Now we know why the govt were suppressing the schools infection data

[noblegiraffe]

...because for secondary it’s very worrying.

They choose to release it the day before we break up for half term, too late for any circuit breaker like the other U.K. countries.

They’ve quietly removed the assertion that schools aren’t high risk settings from the guidance. At what point are they going to start to be honest about the risks, particularly in sixth forms and colleges?

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928749/Weekly_COVID-19_and_Influenza_Surveillance_Graphs_W43_FINAL.pdf

We don't want schools closed. I'm just not sure how we can function with a third of staff regularly off and half year groups of kids being sent home to isolate every couple of weeks. It's insane.

Eg.
Lilian does 3 a levels. 1 teacher isolates for 2 weeks. Work is kind of done.
Lilian sat near Ava, who has positive test. Lilian off for 2 weeks. Does a bit of work. Misses her mock though.
Lilian back in. Teacher 2 isolating cos his kid has to stay off. Teaches online.
Lilian's boss in work tests positive. 2 week isolation....

And round and round we go.

You are being patronising as fuck and you know it

Yep. Did you want a gold medal for how not scared you are?

It is all good putting them into groups etc but why are they putting school buses on rammed with children no spacing etc then ask them to social distance at school . Surely the school buses should be social distancing

@Todaytomorrow09 I'm sorry to hear that. It's terrifying isn't it? Now that scares me.

In other news today mental health disorders are on the rise in children and young people.

Sadly you'll get little sympathy on these threads. Only Covid matters

I've not seen teachers campaigning to close the schools on MN or in real life. All teachers have ever asked for is measures to reduce risks as far as possible. If this had happened in September the country could be in a better place than it is now. People can demand that schools need to stay open all they like but if cases continue to rise through Winter something has to give.

Yep. Did you want a gold medal for how not scared you are?*

Have you been drinking?

@Autumnleavestime I'm on another thread at the moment where the OP is terrified of sending her children to school as she is severely overweight (as I was at the beginning of lockdown) and she has anxiety (as do I) and is hoping that the schools will close and that she feels like she can sleep for the first time in weeks as her DC are on half term. For some, children too, school is the cause of mental health worries. It's a tricky one.

Schools won't close.

@Janevaljane ah Boris' new 3 word slogan I see.

We cannot afford to take away months more education from DC due to sit life changing exams in 6 months.

We cannot afford to take life away from many thousands of people by not restricting the spread of COVID. Some partial school closures will have to be part of those restrictions. Children have a right to an education but that doesn't trump the right to life; education doesn't have to be in a school building.

@monkeytennis97 I can appreciate that. It's an extraordinarily difficult situation because it effects people differently.

@Autumnleavestime

* Yep. Did you want a gold medal for how not scared you are?*

Have you been drinking?

Not on a school night. Currently enjoying a hot chocolate with marshmallows actually.

[quote monkeytennis97]@Janevaljane ah Boris' new 3 word slogan I see.[/quote]
🤣🤣

@Janevaljane

Schools won't close.

Schools. Are. Closing.

412,000 kids out last Thursday isolating. Getting on for half a million. What about them?

Do teachers think their workplace is safe? If not, are Head Teachers and Unions supporting them enough?

@VillageGreenTree

We cannot afford to take away months more education from DC due to sit life changing exams in 6 months.

We cannot afford to take life away from many thousands of people by not restricting the spread of COVID. Some partial school closures will have to be part of those restrictions. Children have a right to an education but that doesn't trump the right to life; education doesn't have to be in a school building.

You do realise that education has a massive impact on the quality of life for the rest of their lives for these children?

Not just that, but the impact lockdown has had on many of them in terms of social development and mental health.

Quality of life is arguably more important than its duration.

It's a shitty choice absolutely but I do absolutely prioritise the education of our children above all else.

@Janevaljane

Schools won't close.

Tell that to my primary aged sen DC!

Might be because of the type of inaccurate clinical bullshit that gets peddled.....if you have wet cough, its not covid..if you have snot, its not covid, the fever is 37.6 so its not covid... etc etc Not meeting the (rationing) criteria for testing is not the same as not being symptomatic of covid. It can present in any number of ways, very commonly diarrhoea in kids, or be asymptomatic. We need less than 24 hour tests for all unwell kids.

Dear parents

It’s time to speak candidly.

You think schools are ‘Covid secure’?
Well, there is no such thing. Pupils are mixing and sharing food/drinks, there are crammed into classes that exceed 30 pupils, they only use hand sanitiser to smear on their peers clothes as it’s supposedly amusing to see it turn white, they spend break and lunch together and they ignore the one way system. There are more controls and safety measures going into your local McDonalds.

You think ‘at least my child is getting an education’?
Cover supervisors are in short supply at the moment as teacher absence goes through the roof. Lessons are often taught by non-specialists or people who an unqualified and only there so that there is an adult in the room.

Can’t teachers just ‘stream the lesson at home, whilst they teach 1/2 the class in school’.
Simply no, for a start teachers are no obligated to live teach. Many councils call for two teachers to be present during a live lesson for safeguarding reasons and we are currently often joining 2 classes together due to teacher shortages. Live lessons also require additional planning and with the extra work and cover to do in school, staff have little time to double their planning.

‘Well, at least it’s good for the children’s well-being!’
Up until now that has been a benefit to returning to school. But constant cover lessons, friends often separated due to isolation or year group bubbles, shorter breaks and shorter lunches, longer lessons or school days for some learners, constant mock exams to gather evidence, rushing through coursework...and exactly the same amount of pressure on them to do well in exams is beginning to take its toll. Our nurture department has seen an worrying increase in pupils coming to them due to stress, depression and anxiety.

And one last thing, some parents are so adamant that their child should be in school, they will send them in sick and refuse to bring them home when called.

I have no idea what the solution is. More of the same I guess and as a parent of an exam age

child myself, I’m equally worried, but I just think that parents should be aware of the situation in many schools across the country, particularly those in areas with high rates of infection.

It's a shitty choice absolutely but I do absolutely prioritise the education of our children above all else.

Does it annoy you that the government aren’t? No investment in making schools safer and therefore more likely to stay open?

@VillageGreenTree

Disadvantaged DC losing months of education will have a huge impact on their life chances and therefore life expectancy.

Does this loss of life not matter because it’s not caused by COVID?

It's almost like some of you are blaming your pupils parents for the situation you are having to work in. Directing your frustration and unhappiness at the wrong people. With comments like parents just want a break from their children because they don't like spending time with them.

As though parents have any more say in what happens than teachers.

Government don’t give a xxxx about keeping schools open sustainably.

A small minority of teachers on mumsnet seem to be mounting a campaign to get schools closed

I utterly disagree.

I've seen teachers understandably worried about how to teach safely.

I've seen concern about how school budgets can stretch to fund technology for online learning.

I have nothing but praise for the teachers at my DS's (state) school.

They bust a gut during initial lockdown in translating lesson plans into online teaching tutorials. Marking homework via email. Offering one to one sessions via FaceTime for students struggling with a subject matter etc etc.

I've nothing but praise and admiration for how the school management and teachers have responded, and continue to respond, to this crisis.

Thing is....and I know this is obviously slightly(!) off piste but..... I think technology and the constant pressure to be ‘on’ / ‘available’ has done far worse to kids’ mental health than covid lockdown (or another to be fair..).... if only it’d been a tech virus instead!! I do appreciate the generalisation but do think the point stands...