. Until Covid I never considered that 30 + plus crammed in a room, sharing everything was abnormal in most countries. My sister’s kids have desks (primary) actual desks where they store their books and pencil cases and sit every day.

I want this pandemic to be a wake up call to the government and parents. No, not all is well at your kids’ school. The government would rather spend money on fast food than ensuring our kids are safe. They can’t be safe because their Educational environment has been striped to the bone.

The day out scheme is aimed at protecting jobs. It's harsh to call it an embarrassment

Eat out not day out (although I love the idea of a day out scheme!!)

If you knew how truly brassic schools are, and how the government has just heaped extra spending requirements on them, without funding them... Well no, it's not an embarrassment.

It's an absolute scandal