Do you think schools will be closed a week early so we be with parents/grandparents for Christmas?

[Dontbakeinatent]

Hi,

Just that really.

I hear that the government are putting together a plan so that we can be together at Christmas.

This is the only thing I can think of that would be effectve.

Thoughts?

If they do close schools for an extra week over Christmas it will be to reduce infection rates not to encourage households mixing!

FACT correction

@tigger1001 If the schools were to shut 1-2 weeks early here that would be 4-5 weeks education my eldest would have missed between august and December - almost a whole term.

4-6 weeks is only HALF A TERM.
Doesn't matter from the point of context, but matters that it gives a very false impression.

Regardless of my beliefs, let's keep the facts facts even on a thread as this one.

There is a tracker where you can check case numbers and school status per country. There seems to be a correlation between schools being open and cases going up.

education.org/country-tracker

It would be stupid to do so. They're saying how important it is that we get the cases back down. Nobody is going to isolate their children for another 2 weeks around Christmas. They would be shopping, visiting families friends etc.
I really think allowing people to come together at Christmas would be the most hypocritical thing our government could do right now.

This assumes that children going to school are the only risk to a 'family Christmas' with grandparents.
The main reason I will not be seeing the grandparents this Christmas is a DH working in a hospital, often in ITU, very often on Covid-19 wards, with wholly inadequate and ineffective PPE.
PPE in hospitals is neither effective or adequate in terms of the type that is being supplied in the UK and massive viral load being released by Covid-19 patients sick enough to be in hospital.

Year 11 mocks first 2 weeks in Dec, week before xmas is catch up days for subjects such as Art, DT etc & days for those who were isolating to take their mocks. So no I believe & hope they'll stay at school till the 18th as planned.

@TheSunIsStillShining

FACT correction

@tigger1001 If the schools were to shut 1-2 weeks early here that would be 4-5 weeks education my eldest would have missed between august and December - almost a whole term.

4-6 weeks is only HALF A TERM.
Doesn't matter from the point of context, but matters that it gives a very false impression.

Regardless of my beliefs, let's keep the facts facts even on a thread as this one.

Sorry, he would miss half a term. In my defence the headteacher of our primary school refers to this as term 2. Not the second half of term 1. Although if he needs to isolate more, and gets an extra week or two at Christmas then he will miss a whole term.

He was at school one day after they went back in august then had to self isolate. And again after the October holidays, one day then 2 weeks off. Only in 4 days this week, his first week back due to an in service day. He is due his tracking reports this week, and I do wonder if his teachers will know enough about him due to the amount of school he has missed. Any other year this level of absence (he has had a couple of actual sick days too) and we would be getting contacted by the council.

Anyway the terminology isn't the thing with the post - it's the amount of education that some kids are missing and the suggestion that they miss more by extending the Christmas break.

Plus other families will have similar exposures to the virus that does not solely come from having DC in school, and the government is not addressing these other routes of exposure in this 'saving Christmas' rhetoric.
Simply keeping DC at home for 2 weeks before Christmas Day is not going to magically make it safe to meet up indoors with elderly relatives.
And as a pp said, it would be a total waste of any decrease in virus levels achieved by past/current restrictions to open the floodgates for mass virus transmission just for one day.

Even the scientists said a few weeks back that missing 1-2 weeks of schooling now, wouldn't be detrimental. That's not me saying it, that's the professionals who know what they are talking about.

I'd rather listen to teachers when talking about educational outcomes.

I think finishing early is a very sensible idea, I’ll be taking my children out even if they don’t suggest it.
Our grandparents would be alone at Christmas otherwise. My children are very close to their grandparents and would be very sad not to spend Christmas with them.
They do little learning in the last week anyway. I’ll continue their education at home and then be able to relax and enjoy Christmas without fear. Also takes away chance of having to isolate over Christmas if they have a positive case in school in the last week or they themselves come down with it.
I do understand those that are looking forward to a Christmas away from family they’d rather not spend time with. I’ll be getting out of some get togethers myself this year and that does feel good.

@MrJinxyCat

I think finishing early is a very sensible idea, I’ll be taking my children out even if they don’t suggest it. Our grandparents would be alone at Christmas otherwise. My children are very close to their grandparents and would be very sad not to spend Christmas with them. They do little learning in the last week anyway. I’ll continue their education at home and then be able to relax and enjoy Christmas without fear. Also takes away chance of having to isolate over Christmas if they have a positive case in school in the last week or they themselves come down with it. I do understand those that are looking forward to a Christmas away from family they’d rather not spend time with. I’ll be getting out of some get togethers myself this year and that does feel good.

What about the people who are working that week? Yes it would be nice to spend Christmas with grandparents. But DH or I would have to take unpaid leave to cover that week. I’m sure that is the case for many. We will of course do that if any of us are in context with positive cases, or have symptoms, or if schools have to close as hospitals are overwhelmed. But taking unpaid leave so others can see their grandparents for a day?

@Alexandernevermind

Absolutely not. Children have lost too much education as it is.

Although in primaries the week before Christmas holidays is mostly spent watching films and making Christmas cards. As they won't be doing the normal Christmas productions this year maybe this year primaries will keep up more of the usual lessons until the end of term to continue to plug lockdown gaps?

There will be many many children including one of my own DC who have had to self-isolate and be out of school for a period. My DC would rather be at school to learn alongside friends. Our schools finish 17th December & already using annual leave over Christmas period.

I wonder if when this lockdown ends & numbers haven't reduced another three weeks will be added on & schools moved to remote learning until the end of term. That & the two weeks holiday might just reduce the numbers enough to allow further opening up of everything after Christmas. Shops are going to want to push the new year sales to replace what they have lost in the two lockdowns this year so doing this before Christmas will allow them to do it.

If anything an extra week on the end of the holiday would be better to undo the damage caused by those who insist of visiting everyone like they would normally over the Christmas period.

Going against the grain, but I really want my DS to finish a week early, so that we can all enjoy Christmas together. I have hardly seen him since they went back after half term.
I have medical conditions that mean I may suffer pretty badly if I caught Covid. Because of this we have been really careful at home, but the downside of that is I hardly see him, and to be honest I'm getting pretty sick of it now.

He's actually having to self isolate at the moment as his best friend tested positive, luckily he's got plenty of space and is keeping in touch with his friends via the playstation and social media, he is in year 13.

If he finishes a week early we would be sure he hadn't got it by Christmas and we could stop isolating from each other.

@Sirzy

If anything an extra week on the end of the holiday would be better to undo the damage caused by those who insist of visiting everyone like they would normally over the Christmas period.

Yes, that makes sense. The cases at my DC school were mainly in September and related to whatever activities the DC were doing at the end of the school holidays (travel, seeing other households etc), and now 10 days after half-term there are some more outbreaks in local schools also related to half-term activities. If everyone is allowed to travel around the country and meet indoors with other households (or does it anyway) then the positive cases in schools in January will be huge and will impact the education of everyone's children (not just those who engage in risky Christmas visiting).

@tigger1001
weird wording from your HT, but hey... :)
Yeah, I did say it doesn't impact context!

I'm slightly jumpy on this small issue as I'm quite fed up with hearing how kids missed 6 months of education by september or that certain children are already have fallen 2 years! back.

@Itsagrandoldteam it must be very hard to live together but be apart from your DS. I can see why in your scenario you would prefer to keep him off for a few days so you can celebrate as a family safely. Hope you have a good Christmas together.

@Sirzy

If anything an extra week on the end of the holiday would be better to undo the damage caused by those who insist of visiting everyone like they would normally over the Christmas period.

Agree. There were no cases in our school for the first half term, then 3 in the week following the half term break.

[quote GrumblyMumblyisnotJumbly]@Itsagrandoldteam it must be very hard to live together but be apart from your DS. I can see why in your scenario you would prefer to keep him off for a few days so you can celebrate as a family safely. Hope you have a good Christmas together.[/quote]
Thank you, I may suggest that he just doesn't go in for the last few days. He won't miss anything because all his lessons are online anyway, they have to be because there's always some kids at home isolating.

Hope not personally. My mum isn't elderly and works frontline NHS so she's more at risk from her job than DS. I need to work out of the home so an extra week of holidays would be a ball ache to sort childcare for.

I doubt this will happen. I can understand that there will be some people who would like this to be the case so that they can isolate for a week and see granny on Xmas day with less chance of infecting her BUT:

1. What about all those people who rely on the school for child care? This will include a lot of shop workers etc in possibly the busiest week of the year (especially of non essential shops are open again by then), not to mention medics etc. There's also the impact on already difficult family finances for many who have low incomes and would not be able to work that week. And if anyone suggests that teachers can provide childcare in schools for that week for people who need it there will be uproar- teachers I know were happy to look after vulnerable/essential worker children in lockdown 1 but would not want to miss another week of valuable teaching time to babysit some children so others can have a family Xmas.
2. What message would this give to other people of other religions who were expected to miss out on gatherings for several important celebrations without any special arrangements or concessions?
3. How many people would actually use the week to isolate before seeing family? I suspect many would read it as being given the go-ahead for Xmas gatherings and use the extra week for shopping, travel, visiting more family/friends etc.

I'm a teacher and I have no idea what the government will do. I do wonder if they will close a week early and have some sort of testing for those visiting relatives. However we've already committed to staying put as I don't want to infect vulnerable family members so that won't make much difference to me either way. I also have y13 BTEC students with actual exams (not mocks) in January who need all the lessons we have available, so in that respect I'd rather be in school - they most certainly won't be having a fun Christmas quiz on the final Friday (maybe I'll put some festive decorations on the PowerPoint)!

I hope not. My kids education is more important to me than people seeing their granny.

Hopefully not. They have missed so much school already. We are not spending Xmas with grandparents instead we visit later on.