Schools MUST stay open.

[motherrunner]

I hear this a lot on MN.

Schools maybe ‘open’ but they’re not really depending on where you live.

I’m in Tier 2, due to go into Tier 3 next week prior to the lockdown rules.

Since Sept Yr 10 have isolated twice (4 weeks out of a 8 week half term), Yr 12 and 13 three times (6 weeks of a 8 week half term). My own DS is isolating due to being in contact with a positive until next week and I am isolating until next week as one of my pupils tested positive (and before anyone asks why I wasn’t 2m away well let’s just say, that’s school life).

Before lockdown in March my school had to close just to the numbers of staff off, at one point admin staff were supervising classes.

This morning I read a comment from a poster on the ‘lockdown my thread that teachers just have to ‘hope’ they get a mild viral load. Have we become so disillusioned with this virus that because “schools must stay open” then we minimise they health of school staff?

I am happy to be back teaching my pupils, I’m not happy that I feel unsafe. I am not happy that other workplaces have ‘Covid secure’ measures but I have sanitiser and a ‘hope for the best’ attitude.

So, if you really want schools to stay open then please email your MP and voice concerns about safety and hopefully we can stay open in a meaningful way because there’s a difference between ‘schools open’ with us delivering a quality education and ‘schools open’ with a body providing childcare.

Schools and Nurseries won't close though , individual settings of course may have short term closure due to outbreaks or staff shortage but there won't be a mass blanket closure like last time. To do this the government would need to admit there was a problem in the first place, they won't do that because in order for schools or nurseries to reopen would mean the government would actually have to invest some money into them to make them safer and we know that that's not going to happen.
In the meantime they'll just carry on ignoring the issue. If individual settings need to temporarily close thats their own issue, it will be their own fault for not following the foolproof rules and regulations set out, never the governments fault for doing piss all

@3littlewords

then presumably you'd take annual leave or unpaid leave like you normally would if your child wasn't able to attend their usual childcare setting

This is part of the problem. It’s unavoidable that schools and childcare settings will be asked to close and children self isolate on an increasingly frequent basis. It’s absolutely not ok to expect parents to take annual leave in these circumstances. Your whole year’s leave could be gone by Christmas, by January even if it starts in NY. This is the point, if people are being paid furlough to (sorry... I know it’s not their choice but..) sit at home on their arse with their feet up drinking coffee for another month, then we can sure as hell find a way to support parents who are being asked to do three times the amount of work they normally would (job, childcare, and all the extra housework that comes with having whole family home) without having to take annual leave.

In fact even the suggestion that parents either have to get on with and do everything or else pay for it themselves through annual leave has made me angry. Mostly because for those still working, we will also be the ones increasingly having to fund the cost of everyone else being paid off later on through taxes.

A lot of the parents I know are out of annual leave for the year. And their employers are getting difficult about unpaid leave, not to mention the strain on family budgets. I suspect there will be a lot of reciprocal childcare arrangements if schools shut.

There should be carers leave paid at 80% where childcare can’t be used to ease the burden on parents of kids under 12. Even if that was on reduced hours from eg 5 to 2.5 days with the carers leave paid on the time off.

Or controversial, where kids aren’t self isolating those on furlough could be asked to help out (puts on tin helmet and runs away.. not an entirely serious suggestion but it illustrates my point!)

I think it is really hard on teachers but I think schools need to stay open. Unfortunately the last lockdown was so long and the online/key worker provision didn’t work. The impact on children’s education and welfare was terrible. I therefore don’t think we can ever repeat that. Interested to hear of options that would work to maintain education though whilst preserving the safety of teachers. Wish these had been set up before we got to this inevitable stage again!

@ConiferGate I agree with you I've just used up the last of my annual leave when my ds had to isolate before half term, apart from the annual leave I have to take over Xmas thats me done till April. If and when they are off again it will be unpaid leave for me.
I can understand why employers don't pay for childcare issues though because some employees would definitely take the piss and abuse the system.

But if you have evidence that childcare is closed or you’re self isolating, how can you abuse the system? I think it should be partially supported by government at least.

@ConiferGate I have a colleague who would be self isolating every other week awaiting tests for a different child each time if she knew she'd get paid !
Alot of Companies couldn't afford to keeping paying staff like this unfortunately so any help would have to come from the government. I suppose anyone already on UC would have their reduced wages topped up but for the many that aren't that must mean they have an abundance of savings stashed or a money tree in the garden or wherever else BoJo thinks we can magic our money from as a result of taking unpaid leave continually.
Again this won't be acknowledged because they'd have to admit there's an issue, the response would be " why do we need to support parents with extra childcare provisions schools are open? "

People like your colleague are everything that’s wrong with this country. And the response from everyone else would be “you chose to have kid, they’re you’re responsibility so you should just get on with it and stop complaining about working three times as hard and get on with paying the taxes that support everyone else’s furlough, benefits and pensions thanks very much”.

Sorry TYPOS!!!!!

The thing is, it's all very well to say the parents chose to have children, the kids are their problem, they should deal with them themselves and not expect others to pay for their choices.

But someone has to put food on the table and pay the bills. And there are reasons why we don't do this. If you look at countries where there is limited support for parents, it's not uncommon to find 7 or 8 year olds left to look after younger children while their parents are working, babies and toddlers left unsupervised falling out of high windows or toddlers in cages or chained up to prevent them from wandering off. If you think it couldn't happen here, there have already been threads of "AIBU to leave my 9 year old at home while I go to work".

All "essential workers" must stay at work. If NHS workers have to risk their lives, so should teachers. They are providing a public service. I will say, however, more protection is required for teachers. It could all be done much better than it is.

Yes mess , but there are also plenty of countries that do a better job than us there...

@Piggywaspushed. If you mean they support families better than we do, I definitely don't disagree...

From Sky News. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove tells Sophy Ridge on Sunday the government could extend the national lockdown if data shows the infection rate has not fallen enough

@Parker231

From Sky News. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove tells Sophy Ridge on Sunday the government could extend the national lockdown if data shows the infection rate has not fallen enough

Yes, and this is why we'll all be locked down well into the New Year, with a de facto closure of schools if not an ordered one. We need to move secondary to rotas now at the very least or this is what will happen.

From Sky News. Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove tells Sophy Ridge on Sunday the government could extend the national lockdown if data shows the infection rate has not fallen enough

If that's necessary to keep hospitals and schools open, then so be it. I think most people would be willing to do that.

I'm not sure they would.

The vast majority of people do not have school aged children. It's a lot of sacrifice for everyone else, isn't it, objectively?

The vast majority of people do not have school aged children. It's a lot of sacrifice for everyone else, isn't it, objectively?

Yes it is a big sacrifice, but hopefully all members of our society see the importance of educating the next generation, whether they themselves have children or grandchildren themselves.

The vast majority of people do not have school aged children. It's a lot of sacrifice for everyone else, isn't it, objectively?

Children in school benefits all of society. An educated workforce for the future. Parents facilitated to provide essential services if that’s their job, or generate tax revenue to fund society if they’re private sector.

The vast majority of people do not have school aged children. It's a lot of sacrifice for everyone else, isn't it, objectively?

I suppose it depends on whether you value having an educated society or not.
I'm sure the vast majority of people can understand the importance of educating children and young people.

Plus, if you close the schools then it will be women who are disproportionately impacted. It's women who will end up losing or giving up their jobs.

It will send women back decades in terms of their participation in the labour market.

Tbh if they offered teachers furlough atm I suspect 40% of the profession would jump at it 🙄 I'd be at the front of the queue since apparently teachers don't deserve the basic safety provisions that so many other professions gets. Of course they can't furlough us because so many teachers are already sick or self-isolating we're fairly necessary. Not necessary enough to protect though oddly enough 🤔