Boris Johnson press conference at 5pm

[Jourdain11]

Sooner than expected! Wondering what he will say...

Yes, we were pretty well placed anyway before summer but tightening everything up even more now, so remote learning or blending learning could happen.

I don't think it will happen. I work in primary, well infants, so our school will be open come what may I would imagine.

But we are ready just incase and are already using the format for bubble closures and for individuals self isolating.

@SheepandCow

Just saw your post *@JacobReesMogadishu* I'm so sorry for your loss

Sincere condolences 💐

@aragog
Not all schools were doing as well as you school I can assure you. If ours had been I would have been delighted !
I have no confidence based on Apr - Jul experience that the nations pupils will be fairly and adequately educated if they close schools as provision back then was so unequal. For that reason I personally think schools should not be closed until an absolutely last resort.

Fed up with everything being leaked all the time and Bojo dithering and keeping everyone waiting.

@Aragog whilst your school might have done that, not all schools did the same. In March DD was in year 10 and at her large comp she was lucky if she had two online lessons a week and that didn’t get going until early June.

I have followed the guide lines all along. But I seem to be in the minority with many people I know bending and breaking them at every opportunity.

I am boiling mad with the teaching unions wanting the schools to shut. They are a disgrace. I have two nieces who were badly let down by the schools who seemingly saw this as a chance to have a holiday from March. My SIL finally got through to a teacher during the last lockdown to be told to contact the head - who had his VM on permanently.

My DS is at a RG university and his tutors have been worse. Cannot handle the technology and spend the first 15 minutes often struggling to get everything to work when they are undertaking online lectures.They don’t reply to emails and requested that students only email them if it’s urgent. So what they hell are they doing?

They have jobs for life, aren’t affected by redundancy, lack of money and now the unions are jumping on the bandwagon.

I wonder whether they'll monitor the next couple of weeks with secondary schools open - if numbers don't stabilise then they'll close secondaries for the second part of the lockdown. I doubt the lockdown will be for only a month though - I think they'll review it in the fourth week and then extend it (like they did before).
Horrible, awful time.

Who reckons he is watching the rugby?

It probably will be a month, until Dec 2nd. But then everywhere will probably only go to tier 3, which they can tout as a relaxation because the plan worked.

They have jobs for life, aren’t affected by redundancy, lack of money and now the unions are jumping on the bandwagon.

Teaching is not always that secure these days, subject depending.
Teaching staff also include many lower paid staff - TAs, maintenance, admin assistants, cleaners, etc.
Teaching staff may well be clinically vulnerable but are being expected to teacher in unsafe (covid wise) environments.

Believe me it was for more stressful working from home and I did far longer hours, including over 3 weeks of unpaid holidays, during the last lockdown.

I wasn't in as I am vulnerable but the vast majority of our staff were teaching FT from April to July with full bubbles of key worker and vulnerable children.

Most teaching staff do NOT want schools to close. They just want things to be a bit more safe. Over crowded, poorly ventilated rooms full of children with no SDing and no protection simply isn't safe, especially for the adults in schools.

They have jobs for life, aren’t affected by redundancy, lack of money and now the unions are jumping on the bandwagon.

@Bathroom12345 I am a teacher who wants schools to remain open. I also want to politely tell you that you are talking bollocks. Many teachings jobs now start with a probation or a one year contract. In just about every school I have taught in there have been staff redundancies - although that is now often avoided with short term contracts.

Bathroom12345
Jobs for life...so no good if you're dead....
It's all very well demanding schools continue as usual but that's simply not possible with a virus spreading. Keep on this way and schools will close regardless of any government orders...because too many staff will be off sick.

Remember it's not just teachers at risk. It's all the (usually lower paid) support staff.

I never understand why people who think teaching is such a breeze don't do it themselves. I know I couldn't do it.
You can train on the job now. Or apply for a teaching assistant role.

Laura Kuennsberg appears in practice to have presented the government briefing 😄

@Bathroom12345

I am boiling mad with the teaching unions wanting the schools to shut. They are a disgrace. I have two nieces who were badly let down by the schools who seemingly saw this as a chance to have a holiday from March. My SIL finally got through to a teacher during the last lockdown to be told to contact the head - who had his VM on permanently.

My DS is at a RG university and his tutors have been worse. Cannot handle the technology and spend the first 15 minutes often struggling to get everything to work when they are undertaking online lectures.They don’t reply to emails and requested that students only email them if it’s urgent. So what they hell are they doing?

They have jobs for life, aren’t affected by redundancy, lack of money and now the unions are jumping on the bandwagon.

And I am NOT boiling mad with teaching unions. (I am not a teacher and all my kids are beyond school age so no vested interest )

But locking down without including secondary schools is batshit .. the same with Universities.. as they are both super spreaders .. like cleaning your teeth whilst chewing cheesy wotsits .. everyone sacrifices their livelihoods whilst the biggest spreaders carry on ... biggest mistake .

@Bathroom12345 many people who work in schools are on low pay, cover supervisors, new teachers, office staff, pastoral support staff, cleaners etc....

Thats my issue with school closure, some schools are better than others. One of my daughters attends a sen school (secondary) who have been fantastic, have full online learning organised for children isolating/potential lockdown, laptop provision etc My other daughters school which is mainstream was absolutely woeful and AFAIK not much progress has been made

Not all schools were doing as well as you school I can assure you. If ours had been I would have been delighted !

I know they weren't but all schools were given instructions this term to ensure they are. All are now expected to provide home learning for any child isolating. In March they weren't.

In March the government suspended the curriculum, assuring schools and parents that there would be full sets of remote learning available provided nationally. They told schools they were to focus on childcare for key worker and vulnerable children. Any schools did just that. Some went over and above, and ignored the Government advise.

This time round the curriculum is not suspended and schools are expected to provide remote learning (remember this won't necessarily be live lessons) from day 1 of isolation/closure. All schools should have been working towards this since September.

Anyway. It's highly likely this is all going to be one big waste of hardship.

Without restricted borders, lockdown will need repeating again and again and again.

@Aragog When we were isolating one of my daughters school provided home learning and the other did not

Our school is going fully live from Monday. All resources on Google Drive and live lesson links available. They must have had some sort of warning to get ready.

And schools are NOT covid secure and many parents (and schools) were deliberately encouraged to believe that children wouldn't catch cold nor would they spread it.

This is clearly not the case.

Children may not be showing symptoms int he same way as adults. They might not be getting in as badly on the whole.

But they can and do spread it.

The most likely place I caught covid, despite being careful (as vulnerable) is school, most likely from a symptom free young child. I have been n hospital. I will probably be on ongoing medication for good, I will be away for at least a month of work. I'm am recovering slowly but likely to have a life long complication now.

When doing my T&T it was clear that school had to be the most likely place and the only people i have close contact with there are the children.

SabrinaTheTeenageBitch They should be, though not sure on the date that we were told we had to be doing so, from the first full day of SI. Was did the school say when you chased it up? What was their excuse? Did you take it any further?

@LolalovesLondon your times are an hour out. There are 8 minutes left and England will win.

@Bathroom12345
Schools will close when staff get ill, no cover is available and they have no choice. The government wanted schools open for longer than they were in the spring - illness amongst staff forced school closures.
We all want schools open - but regardless of the government thinking us teachers (and all school staff) have a special cloak of protection against this virus, we don't. Schools will close, one way or another.

Awww. Lovely Downing Street cat.

He is still fucking dithering. Idiot.