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Original poster

I keep hearing talk about school closures....

221 replies

november90 · 21/12/2020 19:34

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!

OP posts:
redpinkgreenblue · 22/12/2020 09:38

I live in a tier 4 area. Until December, we didn't have any cases of Covid in DC primary school at all. In the beginning of December one child had Covid in DC class of 30. Turns out 10 tested positive over the course of the two week isolation period. I couldn't understand how many kids could have caught it but I am now assuming it was the new variant. I am doubtful children will return, but could be mistaken. We have already been isolating since beginning of December and now in tier 4. It seems to me that this strain is much more prevalent in children, but none had serious symptoms and recovered quickly.

Baws · 22/12/2020 10:51

@walksen
This is exactly the same situation in my school too. (Different area) There were a few cases in September/October but it went crazy after October half term. It is ludicrous to suggest that schools are safe and clear that the government do not care about the health and safety of teachers or pupils. The media blackout and massive underreporting of cases in schools proves this too.

Baws · 22/12/2020 10:56

@redpinkgreenblue
This is what I think happened in my school too as we had few cases until November but it all went crazy towards the end of the month. Most pupils did quickly recover but I know of 2 who who were hospitalised (no underlying health condition). The majority of the staff who caught it too were very unwell and again 3 that I know of ended up in hospital. Seeing super healthy colleagues (young marathon running types) end up so ill scares me!

DumplingsAndStew · 22/12/2020 16:00

Wow, I just got a text offering 'my child' to attend school from 6th Jan. I'm going to guess its the eldest, but am going to ask the school to clarify tomorrow.

DumplingsAndStew · 22/12/2020 16:33

And now another identical text, I'm guessing to offer the other child a place.

I'm now concerned that someone on this thread works at my children's high school and has recognised me 😂

Theimpossiblegirl · 22/12/2020 17:38

This means school staff are working the Christmas 'break' trying to sort out school for January. It's such a shame.
Sad

Letseatgrandma · 22/12/2020 17:40

@Theimpossiblegirl

This means school staff are working the Christmas 'break' trying to sort out school for January. It's such a shame. Sad
Just what I thought :(
Jinglingmod · 22/12/2020 17:40

Yep. Admin staff definitely won't be being paid for doing this work of finding out who needs a KW place.

PandemicPavolova · 22/12/2020 17:43

Baws, the severity could be down to the viral load the teacher got.
30 throats with the potential to have a virus living in them, all talking towards the teacher.

Baws · 22/12/2020 18:29

@PandemicPavolova
Totally agree and this makes schools even less safe for teachers at the moment. Social distancing is just not possible in schools even with the best intentions.

SOmuchsparkle · 23/12/2020 07:48

30 throats with the potential to have a virus living in them, all talking towards the teacher.

Now that's science!** 😂
*
*

SOmuchsparkle · 23/12/2020 18:19

Schools will be closed until March. Let's face it guys.

Sixpencefaux · 26/12/2020 11:13

@SOmuchsparkle I really don’t think so! Government are constantly saying keeping them open is a top priority. Plus we know that closed doesn’t mean closed. The key worker list is growing and growing. Plus a huge amount of vulnerable and disadvantaged in some schools. Then add to that all of Year 10 and 11 as exam year groups have to go in.

Letseatgrandma · 26/12/2020 11:16

[quote Sixpencefaux]@SOmuchsparkle I really don’t think so! Government are constantly saying keeping them open is a top priority. Plus we know that closed doesn’t mean closed. The key worker list is growing and growing. Plus a huge amount of vulnerable and disadvantaged in some schools. Then add to that all of Year 10 and 11 as exam year groups have to go in.[/quote]
No, I don’t think year 10 will be up there on the priority list for going in-it’ll be all about year 11 and 13.

BiscuitDrama · 26/12/2020 11:21

Didn’t they change the wording a few weeks ago to say ‘education’ is a priority, from ‘schools’?

Sixpencefaux · 26/12/2020 13:39

@Letseatgrandma I agree but if Year 10 sit exams at the end of Year 10 they will go in, in that particular school as they are an exam year group and there is no sign of cancellation of exams.

Sixpencefaux · 26/12/2020 13:41

@BiscuitDrama I think they did change wording you’re right, but even with school closures there will still be a large amount of students attending schools. Eg in my school we have 900 due on the 4th Jan even though it is meant to be a staggered return with most staying at home.

Passmeabottlemrjones · 26/12/2020 13:45

Do people think they will make an announcement in the next few days then? For all schools? I wish they would just get on with it to be honest...

Delta1 · 26/12/2020 14:29

@SOmuchsparkle

Schools will be closed until March. Let's face it guys.
I think that is extremely unlikely.
BiscuitDrama · 26/12/2020 14:38

@Passmeabottlemrjones

Do people think they will make an announcement in the next few days then? For all schools? I wish they would just get on with it to be honest...
We’ve been told that in Scotland there will be an announcement in the new year. Currently in our area we are off an extra three days, but then they return for a week of online learning before a ‘staggered return’.

I think they need to see how cases are doing and that’s fair enough, even though it’s annoying to not know.

sparklygoldtinsel · 26/12/2020 14:49

I doubt there will be any announcements for a bit. They will see how the case numbers are at the end if the school holidays.
Hopefully numbers will be dropping and schools will be able to go back.
Personally I think part time schooling on a rota (hang the pupils in at one time) to enable social distancing in schools would be good but I realise that would be an absolute nightmare for teachers (twice the work).

the80sweregreat · 26/12/2020 14:51

Schools will open with lots of testing taking place.
How that will work in theory I've no idea but they will do anything to keep them open I bet.

KnowingMeKnowingYule · 26/12/2020 15:04

@the80sweregreat

Schools will open with lots of testing taking place. How that will work in theory I've no idea but they will do anything to keep them open I bet.
Oh in theory they are rubbish inefficacious tests. In practice it will be a logistical nightmare.

Really hoping for blended learning for secondary. It was very scary the last two weeks of term (tier 4, borough with more cases than Greenwich at the time).

Letseatgrandma · 26/12/2020 15:09

Schools will open with lots of testing taking place

I can’t believe that anyone thinks replacing self-isolation of positive close contacts/siblings with a crappy daily lateral flow test that is less than 50% accurate and likely to tell pupils they are negative when they’re not, is a good idea.

Would you want your child sitting for 6 hours a day next to the brother of a child who is at home with covid? I certainly don’t.

the80sweregreat · 26/12/2020 15:10

It's gone a bit quite about the virus lately on the news.
I wonder if this is intentional?

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