Betting: when will schools be shut?

[notevenat20]

My guess is the govt will shut all schools soonish. This view is partly based on reading www.imperial.ac.uk/media/imperial-college/medicine/mrc-gida/2020-12-31-COVID19-Report-42-Preprint-VOC.pdf

So what to do in a crisis? That’s right, betting. Here are the questions.

In which month will secondary schools next be open?

In which month will primary schools next be shut?

My votes are: March and January.

They may open primaries on the 4th but I don’t think it will last. Secondaries won’t open at all in Jan/Feb.

@Chosennonesneakymincepie

Hmmm the DFE guidance seems set on the 18th as a full opening. I guess the caveat is 'with some local restrictions'. Would it not be more likely that a tier 5 will be introduced to the areas with the highest cases/NHS serious incident zones? I cant see a full national lockdown in the horizon but I guess it really is a balancing act with the data they have in front of them.

Closing schools and locking down areas where there are very high cases and the nhs is struggling would be a good start, however I can’t even see the government doing that properly

Hmmm the DFE guidance seems set on the 18th as a full opening.

Yes. I am expecting a U turn.

This IS the last resort.

I guess we could try to enforce the rules but that's not really our way. Do we really want policemen/women on every corner ready with a fine?

March but I am very worried it will be longer for secondary. They testing will do nothing and if the vaccine gamble causes an issue, say another mutation. We are fucked.

January for mass closures across the board.

So, @notevenat20, here we have yet another thread started by you, thinly disguised as a "genuine question," but actually fully intended to degenerate as always into teacher and school bashing.

How does the premise of this thread fit in with your previous demand that people admit they were wrong about schools being instrumental in the rise in infections?

How does the premise of this thread fit in with your previous demand that people admit they were wrong about schools being instrumental in the rise in infections?

They are as disconnected as the causes of the Crimean and second world wars.

No. They are not.

@Bluebird2021

Our local retail park is still full of shoppers

Pets at home fully open
The range open
B&m open
Home bargains open
M&S food open
B and q open

Argos click/collect
Next click/collect
Matalan click/collect

All food outlets drive thru/takeaway

Nice little day out really. How much of it is ‘essential’

Exactly this! Pandemic is so bad we need to shut schools, but Argos, Garden Centres etc can stay open 🤷‍♀️

Notevenat20 last time around education was frozen so the provision was childcare though obviously we did do fun activities that involved learning etc.

This time around teachers would be providing the online learning and support staff would be running the hub

@PenguinIce Couldn’t agree more

@designmama

If they do close schools which I personally hope they don’t, I don’t think the kids are the issue. My little one caught Covid from a member of staff at Nursery and didn’t pass it on to any of us including my DD in Y1 or us or grandparent in our bubble. It seems like a lot of the higher rates are caused by some individuals who can’t adhere to the rules. I can’t begin to express how many conversations I have heard whilst doing the school run about kids having sleepovers at their friends houses, parents gathering in groups outside school having a chat with no distancing. Also, lots of people out for the Boxing Day sales. Why should kids have to suffer because of behaviour like this. Before anyone starts shouting at me I think staff at schools and other educational provisions should be moved up the priority list for the vaccine for their protection. For many children school is their safe environment and if they do close so many parents could potentially lose their livelihoods because they won’t be able to work. The mental health impact for everyone will also be massive as a result.

It was spread to six of us in my class , primary. Then it was also spread to parents and grandparents. Children absolutely are an issue or it wouldn’t be the case that the highest infection rates are in school age children.

It's also true that nothing is being policed. You can get a train from anywhere in the country to London, spend the day travelling around on the tube and then get a train (and taxi) home and no one will ask you why.

I’m betting that they will reopen on 18th as planned - there will be significantly more of the age groups that would be most likely to be hospitalised vaccinated by then.
People seem to have lost sight of the fact that the lockdowns/closures etc are to stop the NHS disintegrating /NOT to eradicate the virus. Even if every school child had it asymptomatically would be irrelevant to that.

@notevenat20

It's also true that nothing is being policed. You can get a train from anywhere in the country to London, spend the day travelling around on the tube and then get a train (and taxi) home and no one will ask you why.

That is because we don’t have the police to do it. Nor do we have the military to do it either before anyone suggests that.

Schools in the worst affected areas do need to shut for a time as they involve so many people congregating together. I agree that there need to be tougher curbs on retail too. Places like Argos etc need to be click and collect only so people don't just go there for something to do.

Businesses need to be compelled to make staff work from home where they can. I know of too many people whose workplaces are still insisting on them going in even though they could work from home.

@DayBath

Both Sage and Independent sage are calling for a national lockdown.

@starrynight19 Quite a lot of scientists happen to disagree

@CallmeAngelGabriel

"Schools should close as a very last resort."

This IS the last resort.

This

Dh's car battery died during the first lockdown. An argos in walking distance got his car back on the road again.

[quote designmama]@starrynight19 Quite a lot of scientists happen to disagree[/quote]
So why have they closed any schools then next week if children aren’t an issue ?

Probably once more areas are as bad as the current worst hit. No preventative action taken at all.

@DownstairsMixUp

I don't know but I think mumsnet pro close school people will be sorely disappointed as going by my kids school and another local school the uptake on keyworker places is HUGE now. People are scared of losing their jobs. So for my area at least it won't make much difference

Hopefully schools aren’t forcefully closed through lack of staff/more cases in unsafe conditions then.

The KW and V provision won’t staff itself. Then we are really in the shit.