Marked increase in children

[DfEisashambles]

I’m the papers today. This looks grim for Spring, so much uncertainty around schools with these new strains.

I need to believe the vaccines will be our saviour.

I wish they would just tell us what they are planning re: schools. I hate all the speculation it's so stressful. FFS Just bloody tell us already!!

This.

I'm guessing that they want to wait and see how the impact of schools closed for the holidays, Tier 4 restrictions plus increased contacts over Christmas holidays in pans out. Not at all helpful for parents and teachers who want to plan but I'm assuming that first week back has already been called as home learning for some/ staggered return already and we will have to wait and see how it goes after that.

So schools close. What happens to the kids educations. Honest question. How do they catch up on the time they miss

Depends on the age of pupil. Those in Y10 (England) and above , with great difficulty, which is why online learning is so very important. Pupils with inadequate tech at home need to be able to go to school premises and use the facilities there to access the online teaching and learning.

Younger age groups are also losing important months, butnat least there is more time ahead for them to recover

When will people realise that we will be living like this for a very long time. I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But if you want your freedom back don’t bank on it next year, sadly.

schools should stay open

To be honest I think even with this evolving information, EY and primaries won’t close. The government are dead set against it.

Apparently in many European countries the classrooms are bigger (as opposed to our battery farming type classrooms) -in Australia they have a hotter climate so presumably they might have been able to do more outside lessons? A lot of our schools & classrooms are small & the toilets ... shall we say basic?

@SaltyAF

Having said this, vaccines are not going to help children at present I know.

Nor school staff.

I meant more that there are currently no plans at all to vaccinate children, as it hasn't even been tested on them yet.

Yep doesnt make sense as looks like north hit a peak already it's peaking in the south as their vit d. runs out.

Plus doesnt make sense the new one affects kids more due to ace but nor adult men or women...
Maybe actually new version can be blocked easily with masks

Ons has 2% older kids infected it has steadily increased week on week. Need breaks to bring it down.
The article is likely based on swabs from tests on symptomatic kids so maybe this version just happens to actually give cough/temp etc but not badly

By ‘level playing field’ I assume they mean children are now as likely as older people to become infected and some apparently healthy children will become seriously ill, whereas with the first strain they were largely not impacted.

@covetingthepreciousthings

I wish they would just tell us what they are planning re: schools. I hate all the speculation it's so stressful. FFS Just bloody tell us already!!

This.

Expect they’re still weighing up the options to decide which is the least worst plan. Because no solution is going to be good.

@Mmn654123 yes that’s what I think too about ‘level playing field’ indication, especially so in SA strain.

These new strains causing problems just when the vaccine is in sight.

They are not planning for the majority of okd people to be vaccinated by spring.

I’m in the second to bottom group, according to a vaccine calculator, l should get mine in June/July. Dh is in group above. He’s end of May

It may astonish traditionalists, but Queen Victoria died, and these days, communication is possible even without quill pens. Successful on-line tuition is achieved with small groups or one to one tutoring, and is cheaper that the cost of forcing everyone into one building. Firms which specialise in this explain that the 'socialising' is a myth, and that it is only bullies who regret access to victims.

Others welcome N O T being forced into proximity and not even being forced to learn in rigid year groups. For socialising and for learning, it is something which applies at all ages and is frequently all the better for being in mixed age groups. A child or an adult who is interested in a hobby or a course of learning will follow it.

Some people claim the taxpayer should provide schools as kiddie-minders for children they are unwilling or unable to care for, though the logic is hard to follow, since they do have to accept responsibility during non-school hours and school holidays anyway.

@PaperLaperRock What do you mean? Living like this for how long and why?

@20mum absolutely agree for some- I would have loved to move to online school. However it destroyed DD and I’m sure so many others and it must be as limited as is possible. I wfh anyway and she’s secondary so it’s not a childcare issue.

My children are doing great at home.

We're lucky, I realise that.

But it works well for a lot of people and perhaps everyone who can should do it to allow those who can't to distance, and to help keep the R number down.

What do people think about only children? I have one school aged child and I'm not saying she is a special case but say the schools are closed for another three months, is it damaging for a child not to physically see another child/children for that long? I'm not saying what I think either way, just worried me a bit back in March and is my main worry about her now.

Yes I think it is terribly difficult for only children.

I wonder if they could have a peer support bubble with others, perhaps regular online support where possible.

The scientist talking about a level playing field was referring to ease for the virus of infecting people - children are as susceptible as adults to the new variant.

Thanks @stuffedforchristmas she's actually coped really well, but it seems really unnatural to me, and has made me feel guilty that she's an only - especially over Christmas!

@arcadia that’s understandable and tough for you, does she have strong friendships she could talk to online? I can’t imagine the lockdown lasting more than 6 weeks but that’s quite a long time for an only child.

There was speculation that we came out of lockdown 1 too soon and that cases in North may have been 1st wave as hit London then spread out.
London is now in 2nd wave I guess.
Not sure about Wales guess 2nd wave.
But without quick enough vaccines it vaccinating age groups with biggest spread then I assume we see 3rd wave.

I'm really anxious about sending my kids back to school.
Really don't know what to do.

Sending dc back will literally be, akin to experimenting on them.

Into the unknown, its not good at all and without the sound knowledge of hospital back up, it's not something I feel comfortable doing.

I'm definitely holding primary dc back that week, older will be on line, for the following week we will have to see..

As a vulnerable family, sending the children to primary school since September has caused me to become anxious and depressed. This 3.5 week break (the school has a long Xmas break) has been a blessed relief. Goodness knows what state I’ll be in sending them back in January as it’s pretty much a guarantee we’ll get it. Just got to hope that none of us die. What a way to live