Lockdown for October half term

[Bellamybells]

I heard on my local radio station that worst case scenario this may be considered so that kids don't miss school. Has anyone heard much more about this idea?

Better than nothing. Really not looking forward to the mess that's coming.

Fingers crossed people stick to the rule of 5 or at least bloody limit their numbers again!

I heard speculation that Chris Whitty wants a 2 week lockdown but this has since been denied. Maybe that's what they were referring to.
www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/government-hits-back-speculation-chris-22696770
TBH if we were going to do it, I think we need to do it sooner rather than later. Although I can see the sense in combining it with half term when schools are closed for a week anyway.
Cases have rocketed where I am, 7 times higher today than they were two weeks ago when DS went to school. His school have already had 3 positive cases.
It doesn't feel sustainable to carry on as we are at the moment, something will have to give.

@middleager

And those of us with kids in GCSE years who got just 7 days and now a mixed bag of home learning, what do we do? I'd give anything for weeks, but it's rife in our city schools and so many not getting an education.

Exactly. This was so predictable.

But what lockdown? It might just be that households can't mix and pubs shut at 10pm.

@Qasd Lockdowns do not work for a week even New Zealand did seven! I would say if they shut at half term schools will not go back this academic year! Do you mean this year 2020 or this academic year which doesn't end till July 2021 in England? I'm not sure people would accept schools being closed from October till July, well September really as there will be the summer holidays at the end of the academic year.

I was wondering about this earlier...if it's decided that we need another lockdown for a week or two will they wait until October half term so it doesn't affect kids in school? It's starting to feel like back in March, seeing the press talk about a national lockdown and it seeming unfathomable until a week later and then, bam!

I mean until July..they will not open in January Given that is the middle of winter..so then it’s Easter? Maybe but I think if they get burnt this time September is most likely!

And yes actually my son’s school is “busting a gut” too I am really impressed with how much work they are doing to get them learning in person It’s great!

but they don’t do “remote” learning so if the school shuts that will be it apart from a few “activities” that they could complete but no one will look or care if they do! So I am taking what I can get while I can get it (he has learnt sooo much in the last two weeks it’s amazing!)

Lockdown is not a one size fits all. There are plenty of areas that haven’t seen a massive rise in cases and schools haven’t had an impact. I live in one of them and don’t see why we should be locked down

There were 8 cases in my area last week (population circa 100k). We don’t need a lockdown!

There’s not been a single case in dd’s school. A large primary near the city’s main hospital and many parents are exposed in front line jobs. I’m not sure why they’d be planning to shut at half term! Lots of colds that have been tested though.

Hmm. Cases in our area are below average but DC school has emailed a questionnaire about the online learning during lockdown and how it could be improved, so I think they’re preparing now for potential closures.

@Qasd Seriously, closed for almost a year and you would accept that?! With your children not having any remote learning?! I would be on the streets protesting.

From the FT:

Leading scientists advising the UK government have proposed a two-week national lockdown in October to try to tackle the rising number of coronavirus cases.

The move highlights how Boris Johnson might come under increasing pressure to introduce a second national lockdown, even though he has said he is strongly against such a measure.

Experts on the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) and the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-m) have suggested a national lockdown that could coincide with the October school half-term.

bit more of the article as it seems to be paywalled (can be read for free on their app though).

Continued from above...

The government is keen to avoid the reclosure of schools, having shut them during the national lockdown in March and only fully reopening them this autumn.

That helps to explain why the government’s scientific advisers have looked at how a two-week national lockdown might coincide with the October half- term as part of efforts to bring Covid-19 under control.

“As schools will be closed for one week at half-term, adding an extra week to that will have limited impact on education,” said one scientist who is a member of Sage, confirming the body had considered the case for a national lockdown in October.

Another scientist who is a member of Spi-m said the body had also looked at a national lockdown that could take place next month.

It goes on a lot longer but that's the gist of it...

I am warm down yes! As I said cases expected to rise over the winter so they are not going to go back in January right in the middle of the winter season (if they shut before!) So the we are left with Easter Maybe? But that is the absolute earliest.

No I not happy It’s scary how much we are prepared as a world to abandon state education. For years on here people put up threads “do you not realise the nhs is in danger” and what I never realised is it wasn’t the nhs but another previously thought of essential state service - education- which was really in danger it’s been a real eye opener! Beyond recognising their role in providing childcare there seem few In the country who think educating the next generation just so they learn is important.

But it is what it is! I spent too long arguing on here in March/April that he needed an education. I am more coming to the conclusion that it doesn’t work to Do remote education For this age group (We had none which annoyed me a lot at the time but friends with kids in schools that did more don’t on the whole to be more impressed they talk of it being stressful, the kids being upset because they didn’t get it, parents not really getting it either and we’ll everyone saying that didn’t work!)

so where does that leave us? I guess just hope that as a nation we can catch them up at some point in future and that a fair bit of what happened in primary wasn’t necessary (do they really need to know about frontal adverbial phrases literally no adult I meet knows what one is!) but yes is depressed me greatly when I think of the possible consequences. But it’s certainly made me think that as a nation (possibly even a world) we need to rethink if education can be abandoned so completely with so little concern for the consequences was it really delivering what it needed in the first place?

If things carry on as they are, both in the UK and seeing what’s happening in Spain, it’ll happen long before half term.

I have a year 11 and the government / Ofqual have said GCSE’s will definitely take place next year. How can that happen if the kids haven’t been taught the content (well private schools will have, the state provision will be hugely variable). Will they all just get D’s and E’s with private schools getting A’s and no one in the middle?

Whilst nobody wants another complete lockdown, I would be happy for one, but to be any good, it needs to be 5 + 14 days, due to incubation and isolation stages. Where I live in the south, it already seems like we’re in lockdown, as apart from school times there is hardly anyone going out.

There's another thread about this now so I wasn't crazy after all!