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Original poster

No social distancing in 6th form classrooms/common room

440 replies

kitnkaboodle · 02/09/2020 16:44

I know that there was an earlier thread on this that ran to 1000 messages and shut down, but ...

I'm sitting here with egg on my face, as through the summer I didn't believe my DS (16) telling me that in his (new) Y12, they wouldn't have to distance from the other pupils in sixth form or be spaced out within the classrooms. He said that things would be 'the same as normal', and I honestly thought he was talking rubbish.

He's just home from his first day and, sure enough, the WHOLE sixth form is classed as one bubble and there are no social distancing measures at all between the kids there apart from desks all facing the front. I'm not sure about teachers - will ask later, but I presume they aren't in the bubbles and have to keep apart.

I glanced at the earlier thread title (that was something along the lines of 'the govt are letting the public believe there will be SD in schools') and thought it was all a bit paranoid (without reading it). However, I now genuinely believe that photos of all the 'back to school' stories have been carefully curated to show kids standing/sitting at least a metre apart. I'm one of those who thinks that we just need to 'get on with it' now, regarding schools, but I do feel royally hoodwinked by that. It was very subtle ... (and now I have to apologise to DS for not believing him!!)

OP posts:
Shitfuckoh · 02/09/2020 21:46

@ChanceEncounter

Yes think the school's thing this week is a going to be different to what many parents had been telling themselves was going to happen.

Reminds me of that cartoon where there's no customers wanting to buy truth and a long queue for comforting lies.

I feel like the only person I knoe not thinking it'll be fine, and it's lonely. If it does end up being fine I'll happily eat my words.

Same here. I have people telling me I'm wrong not to send my youngest to nursery (Various issues / doubts, 1 of them being it's that added chance of having to isolate / test) as the kids are back in school so it's all fine.
itsgettingweird · 02/09/2020 21:56

I emailed the bbc last week to complain about them misleading via images and also said they should t post photos of teachers in PPE and taking temps as guidance says not to.

It says it all when today I get one saying usually they respond in 2 weeks it they are receiving far more complaints than normal currently.

noblegiraffe · 02/09/2020 21:56

The same posters who have been vile to teachers have even been vile to extremely vulnerable parents or parents of vulnerable children who haven’t been convinced when it has been yelled at them that their kids need to go back.

I mean, FFS.

itsgettingweird · 02/09/2020 22:02

I think the fact we have literally been told our whole school is a bubble sums it up!

Do have separate classrooms with some shared areas.

3 toilets for 50+ staff.

Just under 100 pupils.

Federated so some staff work both schools (including me as I specialise in something)

At least head isn't trying to dress it up Grin

StaffAssociationRepresentative · 02/09/2020 22:03

I am waiting for the first parent to complain that I am giving too much homework, using seating plans and am being rather mean by giving pupils a timed assessment in a couple of weeks ....

Cattiwampus · 02/09/2020 22:05

@noblegiraffe

Omg. The people on my thread trying to tell me that the photos were fine and made no difference and that parents would know...
Yup.

Flowers Wine Cake

ChanceEncounter · 02/09/2020 22:05

@noblegiraffe

The same posters who have been vile to teachers have even been vile to extremely vulnerable parents or parents of vulnerable children who haven’t been convinced when it has been yelled at them that their kids need to go back.

I mean, FFS.

'deregister then' 'get ready to pay the fine' 'suck it up' 'sort out your anxiety' etc. Sad
ineedaholidaynow · 02/09/2020 22:07

@itsgettingweird I have had the same message from the BBC

StaffAssociationRepresentative · 02/09/2020 22:08

Absolutely - they are some really nasty people posting on Mumsnet. I often wonder if it is because they did not enjoy their school experience, did not do as well as expected and now blame their lot in life on all teachers.

SaltyAndFresh · 02/09/2020 22:11

@noblegiraffe

The same posters who have been vile to teachers have even been vile to extremely vulnerable parents or parents of vulnerable children who haven’t been convinced when it has been yelled at them that their kids need to go back.

I mean, FFS.

There's a whole community of arseholes on here. It's like a scab though .
Morfin · 02/09/2020 22:15

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@itsgettingweird I have had the same message from the BBC[/quote]
And me, although I complained more than two weeks ago and still haven't had a resolution.

noblegiraffe · 02/09/2020 22:18

’deregister then'
'get ready to pay the fine'
'suck it up'
'sort out your anxiety'
etc. Sad

Chance That vulnerable parents might be fined is just so despicable on the part of the government that it’s unbelievable that anyone would think it’s a good look to wave it in their faces.

@milesjuppismybitch (star) went through the teacher bashing threads collating comments like this about teachers and they seem to have a very similar flavour.

Useruseruserusee · 02/09/2020 22:21

ChanceEncounter

I’ve had a comment like that. My toddler is vulnerable and we have had actual medical advice from the surgeon who has been coordinating his care since he was just a few minutes old. The advice is that he should stay away from nursery until the winter is over. He is highly likely to require hospital treatment if he catches Covid-19.

Still I was told to sort out my ‘anxiety’ because no child is ever ill from Covid apparently! Didn’t know that following medical advice made you anxious...

Useruseruserusee · 02/09/2020 22:21

However I’m just glad that he isn’t compulsory school age because that’s not a battle I want to fight. Fining parents of ECV children is indefensible.

MrsHerculePoirot · 02/09/2020 22:25

Also getting same reply from BBC.

@kitnkaboodle I appreciate you voicing your realisation. I think lots of parents thought the same despite what teachers have been saying. I was talking to my brother last week and he had just assumed kids would be spaced out like in the pictures. Tbf he doesn’t have school aged children but he was shocked for teachers. I hope teachers/pupils take some photos and share them of the reality. Even if you don’t care or aren’t bothered I think it’s only fair that everyone knows the reality and understands the risks.

All the guidance says ‘where possible’ despite most of it not being possible - and had they spoken to any teacher would have known this. Either they do know and it’s therefore all smoke and mirrors or they are not working alongside schools and unions who are trying to get everyone back in a safe way.

ChanceEncounter · 02/09/2020 22:49

@Useruseruserusee

ChanceEncounter

I’ve had a comment like that. My toddler is vulnerable and we have had actual medical advice from the surgeon who has been coordinating his care since he was just a few minutes old. The advice is that he should stay away from nursery until the winter is over. He is highly likely to require hospital treatment if he catches Covid-19.

Still I was told to sort out my ‘anxiety’ because no child is ever ill from Covid apparently! Didn’t know that following medical advice made you anxious...

Hope it all goes well for him this winter and yes it is good you are a paying customer this year!
OuiOuiKitty · 02/09/2020 23:00

My 13 year old ds just started secondary school here in Ireland. Today he wore a mask from 7:45am when he got the bus until 4:50pm when he got off the bus with the exception of 2 small breaks from wearing it to eat. Their desks are all spread out to social distance, they are supervised to make sure they sanitise their hands on entering, when changing classrooms and before they eat etc. One way systems, staggered start and finish times, teachers wearing masks, no mixing between classes are other things they are doing.

I don't really understand why schools closed in England if they were just going to reopen with no extra precautions taken?

Morfin · 02/09/2020 23:05

Because OuiOui we are run by incompetant self serving fools.

Discobar · 02/09/2020 23:14

and posters wonder why so many argued for teachers having PPE if the teacher wanted it. Thankfully alot of Head Teachers are seeing sense.

Secondary schools are a shit show, year group bubbles but not for teachers. Of course there can't be for teachers because of subjects.

So it's all bollocks.

The universities will drive the second wave regardless and we'll all be back to home schooling by half term.

Unless we all go fuck it and just live with the risk

Discobar · 02/09/2020 23:16

@Morfin

Because OuiOui we are run by incompetant self serving fools.
so how would you manage it then for secondary schools out of interest? Would labour have done any better? It's an impossible situation
Morfin · 02/09/2020 23:22

Discobarf like the op, maybe acquiesce that there have been hundreds, if not thousands of posts for months, ffs even in this thread that cover this topic.

Titsywoo · 02/09/2020 23:37

To be honest I wish they weren't even doing the bubbles - they are meaningless and the kids will be stuck in the same classroom most of the time while the teachers move around. I bet music/art/drama/PE all get sidelined due to this. It's going to be a miserable experience and will make little to no difference at all as far as I can tell!

ineedaholidaynow · 02/09/2020 23:47

They need to do bubbles to help with contact tracing. In theory teachers have to keep a constant record of who has been within 2m of someone for more than 15 minutes. That is why children will be sat in strict seating plans with very little movement, otherwise they will spend all their time updating this record rather than teaching.

Kidneybingo · 02/09/2020 23:57

My teens and their friends have mostly been distancing until now. Same among relatives and friends' DC. So it's fair to say that plenty are now being chucked in at the deep end despite having been careful.

TheSunIsStillShining · 03/09/2020 01:17

I'm vulnerable, not sending DS back. Emailed school about any online teaching. No. And this is one of the best private schools in the country. And we'll have a phone convo tomorrow morning (god, it's today already) about how they can lure him back in....
There are about 1500 kids, no mandatory masks, no SD within the bubble of 300+, and most come with tfl.
But the gov said it's safe. yeah, right. I honestly do wonder though how this will be counted towards attendance....