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.

[quote Isthatitnow]@Sarcobaleno. Jennny Harries at some point in August/September explicitly said that spread of covid in schools would be down to staff mingling in the staff room. Utterly oblivious, of course, to the fact that staff rooms in most schools are places people pass through to fill up a water bottle....an assumption we sit and gossip for hours on end. Ignorant entirely of the ventilation issue in most classrooms in secondary schools and the fact many schools have closed staff rooms and have banned any kind of gathering isolating teachers at break and lunchtimes by default. In my school there is no longer a briefing either.[/quote]
To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she just misspoke because I don't believe she's that much of an idiot.

She actually said it. My favourite was that children don’t touch each other’s lunches.

Oh and that children in rows are safe because they don’t turn around and talk.

JH really did come out with some corkers.

Misspoke?! She is responsible for public health in a pandemic, she doesn't get to misspeak whilst addressing the nation. If I did that whilst being observed by a colleague I would get pulled up on lack of subject knowledge.

Her comments were ignorant, deeply ignorant.

Just remember on the internet people can make anything up.
Including what their job is and what they have seen teachers or students doing.
There are also government sock puppets trying to influence people and trolls just stirring things for fun.
Take it all with a large pinch of salt.

I do wonder where all these staff in schools are mixing. I’ve barely seen my colleagues at all IRL in the last term.

I trundle through my day alone, fighting fires and dragging kids through a curriculum they are convinced they aren’t going to be tested on. And then spend the afternoon dealing with parents who are angry that I haven’t released the new exam guidance yet. Me, personally. Because I am obviously in charge of what is happening with exams on a national scale.

FFS

Yeah pull your finger out Belle!

To give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe she just misspoke because I don't believe she's that much of an idiot

I am sure she is an intelligent woman with exceptional knowledge and experience in her field - which is medicine. That doesn’t qualify her in understanding how schools operate and the impact that might have on the spread of any virus. Blaming teachers for any spread was a massive own goal - I am sure they have spoken to some education representatives (civil servants at the DfE) at some point but I would be pretty sure none of these advisors have spent, say, a week in a school observing how things work on the ground. Things would be very different if they had, I think.

Dr jenny harries also must have '' mis spoken '' when she said the risk to children and teachers was low because of the mitigation measures in place in classrooms. They were, children sat in rows, facing forwards.

But, give her some due she spent a long time thinking about pencil cases.

And how pencil cases could be a source of transmission. She said, small children will move about, she expects them too but running briefly past each other won't be a problem.
Then they would sit facing forwards.

Did she address teens, who are naturally inward thinking, some say, revert to toddler hood in their views on the world?.

Teens who hug, sing, laugh, josh each other around? Share ear phones, pens, paper, drinks, hugs?

@sparklygoldtinsel

Just remember on the internet people can make anything up. Including what their job is and what they have seen teachers or students doing. There are also government sock puppets trying to influence people and trolls just stirring things for fun. Take it all with a large pinch of salt.

Wise words!

Jenni Harries should be utterly ashamed of supporting a return to schools in the manner that they did. She took an oath ‘to do no harm’. She, along with others, are responsible for thousands of needless deaths by allowing Covid to run unchecked through schools. I hope she can live with herself.

Not all medics take the Hypocritic/Hypocratic Oath these days. But yes, Dr Harries has made some strange pronouncements.

@BelleSausage

I do wonder where all these staff in schools are mixing. I’ve barely seen my colleagues at all IRL in the last term.

I trundle through my day alone, fighting fires and dragging kids through a curriculum they are convinced they aren’t going to be tested on. And then spend the afternoon dealing with parents who are angry that I haven’t released the new exam guidance yet. Me, personally. Because I am obviously in charge of what is happening with exams on a national scale.

FFS

God that must be so hard. The one shining light for our school in all of this is that the parents are 100% supportive. Either because they’re fully clued up and know why it’s not all our fault or (even if they do react angrily in the first instance) listen to us when we explain the problem and accept that we’re in the same boat together!

Misssugarplum12764
One of my former colleagues was on the receiving end of a complaint. Whilst most parents were great, some called senior leadership to complain about staff 'failing' to provide online work for their child. The reality was the parent had called school at 9.30am to inform school the child was off and by 11.30am they'd called to complain. SLT rightly pointed out that the teachers were teaching and they can't be teaching a class and setting work each time a call comes in so there has to be a bit of common sense applied.

Thank god for our senior management (who shield us from nitpicking complaints) and our lovely parents who (on the whole) are very appreciative. 💗 I’m certainly a very appreciative parent for my own children’s teachers these days. Gave Christmas cards and wine this year when I don’t normally (they’re senior school). Emailed in my thanks too.

The government have accidentally banned going to school in Tier 4 🤦‍♀️

twitter.com/adamwagner1/status/1341719100670750722?s=21

Jenni Harries should be utterly ashamed of supporting a return to schools in the manner that they did. She took an oath ‘to do no harm’. She, along with others, are responsible for thousands of needless deaths by allowing Covid to run unchecked through schools. I hope she can live with herself.

Yes, this.

My DD's neighbour at school keeps poking her (gently) with a pencil. I'm fairly sure the being breathed on as she turns her neck and looks at DD as she pokes her is the bigger risk of covid spread than the pencil.

Has Dr Harries been in a school recently?

Also - aside - this is why DD liked the socially distanced desks in June and July. Fewer distractions.

@noelgiraffe 😂 we need to screenshot that. So we can get them to explain why they change it.