We were doing ok until we opened all the schools....

[Bbq1]

After lockdown was lifted pre September and pubs, restaurants etc were opened we seemed to have a handle on Covid with cases, hospital admissions and deaths all declining fairly steadily. Since we released millions of school aged children and thousands of teachers etc back into the classroom- boom, cases and consequently deaths, are now growing very rapidly again. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that this would happen. I work in a school and I have a 15 year old starting his gcse's so I 100% don't want the schools to close but surely there must be a more workable solution? Couldn't schools be one week, one week off for different bubbles or alternate days? Nobody wants schools to shut but surely in the long term if we don't get something safer in place and just continue sending kids and adults in day after day, then eventually they will close again?

Even dishing out disposable masks would help.

Before each new class lesson with alcohol gel, those exempt stay exempt.

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921561/Weekly_COVID19_Surveillance_Report_week_39_FINAL.pdf

Educational settings are now the top source of COVID incidents.

@LadyLoungeALot

I honestly would like to believe that we'd close pubs and non essential shops (and gyms and leisure activities!) before schools. However, without staff, schools just can not safely remain open. That is the reality.

I’d imagine that more people are employed in those sectors than there are primary aged children parents. Those things bring money into the economy and we need taxes to pay for the NHS.

Education can be done at home, it doesn’t have to be in a large group setting whereas many jobs can’t be so if it’s a numbers game the choice with less economic impact will win.

Conditions in my school are pretty awful. We are very, very cold with all windows and doors open. The kids can't get any reasonable form of exercise and are just stuck at tables all day long apart from their outdoor afternoon where they can freeze outdoors instead of indoors

We have to be out of school very quickly at the end of the day to allow for cleaning and dinners have to be eaten in the classroom - not much fun to come back after lunch to macaroni, rice etc trampled into the carpet.

I don't see a solution to this any time soon and shutting schools is not an option if parents are to keep working

The government have already stated they will close pubs and restaurants before schools so I think it will be quite difficult to go against that now although we will have to see.

The key is to get community levels down. I'm in the SE and according the the PHE report there have been a total of 3 identified clusters in primary schools in the last 4 weeks (1 in the last week) and 7 in secondary schools (4 in the last week). Where community transmission is low, cases in schools will be low.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

No home education can't be done at home x3 children need x3 laptop - who pays for that.

Parents trying to work (from home or otherwise)

Children's mental health and well-being

Sorry but most people on here sound like such know it alls suggesting all of these things but your no experts!!

[quote Remmy123]@Worriedmum999 who said the schools are closing though? Which schools are closing?[/quote]
Look in your local newspaper. Mine lists loads of local schools with year groups at home.

Oh I see - yeah i keep an eye on our local area and there was one year group day two of year opening but that is it. Thankfully

[quote Remmy123]@Worriedmum999 who said the schools are closing though? Which schools are closing?[/quote]
And still they carry on with the denial Thousands of children are having to isolate, some with no education at all. Teachers are dropping like flies unable to get tests. The most cases are now in schools. There will soon be no alternative but to close schools. But carry on with the denial as that will help

Not in denial but I like to live in the present no one knows what will happen do they? I'm concentrating on my area / my kids schools etc

@Worriedmum999

As I said in my last post only 3 primary and 7 secondary schools have had outbreaks in the last 4 weeks in the whole of the SE. I don't think it's denial to think that widespread school closures are unlikely at present in my area with those sorts of figures.

Outbreaks are more than one person, Sunshine, where kids are being sent home to isolate where there is one case. Those figures don't capture how many kids are actually sat at home.

And for some reason, while the numbers of uni students isolating is being widely publicised and picked over, the number of school kids isolating is being hidden.

Why don't you all worry when the schools do close (which they won't) and stop wasting your time speculating 🤔

But what we have isn’t sustainable. What about children in areas which have lots of cases and are constantly closing. Are you really so selfish that you can’t see that we need to think of children’s education as a whole? Talk about ‘I’m ok Jack’

I won’t be worried when the schools close as I have a contingency plan and my DC are enrolled in online schools from after half term. I’ll leave the worry then to you.

We're the only school within a five mile radius that hasn't had cases, it's like a pincer movement closing in! In some ways, it'll be a relief when we do have one - it's incredibly wearing preparing for it.

Plenty of school closures in my area, just year groups but without testing, there's no tracing, so they've no idea what's going on.

No, but closing schools is not the answer as things stand, certainly not for any length of time.

We need to drive down cases in the community. If we have low community case numbers hopefully we can have similar numbers to those in the SE across the country.

I'm in the north east, our school is the only one not affected. Out of 6 primaries! One of those only has 2 year groups left. Both high schools have year groups missing too.

Cases cannot be driven down in the community now without closing schools. It’s too far gone. The government fucked it with crap T&T and opening schools with no mitigations. We could close everything now apart from schools and schools would still drive the spread.

@Remmy123

Why don't you all worry when the schools do close (which they won't) and stop wasting your time speculating 🤔

As pointed out, they already are closing.

There have been threads on here from posters panicking that they have suddenly got a child at home for a fortnight that they are supposed to be educating and they are totally unprepared.

Sticking your head in the sand until it happens isn't the best course of action.

6.5 % of schools in my LA have had a bubble popped

Less than 3% of schools still impacted.

We are in a medium risk area. Cases are rising and I do expect situation to get worse, but we are at quite a low level.

One council within LA is on watch list.

We’re on a watch list too, medium at the moment.

60% of secondaries affected😬

@Worriedmum999

Cases cannot be driven down in the community now without closing schools. It’s too far gone. The government fucked it with crap T&T and opening schools with no mitigations. We could close everything now apart from schools and schools would still drive the spread.

Of course they can. If you close everything else you will drive down cases. The reality is that there are vast swathes of the country with very few cases and schools affected. It would be mad to close schools in those areas.

Access to tests needs to increase and I'd shut pretty much everything else in areas with lots of cases, pubs, restaurants, non essential shops.

@Worriedmum999

Cases cannot be driven down in the community now without closing schools. It’s too far gone. The government fucked it with crap T&T and opening schools with no mitigations. We could close everything now apart from schools and schools would still drive the spread.

This is my worry too