I keep hearing talk about school closures....

[november90]

Which is just talk at the moment, no facts behind it (or at least I don't think so!).
Does anyone know if this will likely be secondary school or all schools and nursery's? DS1 is currently in preschool which he absolutely loves! If it closed for the rest/majority of the school year I would be devastated for him!

Also, it takes almost a whole morning to give the flu nasal vaccination to 200 children. How on earth the government think they are going to be testing schools with 2000 teens twice a week plus daily tests for anyone exposed seeing as we then are not going to be isolating any more, I really cannot see how this is going to work.

@PandemicPavolova

Tricky because we need to see if children can deflect this new strain because being ill in hospital for a long period will also affect them.

The problem is, it's not just about the children. If they are not as affected as they have been so far, that's great but they also have families and come into contact with school staff. If the aim is to reduce the rate of transmission, then the chain has to be broken in as many places as possible.

Eg- child A catches covid, no symptoms. But passes it to child B and a teacher. Childs B parent is a community carer, for example. No symptoms, but passes it to vulnerable people. And teacher doesn't realise they have it, and goes shopping in Tesco... and so on and so on.

None of us WANTS school closures.
But Covid has its own ideas.
It's shit all round.

They will need to make a new estimate for what effect schools open has on R. In the lockdown with schools open R went down to 0.8 or 0.9 so it can't have been very large then. But god knows what it will be with his new strain.

@xmasfairybuns

They need to be having good quality teaching whether in school or remote. my exam student has worked so hard and done all that has been asked by the teachers but has dropped 2 grades in every subject based on the mocks last month.

Exactly the same for my year 11 ds. Through no fault of his own the quality of the teaching, both online and in school has significantly dropped. I don’t blame the teachers for this, I realise they are working in extremely difficult conditions, but I do worry about where this leaves all the pupils who will not have time to catch up.

tier 4, south east, letter today from secondary school said their plan is keyworkers dc only from 4th, exam year dc from 12th, then all in 18th...

seems reasonable.

That's not to say I think closing schools is right, BTW. But it may be a delicate balance now between keeping them open and reducing the spread.

Maybe a part time? Eg years 7 and 8 on Mondays and Tuesdays, Y9 and 10 Weds and Thurs, and Y12 Fridays. Y11 and 13 every day. It would mean you could use more classrooms/staff for less pupils and properly distance. Maybe? Better than the alternative.

It's the local council that has closed the schools here, I am beyond angry. Christmas is pretty much cancelled in Wales anyway, I can handle that, but educating our kids is pretty fundamentally important, especially for those that are disadvantaged in some way.

@notevenat20

They will need to make a new estimate for what effect schools open has on R. In the lockdown with schools open R went down to 0.8 or 0.9 so it can't have been very large then. But god knows what it will be with his new strain.

Excellent measured post.

And yes that does need taking into account.

They said this virus variant increases T by 0.4-0.9.

So if lockdown reduces to 0.8-0.9 there is a good chance it'll remain above 1. That will require a different route.

@emilybev1986

SIL is a teacher, being told closed until March

SIL's been at the sherry, no-one has been told any such thing.

@landofgiants I am with you! What is my hyperactive 8 year old going to do 6 hours and 58 minutes a day after she tires of whatever worksheets she has been given to do?

It is completely out of order that we hard working people have to prop up the incompetence of this government we didn’t vote for.

I’ve a good mind to go and picket the Scottish Office.

@emilybev1986

SIL is a teacher, being told closed until March

FFS. What an irresponsible post.

Secondary heads found out about the remote learning w/c the 4th of Jan via the news like everyone else. Our head had angry parents on the phone before she'd even seen the news! Unless your SIL is buddies with Gav and Boris I doubt she has any insight whatsoever.

Schools get told fuck all.

@emilybev1986

SIL is a teacher, being told closed until March

If my local council is involved, this would not surprise me in the slightest.

I have family members who are headteacher in London. No one knows about primary and anyone who tells you there do is mistaken. I doubt Boris has even decided yet.

But my hope is that they do part time or keep younger years in. For children who missed have missed large chunks of their schooling and who cannot learn virtually unassisted it will be very problematic. EYFS and infants school need at least part time.

@november90 - I suspect if they do go down a closure route, it’ll be a bit like summer. Early years & younger primary in plus exam years. For the obvious reason that parents cannot work with children under 6 very easily. They take a LOT of supervision! And exam years obvs ..

But speculation. I’m praying nursery remains open. I can’t work with a 3 year old & 9 month old. It’s a terrifying thought!

emilybev1986
SIL is a teacher, being told closed until March

FFS. What an irresponsible post.

Secondary heads found out about the remote learning w/c the 4th of Jan via the news like everyone else. Our head had angry parents on the phone before she'd even seen the news! Unless your SIL is buddies with Gav and Boris I doubt she has any insight whatsoever.

Schools get told fuck all.

Agree with response to irresponsible SIL post

The front page of the Telegraph (who are known for printing policy) seem to be suggesting all schools closed for the whole of January. We will see, it will be officially announced at 10pm the day before, no doubt.

How would you feel if you had a DS/DD doing A-levels, like I have, or GCSEs next year, if you're this anxious about a pre-schooler?

It’s not a competition. 🙄 Its affecting everyone.

Oh my gosh I hope not. I know this isn’t what it’s about but I will be so gutted if I can’t go to work and teach as normal. My kids need to be in school and I need to be teaching them.

Year5 ah nice post. We’ll see I suppose but I’m with you

It is worth pointing out that whatever the 'official' policy on school closures, no school is likely to be fully open, full time, for everyone, just because of infection and subsequent isolations.

Last term, schools were nominally 'open', but with only a handful of students left because of self isolation. It will be worse next term - with 700- 800,000 children not in school on any given day within the last few weeks of last term, my guess is that even if all schools are ordered to stay 'open', this number will rapidly climb into the million+ range per day.

@JamMakingWannaBe some authorities the schools finished on Friday - so it landed on us the first day of the holidays. Nightmare for school staff & working parents alike 🤯

@Scaryprospects

Tier 4 here. I think it is only heading one way for us. DD’s primary school was ok all the way up until last week of school, all 8 classes ended up at home in the last two weeks. If they are going to do it I wish they would just get on with it though so we can at least attempt to make a plan with work etc.

This seems such a common scenario.

Those last few weeks of term were vicious in terms of viral transmission, mainly because the rates were already so high that it was impossible to prevent exponential spread.

Sohardtochoose: I have installed a mini trampoline in my living room - that helps a bit

But yes, how to occupy them when all the normal stuff is off-limits, it's just so draining.

@year5teacher

Oh my gosh I hope not. I know this isn’t what it’s about but I will be so gutted if I can’t go to work and teach as normal. My kids need to be in school and I need to be teaching them.

Obviously. I know no teachers who wouldn't rather be in school.

However, the choice isn't between 'all open' or 'all closed'. All open isn't available, due to infections and self-isolation, so the choice is between chaotic closures and something a little more organised.