Home learning at the end of term or face isolating over Christmas

[urbanmist]

Schools are clearly driving the pandemic. Unless schools switch to home learning for the last week of term, many families will have all hope of ‘saving Christmas’ ruined. Children sent home to isolate in the last week will have to isolate on Christmas Day. Being in school is clearly the best for them, but at the expense of a ‘normal’ Christmas (if the rumours of a few day let up are true)?

@Smellbellina if you want a discussion you're going to need to be more specific in your response than that. If you want to shut me down because you can't articulate a response, then sure, I'm a numpty.

@Qasd

So if its down to parents, why are you so hellbent on online live lessons?

If staff are ill at primary there is literally no one to deliver the live lessons.

Anything younger than about 8 don't/can't engage anyway.

Not saying they are right, but a decent video link which can be accessed as and when is actually preferable to most of our parents.

[quote notheragain41]@Hercwasonaroll pretty sure all teachers will be at home Christmas Day? My husband will be serving abroad, my kids won't see their dad, my support bubble mother will be working for the police so we will be on our own and I imagine many, many NHS staff will be working that day too. I'm sorry your job is so stressful at the moment, if it's about feeling safe that is a whole other matter and I sympathise and would have a different response, but this is about schools shutting for CHRISTMAS, you are an essential service doing an essential job, but you will get Christmas off. I sincerely, truly hope your grandparents stay safe, that this year is a distant bad memory and that next year are all together, but you're being selfish in suggesting schools should shut because it's been stressful and you want to self isolate to see grandparents.[/quote]
If scientific modelling backs early school closure to cut corona cases would you support it then NHG?

and that next year are all together, but you're being selfish in suggesting schoolsshould shut because it's been stressful and you want to self isolate to see grandparents.

They'll be dead next Christmas.

@Hercwasonaroll I have worked the whole time, totally stressed, haven't seen my parents in months.

Please try to remember that the people who give you groceries, test you for COVID, make your PPE, clean your streets and pick up rubbish, deliver your packages, do your repairs and help your elderly relatives are parents often. Parents who need schools open as much as possible.

It's not laziness or an inability to empathise. It's desperately needed. Both for children, and for essential services.

@Hercwasonaroll school staff get 2 weeks off over Christmas and new year, no one I know in the NHS is allowed to have that much time off.

Most of us are in shit situations. I'll be on my own on Christmas day. I'll deal.

I'm a parent.

@notheragain41 I can’t imagine how a discussion with you would go... I point out there is little formal education during the last week of Autumn term, certainly no new content, lots of fun activities (everyone is knackered by this point this is our longest term), so no one needs to worry about their DC missing out on part of their education and getting behind IF they miss the last week of term.
You start having a rant about me laughing in the faces of abused children
I’ll take a pass on that ‘discussion’ thanks love.

Online learning doesn't work from what I am witnessing with my son at home. He even agrees he isnt learning as much as he wouid in the classroom.

Waxonwaxoff0

School is more important than "saving Christmas."

Absolutely.

Bored of saving NHS, saving Christmas. What's next?

It's like Christmas is the only day when you can see your relatives.

Yes those abused children who we're sending home for 2 weeks at a time repeatedly without notice. At least with a planned closure there could be provision for vulnerable students. Some staff would happily volunteer to be in with them.

(ordinarily I would and did over the first lockdown)

@Smellbellina

A) it has not been the longest term for many schools, many schools will be utilising the time if they are managing to be open.
B) you must realise that schools closing is actually a very serious issue that has wide ranging consequences, most of all to vulnerable children, whilst you might laugh at parents worrying about further impacts to their children's education (omg hilarious 😂 what idiots) because it's a light week, for some children that week of fun will be all the fun they would get. Yes that sounds glib, but I honestly can't see how a teacher finds this funny and inconsequential to shut schools. No it won't impact the majority of kids I'm sure, but the potential impact to the minority means it has to be done for very good reasons, and Christmas just isn't one.

I don’t want Christmas as a free for all but if they reiax and let people mix then they will need to close schools earlier so all those cases don’t get shared.

@Hercwasonaroll do you know anyone who works in the NHS? Ask them if they could have the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas off as well as Christmas day.

While I’m it saying it’s easy working in a school at any time, let alone now the holidays for school staff are far better than for most NHS staff. Having the chance to even have a full week off in the run up to Christmas would be miraculous. 2 weeks and Christmas day would be pretty much unheard of.

It's not just about Christmas day either. Shutting schools for a week beforehand would stop the spread, and give children chance to isolate before (inevitable) mixing over the Christmas period.

Schools could remain open for childcare where needed for key workers etc. Again less chance of spread with fewer children in school.

@Hercwasonaroll that is a fairer point, it's an opportunity to have a "fire breaker" (insert country specific terminology) it will be really interesting to compare Wales' data to England's not sure I've seen that discussed in the news, how successful Wales' fire breaker was? But endorsing mixing would contradict that, they'd need more than a week for that to work and again as soon as that's to allow a mixed Christmas it's back in the realms unreasonable (in my opinion).

NHS staff aren't even allowed to request time off, you date a preference to what you would prefer to work. Whatever time you have off over Christmas is either your usual day off or has to an annual leave day.
Don't get me wrong teachers are amazing and are really keeping us going but for goodness sake we are all in this together.
If people are at home mixing NHS is going to be a whole lot busier!
We are all in it together, let's just follow the rules however ridiculous they seem.

@Qasd
I think a lot more high schools do live lessons. I am currently live streaming and live teaching at the same time. It's not easy.
All lessons were live streamed and online lessons recorded over lockdown 1. This happened in the several high schools I know of.

I think by now the arguments for closing schools due to vulnerable children has fallen by the wayside as so many children are being sent home to self isolate. I have 12/22 kids missing from one of my (3) my Year 11 classes - two extremely vulnerable but they have to be at home. I also have three pupils in there on their third isolation in that class - so six weeks out of eight. Every class I teach has at least five kids off.

. A friends 13 year olds is really, really ill with Covid. No underlying conditions. I would rather that kids are not ill over Christmas but also wouldn't want another long lockdown (for my own mental health!)

Yes lessons are streamed but not every kid attends! Oh and our lessons run up right until the last day of term - usually with assessments.

I don't know what the answer is - but a three week Christmas holiday may help - and anything that eases the burden on the NHS is a good thing.

'll be taking my son out from the 11th. We won't be mixing with anyone for 2 weeks and then we'll have a nice Christmas week with Granny. No-one will be put at risk.

We can do it, so as long as it's not made illegal, we will do it.

I'm not advocating early school closure as there's so many who think it'll adversely affect their kids educationally and mentally - it's not an issue for my boy luckily....
Backyard this makes no sense at all!
If your son catches it at school, how will you know? He's very likely to look well. So he stops going to school two weeks before the end of term and isolates. After 10 days you catch it from him. Maybe you don't realise you have it either. And you will be at peak contagiousness for Christmas day just in time to infect your poor mother.

It’s a totally flawed plan.

We all know many wouldn't isolate, defeating the purpose.

‘Saving Christmas’ isn’t important to everyone, particularly if it involves missing more school, in a year where children have missed far more than enough already.

Well it looks as if we'll have to decide whether we think our children's education and mental health is more important than a party. I know where my priorities lie.

Think I will remember all the righteous people on this thread who think its so detrimental to take their child out of school on the last week but don't even think about the damage they do when they take their child out for a cheaper holiday! Double standards totally.
I think its a good idea to stop early. Children basically do very little on the last week, that's the truth of it.

All the people bleating on about mental health, what about the students who are isolating at the moment? Some are on week 8 of isolating. Your dcs could get told to isolate for the last week anyway.

Keep schools open. Christmas is still on, this year it's a household affair - and I'm actually looking forward to that for once. Why would you jeopardise your child's education so that you could feel better about visiting granny?

Reality:

1. Schools are driving the spread right now.
2. Unless Christmas family mixing is made illegal through a proper lockdown or number controls, then the majority will be having Christmas with extended family.

I suspect modelling would show there will be increased risk of coronavirus spread if kids are home 14 days before Christmas vs 7 days before Christmas.

Any Govt decision will need to balance this against disruption to key workers, the economy, loss of a week of education and safeguarding the vulnerable.

I suspect if covid cases do not reduce significantly by the 1st week of December schools will have to close early. If there is a significant reduction they might stay open.