It feels like people on MN are willing schools to close

[Marcellemouse]

Lots of threads being really negative about schools reopening. These have been largely started by teachers, the latest one being about a gagging order on the BBC. My 2 and every other DC I know are thriving on schools opening again. DS actually stands a chance of doing well and getting back on track with GCSES. DC are happy and animated again. Their teachers have been fantastic, I'm massively impressed. Friends of mine who are secondary teachers are positive and happy to be back teaching in school instead of home learning. I just get a different vibe in RL than on MN about schools. What's the reality?

I have a sister that is over the moon schools are back on. She has 3 kids. Her youngest is not in compulsory education yet but she can’t wait for him to start nursery.
I have another sister who has 2 kids and is wanting schools to close or at the very least allow parents to homeschool if they want to and are able to.
Both sister’s desires are dependant on their individual circumstances.
The one who doesn’t want schools to close has to work. The one who wants to continue homeschooling doesn’t need to work and can still afford a decent lifestyle for a short while. She has enrolled her kids on to an online school and is thinking about having a private tutor in the very near future. She is also a qualified teacher and can provide a decent education for her 2 primary school kids.
However, despite both being very low risk (children and husbands included) they fear getting the virus. Simply because of its unpredictable nature and also the long term effects. It’s like catching the flu or a nasty virus like the chicken pox or vomiting and diarrhoea virus, we know it’s not very likely to kill us (if heathy and young) but no one wants to willingly get it or do anything that puts them at risk of getting it.
I don’t think either is wrong.
I also agree parents should be given the option of keeping their children home is they are able to.

There are a lot of teachers here. Maybe they are more keen for schools not to be fully open than the rest of us.

It feels like that @Marcellemouse

Some are hoping to be proved right that life must be lock down for as long as it takes to eradicate all signs of virus no matter what the damage

Interestingly, thousands of schools are dealing with the covid changes and not shutting down much to chagrin of the shut the lot brigade

@notevenat20

There are a lot of teachers here. Maybe they are more keen for schools not to be fully open than the rest of us.

Meh. My job is fine in normal times, good days and bad days. No problems with it.25 years of teaching under my belt.

At the moment it is horrible. The conditions are dreadful, pupils and staff are not safe (secondary) , and by dint of this neither are the communities they live in, with the way schools have been brought back.

My job is normal times doesn't scare me. Now it does.

Our secondary has brought in covid measures without the government having to tell them what to do. All teachers wear visors, perspex sheet over teacher's desk, sinks installed outside, one way system, hand sanitiser on entry to each lesson, staggering start time, break time etc., DC wear masks in communal areas and in class if they want to/if a vulnerable DC is in a lesson or if the teacher wants them to. Seems to be working well. Why can't all schools do this?

Or maybe they are? This is living with the virus. Home learning is not sustainable for DC, it was a disaster for thousands.

@Marcellemouse

Our secondary has brought in covid measures without the government having to tell them what to do. All teachers wear visors, perspex sheet over teacher's desk, sinks installed outside, one way system, hand sanitiser on entry to each lesson, staggering start time, break time etc., DC wear masks in communal areas and in class if they want to/if a vulnerable DC is in a lesson or if the teacher wants them to. Seems to be working well. Why can't all schools do this?

I agree.

@Browneyesbigbum

It feels like that *@Marcellemouse*

Some are hoping to be proved right that life must be lock down for as long as it takes to eradicate all signs of virus no matter what the damage

Interestingly, thousands of schools are dealing with the covid changes and not shutting down much to chagrin of the shut the lot brigade

Yet again an outright lie. There are no teachers saying shut the lot.

What's the point in lying? Do you hate teachers so much that you need to make things up?

Why can't all schools do this?
Different sites, different building requirements, different budgets, different students levels.

Is the school you're talking about a typical oversubscribed state comprehensive in older buildings?

If you think it's bad on here you should see the hysterics on WIWIKAU on FB about the unis!!

This thread is just full of outright lies where are the links ??

BUT..

One way systems break down... bubbles mix when one bubble needs access through where another bubble is lining up... hand sanitizer runs out... no extra cleaning...visors are useless on their own.. teachers told not to wear masks (it's in the guidance).

@Marcellemouse

Our secondary has brought in covid measures without the government having to tell them what to do. All teachers wear visors, perspex sheet over teacher's desk, sinks installed outside, one way system, hand sanitiser on entry to each lesson, staggering start time, break time etc., DC wear masks in communal areas and in class if they want to/if a vulnerable DC is in a lesson or if the teacher wants them to. Seems to be working well. Why can't all schools do this?

It depends very much on the building, I'd have thought you could work that out for yourself. Old Victorian schools with small classrooms and outside loos do not adapt as easily as modern ones.

The government guidelines discourage the use of PPE, surely you know that. I admire heads who defy Boris and allow their use but not all heads do.

Teacher bashing is such an awful thing to do when most are doing their best for the children. Lying about them is even worse.

@Marcellemouse

Our secondary has brought in covid measures without the government having to tell them what to do. All teachers wear visors, perspex sheet over teacher's desk, sinks installed outside, one way system, hand sanitiser on entry to each lesson, staggering start time, break time etc., DC wear masks in communal areas and in class if they want to/if a vulnerable DC is in a lesson or if the teacher wants them to. Seems to be working well. Why can't all schools do this?

So your thread was intended to be goady and full of lies then? Lying and teacher bashing won’t help keep schools open. You’re doing it wrong.

@Marcellemouse

Our secondary has brought in covid measures without the government having to tell them what to do. All teachers wear visors, perspex sheet over teacher's desk, sinks installed outside, one way system, hand sanitiser on entry to each lesson, staggering start time, break time etc., DC wear masks in communal areas and in class if they want to/if a vulnerable DC is in a lesson or if the teacher wants them to. Seems to be working well. Why can't all schools do this?

DDs school has too.

They sent a whole year group bubble home today because pupils in that year have tested positive, despite the measures. Whether they caught it in school or out, who knows? But the result has been the same. Teachers are right in saying that schools aren't 'Covid safe' whatever the govt wants to believe.

@LolaSmiles yes over subscribed state school in buildings dating from 1660s. Excellent leadership team.
@monkeytennis97 no issues so far. Recent email comments on excellent student compliance and that they probably won't need to close whole year groups because of this.
@CarrieBlue www.mumsnet.com/Talk/coronavirus/4034768-what-s-going-to-happen-with-schools

OK secondary schools have put lots of measures in place but they are not foolproof. Pupils are moving around the school, one way system yes but then staircases get really congested (I work in a secondary school). Pupils go one after another to the toilet and they are not cleaned between pupils. Desks - in most schools, pupils are still going from one class to another and the desks and chairs are not cleaned after each class (there would be no time for that). So a child is positive, touches chairs and touches their faces and touch the desk again, then 10 minutes later another poor kid is sitting at the same spot. Measures will reduce the risks but not eliminate them. Which is why there are over 30 schools partially shut in my local area only.

not shutting down much to chagrin of the shut the lot brigade

Still waiting for even just one link to any member of this supposed "brigade."

If teachers wanted schools shut it would be very simple. We'd all have a cough. No staff, no school. Strangely we are all still turning up for work every morning and knocking ourselves silly to make this madness work. Nice to know some people appreciate it - those who don't, well you can go stuff your thoughts where the sun don't shine. I risk my life every day to educate children, because I love my job and the kids. Oh and the kids say thank you.

@notevenat20

There are a lot of teachers here. Maybe they are more keen for schools not to be fully open than the rest of us.

I think you're making that up

@Marcellemouse I'm glad your school is doing it well so far..

@mumsneedwine

If teachers wanted schools shut it would be very simple. We'd all have a cough. No staff, no school. Strangely we are all still turning up for work every morning and knocking ourselves silly to make this madness work. Nice to know some people appreciate it - those who don't, well you can go stuff your thoughts where the sun don't shine. I risk my life every day to educate children, because I love my job and the kids. Oh and the kids say thank you.

This.

I don't want schools to close, teaching remotely was awful.

I do however want things to stay exactly as they are until at least Easter. Ie, staggered everything, staying in class bubbles (primary), parents not allowed in the school building, meetings online etc. I feel safe, the kids feel safe, I've got a few anxious parents but they are now sending their children in more often. I'm quite liking the way things are running.

@QueenBlueberries exactly

not seen one positive thread from @notevenat20

Don't think that thread is started by a teacher wanting schools to close @Marcellemouse. It is started by a teacher who is scared about possibly bringing the virus home to her husband, perfectly justifiable to be scared. Wandering what is going to happen as more teachers are off sick/isolating, pupil cases going up. Being exhausted having to set up a classroom every lesson, as not having a set classroom but having to move to the classes rather than the pupils. None of those things are sustainable and that was the teacher's question. It was not all schools must close now!