If schools stay open, what will next spring look like?

[Noellodee]

I posted this on another thread, but I am really interested in what people think about this.

If possible, I would like just the positive predictions. My reason for that is that I'm perfectly good at coming up with dire predictions all on my own and I think they would probably worry a lot of people with anxiety.

Personally, given the new information about the new strain, I think schools will need to shut to prevent my negative version of the future coming true. However, lots of people think they should stay open and I wonder what version of the future they have.

How many periods of isolation do you foresee for most students?
Do you think lots of teachers / students / parents will get sick? How badly and for how long?
What do you think will be the effect on the virus' spread through the rest of the population?
How do you think this will affect the rest of the economy/society?
Any other comments and predictions welcome.

@DownstairsMixUp @PandemicPavolova

This the problem with MN. Everyone generalizes from their own experience and takes it as absolute fact. Unless you performed a systematic survey of a statistically sufficient number of people your experience is meaningless. Even generalizing from MN is not logical when you have no idea who or how many people are posting.

I’m not saying you’re wrong but if I used my own experience I would assume that online school worked reasonably well. Many of our neighbors are at different schools in the area and they’ve all felt similarly. But obviously I know that may not be typical.

I’m not saying you’re wrong but I just get sick of seeing people posting their experience as universal truth.

I’m glad you liked it stircrazy! I bet Gavin is on the phone to Boris right now saying ‘Boris! It’s all going to be OK after all!’

@DBML

You want positive predictions? I’ll do my best!

Schools will reopen and the testing system will be all ready to go, staffed by confident smiling parents who have volunteered, all newly medically certified and able to safely carry out the tests on children or supervise the children whilst they carry out the tests themselves.

The children will queue (SD of course) and one by one, have the test without fuss or fear. All parents will have consented, because who wouldn’t? This is a great idea! They’ll then be taken to socially distanced classrooms where a full body of healthy staff will entertain them whilst they await results.

Results will come in - they are all negative! And school will start.

Children will sit at their SD desks wearing masks and teachers will open the newly fixed windows, allowing air from outside to come in. The classrooms will be warm and the air will be a refreshing breeze...is it going too far to say the scent of the ocean will permeate the classrooms inspiring new ideas in all?

A days learning will happen, with a normal (for us) attendance figure of 98.5% of pupils present. Those off sick will be off with the normal seasonal flu or tummy bugs.

Children will stick to their bubbles walking home and staff will spend the evening creating wonderful resources for online - just incase - but they won’t be needed! And they will be thrilled that they are able to spend their free time in such a useful way.

Meanwhile the virus will see that schools are secure and it will think of where else it can spread instead. It will decide to only infect people in tax offices; finance roles and other office environments, so all of those people will continue to work from home.

Schools will be so safe in fact, that GP’s will be able to resume risk free wrap around care without any issues at all.

If a child does get the virus (which we all know is highly unlikely), they will inform the school who will see that due to SD, no one else is affected. The child probably caught the virus from their own GP’s who have been having parties of more than 6 people!! The child will obviously not have been able to spread the virus, so they will take 10 days off, or perhaps we’ll reduce it to 7 soon and the teachers will all send them that online work they’ve been creating in their spare time! Yay!

It will be wonderful...and even the school canteen food will also be vastly improved! Not sure why, but it will.

Does this mean the staff room will be usable again? So we can have long coffee breaks and large sociable lunches? Like JH said we would?

I agree, my experience however crossed many different students and year groups as well as PP said in a school with more than usual FSM etc.

Then DD friend at grammar went on line and pretty much followed the time table.

I have seen it and been in it working.

@DBML Thank you, that made my day

Yes @Itisasecret
That’s exactly what it means 😊 and not only will it be usable, there will be a sparkling new cappuccino machine there, as a gift from the DfE for all your hard work!

@Noellodee
You’re welcome! 😁

@DBML

Yes *@Itisasecret* That’s exactly what it means 😊 and not only will it be usable, there will be a sparkling new cappuccino machine there, as a gift from the DfE for all your hard work!

Amazing, we can enjoy all those long sociable breaks again. Looking forward to the new coffee machine.

To those who have mentioned teachers and students already having had COVID, four teachers in my school who had it in March (with confirmed antibodies), contracted COVID again at the end of November.

Yes, this idea of immunity also discounts that some teachers will get long covid and be unable to work.

Herd immunity has been discounted so many times. Look at what happened in Brazil - uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-brazil-manaus/in-brazils-amazon-a-covid-19-resurgence-dashes-herd-immunity-hopes-idUKKBN26I0I8

Their hospitals collapsed and they couldn't dig graves fast enough and STILL no herd immunity.

It's a myth. You certainly can't get there without a massive, massive death toll (and you know what, this will include children because though rare, children dying from this is not unknown - these will be children who would have otherwise lived a full life). And yes, you can catch covid again about 3 months later. Especially if there's yet another mutant quite different from previous forms which is more likely if we just let it run.

Some people really do want mass graves before they are willing to accept that there needs to be some level of restrictions at all.

IloveJKRowling

Yes - and then they will moan about the mass graves and why wasn't something done.

Mass testing of students by teach ears or parents will not go ahead.can you imagine if little toms nose bleeds because that nasty teacher tamed that swap up his nose. Why is the money for it where is the space for it where is the ppe for it. Anyone who thinks this is going to happen is crazy.

Tamed rammed

Maybe Gavin will get his whip out

@PandemicPavolova

IloveJKRowling

Yes - and then they will moan about the mass graves and why wasn't something done.

Yes, as they did when bubbles were being sent home and 600000 school children were isolating, after they had demanded schools reopen with no masks or social distancing.