No longer a national priority to keep schools open

[noelgiraffe]

The government has surreptitiously dropped its priority to keep schools open.

It has replaced it with a priority to “keep education open”.

Remote learning is now a viable alternative to keeping schools open (as opposed to last Monday when it was a matter for the high court).

In the DfE media blog, tweeted earlier today regarding the delayed start to term in January they say:

“ Is this an extension of the Christmas holiday?

No, this isn’t an extension of the holiday and we haven’t asked that the start of term is delayed.

All students will return to education from the first day of term. Secondary school and college students should learn remotely for one week except those in exam years, vulnerable young people and the children of critical workers. It remains our national priority to keep education open and we are not closing education for any period other than during the set holiday periods.”

Interesting development.

Well no mitigation measures in schools is what we got, and it turns out that rampant covid is slightly more unpleasant than wearing a mask.

Yes, well done anti-mask brigade. You gave the nastier mutation all the latitude it needed.

Were people really so incapable of seeing the likely outcomes that they really thought digging heels in over their kids wearing a mask in the classroom was going to end up with anything other than more time out of school, one way or another. Its really 2+2=4

Take the BEST environment for covid spread (indoor, long periods of time, no masks, no social distancing and in some cases no ventilation) - chuck a load of kids there all day who go home every afternoon to their families hence taking any illness into the wider community. What did people think was going to happen?

@Jellycatspyjamas

I have no issue with wearing a mask, socially distancing, appropriate hand hygiene.

I’m not getting “no mitigation” in schools. My kids are in primary school. They have a staggered start and staggered breaks so no more than one class is in the playground at a time, no parents allowed on school premises, parents and staff wearing masks for drop off and pick up, no materials moving between home and school and vice versa, no school bags, everyone sanitising hands when they leave or return to class, no shared learning materials, no group singing or drama, outside learning daily in all weathers, windows open at all times, teachers not mixing in the staff room. Staggered lunch breaks so kids in their bubbles only, no external/specialist staff coming into school, common areas cleaned twice daily, classrooms cleaned daily. What more could they do?

Unfortunately, the thing that makes a difference is not being close to other people, and the "what more can we do" in school is to reduce class sizes and bubbles, which either means a lot more money, or a lot less time in school. It seems that hand washing, staggered starts and washing all the Lego in laundry bags don't cut it and are merely window dressing to reassure parents.

However, it does mean there's been a lot less of all the other bugs :) Even head lice seem to have backed off a bit. Silver linings

@Jellycatspyjamas

I accept it’s much easier to put measures in place in primary school, which means it’s unfair to lump primary and secondary schools in the same pot. You did say no mitigation in schools, which isn’t necessarily so.

Not really. Not when you still have 30+ kids crammed into small classrooms and unlike secondary, no masks what so ever.

Primary classrooms are a lot smaller in general (space wise).

It's not easier to mandate masks in the classroom in primary than secondary. I'd say secondary students are probably more able to mask up properly, though I think older primary kids could do it too.

Children in other countries manage it from age 6.

Apparently the UK populace thinks our kids are less bright and capable than the children of Spain, France, Italy, South Korea, China etc etc.

If you're not having masks for the majority in classrooms it seems utterly pointless really.

In a school of 450 kids they’ve had no cases amongst staff or pupils, no bubbles burst, and three teachers self isolating due to close contact outside of school. We’re in an area that’s just came out of Tier 4, so it’s not that we’re low risk. The measures they have in place are clearly effective to some degree. I’d have no issue with my kids wearing masks in class, both teachers and children have been given permission to wear them in class if they want to, to my knowledge a few of the children do but none of the teachers have.

Even head lice seem to have backed off a bit

Not in my kids' primaries. So many emails about nits.

But obviously if they're allowing actual living insects to pass from one head to another, they're getting close enough to give each other coronavirus. And then some.

@Jellycatspyjamas

I accept it’s much easier to put measures in place in primary school, which means it’s unfair to lump primary and secondary schools in the same pot. You did say no mitigation in schools, which isn’t necessarily so.

The biggest mitigation measures in primary are much smaller numbers and much less mixing of classes.

Which is why if you want to really appreciate the lack of mitigation measures, it has more impact when you see it on a much larger scale with bigger kids.

Primary have the same lack of mitigation issues as secondary, but smaller scale and they manage the hand sanitiser better. Oh, and there’s no pretence that the teacher stays 2m away from the kids. We don’t in secondary, but we have to pretend we do when it comes to contact tracing.

Classes aren’t mixing, they aren’t even mixing in the playground, class sizes of 24 kids so fewer than the 30+ referred to above.

@Jellycatspyjamas

Classes aren’t mixing, they aren’t even mixing in the playground, class sizes of 24 kids so fewer than the 30+ referred to above.

I’m not sure someone whose kids are in a class of 24 that never mix with others should be saying it’s the staggered starts and parents wearing masks that have helped.

Yes what is it about the UK that sets us apart so much? Other countries with relatively low infection rates at the time, accepted that masks, screens and other measures were necessary when schools opened. Not to eradicate but to mitigate as much as possible. The UK on the other hand has to get to this point before some people finally accept them. Even now Usforthem still say masks for children are damaging to their mental health.

@Jellycatspyjamas

I have no issue with wearing a mask, socially distancing, appropriate hand hygiene.

I’m not getting “no mitigation” in schools. My kids are in primary school. They have a staggered start and staggered breaks so no more than one class is in the playground at a time, no parents allowed on school premises, parents and staff wearing masks for drop off and pick up, no materials moving between home and school and vice versa, no school bags, everyone sanitising hands when they leave or return to class, no shared learning materials, no group singing or drama, outside learning daily in all weathers, windows open at all times, teachers not mixing in the staff room. Staggered lunch breaks so kids in their bubbles only, no external/specialist staff coming into school, common areas cleaned twice daily, classrooms cleaned daily. What more could they do?

What more could they do?

Have fewer children in at once, so they could socially distance and not all crammed in.

Wear masks.

My primary have done all of the other things on your list-covid still managed to decimate the school in the last 10 days.

@Jellycatspyjamas

Classes aren’t mixing, they aren’t even mixing in the playground, class sizes of 24 kids so fewer than the 30+ referred to above.

That is not your standard primary school. There is the issue. If only! Many schools do not have the space to keep all classes separate either. My school does because we had an extension. My child’s school does not. Shared toilets, staff, etc, etc.

So Hands, Face, Space.
Except in magical virus resistant classrooms.

I was still seeing fullish classrooms at work last week (College) with adults unmasked. (Luckily I’ve been able to reduce my class sizes somewhat and also require them to wear face coverings, though have gone counter to official guidance on both these things.)

I’m saying it’s a combination of all those measures, they each play a part.

@Jellycatspyjamas

Classes aren’t mixing, they aren’t even mixing in the playground, class sizes of 24 kids so fewer than the 30+ referred to above.

In my large secondary we bubble year groups. This doesn't stop them mixing. Sixth formers walking through a year 9 line up or year 7s waiting for year 8s at their exit point at the end of the day- add to this all mixed up on public transport too. GCSE and A level students changing groups repeatedly down to options. There is still a lot of mixing most of it out of the school's control.

jelly like I said, pop along to a large state secondary that probably also has staggered starts, year groups don’t mix etc and see how safe you feel when those same measures are applied to much larger groups of people with more mixing.

It’s the number of people mixing and the lack of social distancing and masks that are the main issues. Your small school with its tiny classes is better protected because it’s a small school with tiny class sizes.

So you’re saying a part time timetable (to allow smaller classes), mask wearing in classes is the only way to make schools safe? But teachers can’t be live teaching in class and providing support for kids at home, so we’re effectively taking about halving the education provision for kids?

There is still a lot of mixing most of it out of the school's control.

I don’t think you can compare primary and secondary, movement around the school is very different in both. Many schools where I am the kids enter the classroom directly from the playground, all the classes don’t have a fixed time to move from one class to another - it’s not comparable.

@Jellycatspyjamas er that's exactly what we have been doing all term. Live teaching and remote teaching at the same time. That's why we are all so fed up.

Well of course some schools will be lucky and not get anyone with coronavirus or get it contained very quickly. But in the majority once you get one case (particularly now with this new variant) with no space or masks between kids it will spread out of control quite quickly.

Even when there's 99% probability of something happening that still means there's 1% probability of it not happening. Where is nellodee? she's good on teaching probability.

@Jellycatspyjamas

There is still a lot of mixing most of it out of the school's control.

I don’t think you can compare primary and secondary, movement around the school is very different in both. Many schools where I am the kids enter the classroom directly from the playground, all the classes don’t have a fixed time to move from one class to another - it’s not comparable.

From your posts it is evident you are speaking from a privileged position. Extremely small classes with space. That isn’t the case for the majority of primaries. That is the problem, it is quite clear you don’t understand just how difficult it is for the majority of schools nor what it actually looks like inside a classroom.

I can see why you’d think primaries are safe but they aren’t.

I’m saying that the total idiotic resistance to mask wearing and total lack of funding for any effective measures like improved ventilation and testing of bubbles where there were cases have led us to the situation we are now in.

Because we are now possibly totally fucked by a new mutant strain, more urgent action is needed.

My preference would be, as ever, schools open. But they might not get to be for a bit in January while everyone figures out the lay of the land with this new strain and post-Christmas infection rates.

Mass testing is needed. But done properly and resourced properly.
Testing bubbles where there are cases and more kids isolating, not fewer. The daft testing replacing isolating idea needs to be binned.
Masks and ventilation.

Even now Usforthem still say masks for children are damaging to their mental health.

I bet the new variant and its consequences will damage their mental health far more than wearing a mask would.

Masks could have kept them in schools for longer whichever way you look at it.

@noelgiraffe

I’m saying that the total idiotic resistance to mask wearing and total lack of funding for any effective measures like improved ventilation and testing of bubbles where there were cases have led us to the situation we are now in.

Because we are now possibly totally fucked by a new mutant strain, more urgent action is needed.

My preference would be, as ever, schools open. But they might not get to be for a bit in January while everyone figures out the lay of the land with this new strain and post-Christmas infection rates.

Mass testing is needed. But done properly and resourced properly.
Testing bubbles where there are cases and more kids isolating, not fewer. The daft testing replacing isolating idea needs to be binned.
Masks and ventilation.

This. I swing from being upset to angry.

Schools should be open, safely. This crazy insistence that they must be open regardless. Everyone ignoring the staff on the ground. What do we have? A new strain of virus which has adapted to its most available hosts. Basic biology there, it’s absolutely shameful what has happened.

Ironically, the schools at all costs brigade will be the ones responsible for closures. They should have campaigned for safer schools.

@noelgiraffe with you all the way. Proper testing (as I believe was promised for Sept), weekly for everyone. Rota system for now (as was promised in September) to have some distancing. Masks all the time. And money given to schools to pay for all the hand sanitiser and cleaning they have had to fund. It will not be perfect but we have been telling everyone this would happen for months. And been called pretty much every name. Maybe for once listen to those of us doing the job.