BBC school social distancing imagery

[SnapeSnapeSeverusSnape]

The majority of photographs being used by the bbc in articles relating to schools reopening are starting to irritate me. The attached pics are all from the BBC news website, most are the headline photo, showing at most 6 children in a class, the 2nd image, also from their website but specifically in relation to an article about worries of lack of social distancing, shows the reality. Most classes at my dcs school will have 34 children.

I am all for schools reopening, I am a teaching assistant and have 3 of my own children, I am more than happy for both my children and myself to be going back, but I do think this imagery isn't truthfully reflecting the reality of what classrooms will be like.

Absolutely. I was trying to explain to my 80 year old Mum who I care for why it might be risky still having her in our family bubble. She was saying that we’d be in school bubbles so wouldn’t be with that many other people! I had to explain that I’d have 30 in my class and that each of my kids would have 30 in their classes so that risks exposing her to 90 other families. She was genuinely shocked because of what she’d seen in misleading images like this. They should just use pre-Covid images because that would be more realistic. The only difference is staggered start times, extra hand washing and being asked to keep our windows open!

@minicat

Where are they going to get more photos from, though?

The countless years of full classes that came before this? They will have these in their archive.

It's doing my head in too...along with reports comparing school transmission of Covid in June to September, all the while saying "socially distancing where possible in bubbles"! They may as well add "with one on one teaching where possible". Fucking nuts.

Lies, lies, lies 😠

Complaint in!

It also has a responsibility to use imagery that is accurate and reflective of what students will be attending.

It's a crap argument to say they have a responsibility if they then show a photo of 6 kids in a classroom larger than average, with teachers in PPE and temperature checks.

Especially as government guidance is no temp checks and no PPE and all children back - so approx 30.

@FrenchItalian

To be frank I think the bbc as national broadcaster has an obligation to get all DC back in school and challenge some of the misconceptions parents have about the safety of reopening.

Schools need to be open for both educational and economic reasons. The experts have been clear that the risk is very low, so the BBC has a duty to convey this message and challenge some of the baseless wailing.

To be frank the BBC are a media outlet and should do nothing but report accurately and truthfully.

The images they share are neither an accurate or truthful representation of how schools will be in September.

@FrenchItalian so it’s ok for them to show false images of how schools/ classes will be? What if the situation was reversed...if schools were returning to classes of 15 or less and they showed photos from pre-Covid classrooms,would that be exceptable? Obviously not. They are suppose to be an independent outlet not there for distribution of government propaganda.

Totally agree OP.

Can we complain I’m general about the BBC use of school photos or do you have to complain about individual articles-which you might have to do 20 times?!

I did it generally as the news on the app.

I said they have a responsibility as a non bias news outlet to print accurate pictures that reflect both the reality and government guidance alongside accurate non bias wording.

I saw the picture on the BBC website this morning with the 2 children wearing masks queuing up 2 metres apart and thought WTF?!

1. We've repeatedly been told children don't need to wear masks and won't be wearing masks in school.

1. Where have they even got that picture from? The children look like they're wearing uk school uniform, so have the BBC set it up and taken the picture?

The BBC reporting has noticeably got worse and become more sensationalistic since covid. (Don't get me started on the number of typos and grammatical errors on their website).

Honestly, the first pictures are exactly what my daughter's primary school was like (minus the masks!)
It's a small rural school and I think that's where they get those pictures from, rather than larger town/city schools.
I agree, it is not always doable, but for many, it will be.

@inappropriateraspberry were all the school in then?

No, but they will all be back and there will be plenty of room. It is a small school with about 50 - 60 pupils, and the 3 classes will have room. A lot of rural schools have the space to spread out.
I think primary schools in general will find it easier than secondary schools, for sure.
Remember, the pictures in op are comparing primary 'distancing' and secondary reality, two very different things.

I have also made a complaint.

So you average about 20 pupils per class. Many local primaries to me, and some of them are rural, have 30+ in classrooms that were definitely not designed for that many pupils. They looked like those photos in June, but they definitely won’t look like that in September.

Also the guidelines state that children should be sitting in rows facing the front, so even if you have the space they won’t be looking like many of the photos they are using at the moment.

All the village schools round here have 30+ per class. Not saying smaller ones don’t exist but think it’s not as common as you think. Please don’t get me wrong, I think it’s very important children go back to school but agree we have to be realistic about what that looks like. It again seems to be setting up schools to take the fall!

@FrenchItalian

To be frank I think the bbc as national broadcaster has an obligation to get all DC back in school and challenge some of the misconceptions parents have about the safety of reopening.

Schools need to be open for both educational and economic reasons. The experts have been clear that the risk is very low, so the BBC has a duty to convey this message and challenge some of the baseless wailing.

If clear involves using the words may, possibly and could and not fully confident etc.

Then yes they’ve been clear it’ll be safe. In socially distanced schools (which all their data is based on). Not full schools.

But then they were also clear that we didn’t need to lock down, that masks weren’t needed and that care homes were safe.

Our rural school is over 30 per class and there’s no room.

Interesting that the main way to encourage parents to send their children back, is by sharing misleading images that bear no resemblance to what will actually be happening in September.

Doesn't exactly fill them with confidence. If the measures for September are considered safe then why not show the reality?

What part of Chris Whitty’s evidence-based conclusion that schools are safe do you have evidence to disagree with?

The bit where he says that ONS data for England shows that teachers as a profession aren’t at an increased risk, taken from a time most teachers were working from home and the vast majority of kids weren’t in school.

I’m pro the children going back to school, but why use false images of what that will look like? Unless it’s because what it will look like is less desirable? And why would that be?