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Original poster

Greenwich schools closing tomorrow

498 replies

Starch1e · 13/12/2020 20:16

Leader of Greenwich council tweeted an open letter this afternoon asking schools to close from Tuesday. Our school is complying.
I need a meltdown emoji. Work is stupid f*king busy this week for me and DP and I cannot do it with 4 & 7 year old at home Sad Sad

OP posts:
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6
ChloeDecker · 13/12/2020 23:51

@MarshaBradyo

And it’s not spurious it’s pretty central to what schools and communities can expect

It’s not common for LAs to do this - if at all

Some LAs (norm unions just to be clear, for some readers) stopped schools opening to Reception, Year 1 etc. in some places, back in June.
Walkaround · 13/12/2020 23:51

I mean, honestly, if you won’t let schools make the assessment and won’t let LAs make the assessment, how on earth can the DfE possibly make a nuanced assessment about specific schools and specific areas?!

MarshaBradyo · 13/12/2020 23:52

@ChloeDecker

You saying Greenwich Primaries have few cases.
I was referring to previous posts. Pp. It was shorthand. I don’t know about primaries there and I wasn’t thinking of them when I wrote the post.
2020out · 13/12/2020 23:55

@FrogToad

Of course COVID-positive teachers can spread it to DC *@Walkaround* . But I suspect the vast majority of outbreaks in school are initially started by teacher to teacher transmission.

Much of this will occur in staff rooms during coffee breaks and similar settings.

Dr Harries said this in August based on the knowledge we had then. You are basing your suspicion of outdated knowledge. I actually don't blame you - govt have given no clear indication that this is no longer thought to be true. However, pure logic dictates that it is very unlikely that teacher to teacher spread is the main cause. Especially if you actually listened to teachers about what schools are like.

Anecdote doesn't equal data, but my anecdote is relevant. I have not been in my staff room for more than 1 minute since September (I go in each day to check for mail. Rarely anyone else there). There are no other locations where I have more than passing contact with other adults in school except for the 2 adults in my bubble. Rarely leave my classroom to be honest.
However, I and 2 other staff have now tested positive within 3 days of each other. Either it's awful luck, or we've all caught it from the kids. I'll let you decide which is more likely, but i know what I think.

Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum · 13/12/2020 23:56

@SquirmOfEels

This is the official announcement

www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/news/article/1753/statement_on_school_closures

It suggests that the decision was made in conjunction with PHE

(Not sure if relevant - it's a borough with a large Labour majority)

Oh I think it is probably very relevantHmm
hartof · 13/12/2020 23:59

Up north here, tier 3. DD was sent home 3/12 has someone in her bubble was positive I had said to school I would be keeping her off until jan as I didn't want to risk another isolation for the sake of 4 days at school which they agreed to. Now she's going back tomorrow as I feel she will be off longer than expected after Xmas.

Gobacktothe90s · 14/12/2020 00:00

To the poster who said it wasn't Manchester schools who were threatened with the Coronavirus act to stay open by DFE and not close a week early and do online learning for 1 week it was as I live in the area.
This area has been heavily hit with cases all over the schools since September

Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum · 14/12/2020 00:02

@mincefuckinpies

I think it would be fairer to ask parents to please not send in their children unless they have absolutely no other arrangements. I imagine most would be able to sort something but I do honestly worry some children will be left at home unsupervised as a result of this.
I agree with you

The numbers of children would be cut in half at least in my area. A lot of parents won't be sending their kids to the primary this week as worried. Better those that need to work or simply can't cope with home schooling only attended. A lot of people wanted to keep their kids home in September. They should have been allowed.

hartof · 14/12/2020 00:03

@Gobacktothe90s

To the poster who said it wasn't Manchester schools who were threatened with the Coronavirus act to stay open by DFE and not close a week early and do online learning for 1 week it was as I live in the area. This area has been heavily hit with cases all over the schools since September
We're in the same area and were supposed to finish 22nd they're now finishing 18th.
JudesBiggestFan · 14/12/2020 00:05

Kids must stay in school. That's the bottom line. Any teacher who feels a true love and vocation for the children in their care would want that.
I say that as a parent, as a friend of many teachers and sister to a teaching assistant. If any teachers had died, if any children were seriously ill, then I'd feel differently. But they're not and i don't.
I work for an emergency service where covid has been rife...absolutely zero chance of shutting us down and thank god for that.
It's a risk our people take day in day out on the front line, but actually no-one has died or been seriously ill of covid in nine months in a work force of 11,000.
My son in secondary school has been in isolation twice, the second time his best friend and his family all had covid. He didn't catch it, despite being in the bus, in class and out at lunch with him.
My eight year old hasn't missed a day and only one class has had an isolation all term (a year one teacher caught it from her husband). And my son's preschool has had not one case since March.
The benefit that they have had from going to school, in a world where they've been deprived of play dates, family visits, sports clubs intermittently, birthday parties...it's immeasurable. I will never ever support school closures again...education is not optional, it is vital and transformative for their whole lives.

2020out · 14/12/2020 00:07

Yes, dfe have conceded that it's unwise to go into the following week of teaching and suggested schools finish on the 17th. But any earlier and they threatened schools.

To be fair, its not only Manchester schools that had the threats. A school in Hertfordshire had the same. My point was more that it wasn't a "North v south" thing necessarily. No idea why Greenwich specifically has been able to override the DFE's dictat though.

RubbishQueen · 14/12/2020 00:08

I'm in the south tier 3. My school closed last weekend. Positive cases in every bubble. The week before that we had just one year bubble in school. It was a losing battle, but we are expected to run a full time table including morning registration groups online. We are working damn hard to keep kids on track with their education. We are doing our best!

LynetteScavo · 14/12/2020 00:09

@2020out Do you think schools shouldn't be closing bubbles if there is a confirmed case?

LynetteScavo · 14/12/2020 00:11

Sorry, I should have been asking @Mustfly Do you think schools shouldn't be closing bubbles if there is a confirmed case?

2020out · 14/12/2020 00:12

@mustfly
Do you really think that the 4 days of school will have a vital and transformative effect on your children's lives? Because that's all that Greenwich schools are having off.

I'm an advocate for having them in as much as possible, and agree that most children are much better off being in, but it's 4 days.

Irrelevant to me anyway. I and my class have to have the week of. Because I have covid. My apologies that my "true love and vocation" don't mean I say screw self isolation and go in to teach anyway. Teachers have died. Children have died.

ChloeDecker · 14/12/2020 00:12

I was referring to previous posts. Pp. It was shorthand. I don’t know about primaries there and I wasn’t thinking of them when I wrote the post.

I’ve checked back. There’s only one poster saying their Greenwich Primary had one case since March, but you need to take ownership of the fact you turned that into Greenwich Primaries plural, “have had few cases.” to make your point.

I highlighted the fact that this was not the truth. It’s important when other people are reading the thread. That’s all.

MarshaBradyo · 14/12/2020 00:14

@ChloeDecker

I was referring to previous posts. Pp. It was shorthand. I don’t know about primaries there and I wasn’t thinking of them when I wrote the post.

I’ve checked back. There’s only one poster saying their Greenwich Primary had one case since March, but you need to take ownership of the fact you turned that into Greenwich Primaries plural, “have had few cases.” to make your point.

I highlighted the fact that this was not the truth. It’s important when other people are reading the thread. That’s all.

Yes one other and op as I quoted again, read op, so plural

it was quickly typed if I had said two posters which is who I meant when I said pp we wouldn’t have to bother rehashing for so long

Walkaround · 14/12/2020 00:15

@Mustfly

Kids must stay in school. That's the bottom line. Any teacher who feels a true love and vocation for the children in their care would want that. I say that as a parent, as a friend of many teachers and sister to a teaching assistant. If any teachers had died, if any children were seriously ill, then I'd feel differently. But they're not and i don't. I work for an emergency service where covid has been rife...absolutely zero chance of shutting us down and thank god for that. It's a risk our people take day in day out on the front line, but actually no-one has died or been seriously ill of covid in nine months in a work force of 11,000. My son in secondary school has been in isolation twice, the second time his best friend and his family all had covid. He didn't catch it, despite being in the bus, in class and out at lunch with him. My eight year old hasn't missed a day and only one class has had an isolation all term (a year one teacher caught it from her husband). And my son's preschool has had not one case since March. The benefit that they have had from going to school, in a world where they've been deprived of play dates, family visits, sports clubs intermittently, birthday parties...it's immeasurable. I will never ever support school closures again...education is not optional, it is vital and transformative for their whole lives.
I agree that children must be in school as much as possible. I’m not sure why you don’t understand that to enable this, community transmission must be kept low, though, and that as a consequence, the insanity of Christmas household mixing requires some action around it in a desperate attempt to minimise the harm? What we need at the moment for schools is a break for a couple of weeks to reduce transmission in the school environment, not a week of ramping up transmission then sending kids and teachers back into school again in even worse conditions than before the break.
MarshaBradyo · 14/12/2020 00:15

And I’m fine with you presenting what the situation is but not that I was generalising all or backtracking as it was just clumsy fast typing over anything else

ChloeDecker · 14/12/2020 00:16

Kids must stay in school. That's the bottom line.
Could you tell that to my child who has has had weeks of self isolation and to me, a teacher, who caught Covid (and my poor child too)? Thanks.
We’d love to be in school as normal. If it was as simple as “kids must be in school”, well! I wish you told me earlier Grin

ChloeDecker · 14/12/2020 00:19

@MarshaBradyo

And I’m fine with you presenting what the situation is but not that I was generalising all or backtracking as it was just clumsy fast typing over anything else
If that’s your apology, thank you. But you were generalising. However, I appreciate you may have been quickly typing and didn’t mean it. It’s hard when your life has been so recently decimated by this recently, and then you see it glossed over.
MarshaBradyo · 14/12/2020 00:25

Chloe the last thing that I meant to do was either generalise or gloss over your situation. Honestly couldn’t have been further from my intention. It read incorrectly, I can see in hindsight.

I really do want to get to the bottom of process! This feels like quite a big change - even if one area right now.

ChloeDecker · 14/12/2020 00:25

Yep one other and op as I quoted again, read op, so plural
Sorry but even OP doesn’t say few cases, just few class closures and no obvious staff shortages

JudesBiggestFan · 14/12/2020 00:26

@2020out teachers and pupils have died? No, they haven't. If a teacher had caught covid at school and died it would have been headline news. Teachers have certainly caught it...then they've recovered. The children I know who have had it have been assymptomatic and only tested because a parent had symptoms.
No, four days maybe isn't vital. But that last week before Christmas, filled with fun with their friends is more important than ever this year at a time when there's precious little else they can do. And Greenwich haven't actually confirmed that the children will return in January. I'm concerned that it will end up creeping into January then Feb. Homeschooling was a disaster, so many kids had next to nothing in the way of support . I know from the two recent self isolations my son had that online teaching remains hopeless, with next to no support offered to students. Repeatedly taking children out of the classroom will ruin their life chances and not one single parent I know wants to see it happen again. And until teachers start screaming for warehouses to be shut, hospitals, supermarkets and many other essentials services staffed by fellow citizens...I honestly have no sympathy. The amount of people who laud themselves for isolating whilst having online shopping delivered...who do they think picks and packs it? More disposable mortals?