Are we being primed for all schools to close next week?

[Lemons1571]

All I can see on Sky News and the BBC is that the “teaching unions are telling the government that all schools must be closed NOW”. Don’t usually see the media reporting this unless the government want to get us used to the idea.

And what is stopping you wearing a mask if you wish?

Do people still not understand that if I wear a mask, I am not really protecting myself from anything? I am just protecting everyone else from me. If I want protection from my class, they are the ones who need to be wearing masks.

There’s an emergency NEU webinar today for teachers.

There is always a time lag on announcements from a Tory government. It takes a little while from what comes out of their arses to what they eventually say.

We're not even allowed to insist that pupils wear masks in corridors (previously T2 now T3). Many don't bother. Lots wear them under their noses. Almost all whinge about windows being open.

Closing the schools for a couple of weeks seems to make sense. They could then use them as vaccine hubs

Numbers are relatively low here although T4.

I would prefer some kind of partial closure. Back to the two days in per week for half the children as it was at the end of the summer lockdown.

@Chewbecca

There’s an emergency NEU webinar today for teachers.

Have they changed it? My email from them says Sunday at 11am.

I thought 11am tomorrow as well?

@draughtycatflap

There is always a time lag on announcements from a Tory government. It takes a little while from what comes out of their arses to what they eventually say.

Just spat Pepsi all over my poor iPad reading that 🤣

@draughtycatflap

There is always a time lag on announcements from a Tory government. It takes a little while from what comes out of their arses to what they eventually say.

Marvellous - thank you for this! Exactly right.

I understand the need to be responsive in these situations but it does seem that the evidence is clear with SAGE clearly advising closures and hospitals under extreme pressure. I wish they would be decisive on this now so we can all start making plans

teachers will start getting ill or being signed off for stress
How about parents trying to do full time work and homeschool getting signed off from stress except that most are re in jobs where that is not an option.
Everyone is stressed! Your fear of Covid does not trump another person’s fear of losing their job and home. Mental health issues seem to be dismissed unless it is a teacher and then we hear ‘get yourself signed off, lovely [sic -yes that is a typical epithet)
I am a teacher and despair of the lack of awareness of the reality by some of the teachers who post on here (often in flocks parroting each other).Among my colleagues we accept it is a rubbish situation and that whining never makes anything better.
If the job isn’t to your liking and you cannot or don’t want to adapt then resign! We often hear that threat but teachers are not resigning in droves -look at the applicant numbers for every post advertised on TES.

@alwaysraining123

Yes I thought the same too. Whatever the decision is they need to make it before the start of the new term. I’m not sending my children back just for them to close it in a week. All the exposure with none of the benefits of closure.

Exactly. Need to stop the mixing before it happens especially given may will have carried on with NYE plans regardless along with extended Christmas mixing.

All the u turns make the government look like they have no idea what they’re doing though. Or is this all part of the plan? Maybe they don’t care as long as the end goal is achieved.

I think this new mutant strain has caught everyone on the hop, tbh. If you recall just a month ago most schools were managing to remain open without too much disruption - at least those outside the worst affected areas.

But look what's happened since this new variant came on the scene - it's like we're suddenly back to March/April - hospitals are swamped, 50,000+ new confirmed cases per day, it's carnage. Devi Sridhar was on Radio 4 earlier saying that a full lockdown is the only way to try and contain this thing until we can vaccinate enough people to make a difference and I think anyone who's concentrating has reached the same conclusion. I am no fan of full lockdown btw - I fucking hated it - but if we want to prevent a full-on catastrophe I think we have to lockdown again asap and then vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate every single person we can as fast as we can.

We've not heard anything from either DCs school or preschool settings regarding going back.. presumably they are waiting incase there's a u turn before Monday.

@Dahlietta

It was me who asked about masks in response to a teacher who said she just wanted cleaning products and masks!

Masks might not offer failsafe protection and they are a lot more effective when everyone wears one, granted- but they do offer a degree of protection! Ir's silly to say they are not worth wearing. Why else do doctors wear them?

It won’t be all schools
Special schools will be open, I work in one one and if there was a nuclear attack we’d still be open

@zafferana

Totally agree.

FreekStar my friend is a teacher and has been told that her department (music dept so needing to sanitise instruments etc) are using too many cleaning products and there won’t be any more.

We've not heard anything from either DCs school or preschool settings regarding going back.. presumably they are waiting incase there's a u turn before Monday

Of course schools are closed or perhaps key staff are ill. Oh wait, of course the government expected school leaders to be at work on New Years Day, to deal with the 6.00 pm announcement.
This government has no regard for timing communication to be manageable for schools or parents.

but if we want to prevent a full-on catastrophe I think we have to lockdown again asap and then vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate every single person we can as fast as we can

This ^^

Use empty schools/offices, community halls etc as hubs and throw everything into making more vaccine and getting it out to the public.

@Irre247

Teaching unions are rather toothless. I’ll be very surprised if it comes to anything as it will be;

Unions- Close the schools!
Govt- No.
Unions- Well we’re not happy about that.
Govt- going to do anything?
Unions- we’re going to be very unhappy, ok?
Govt- ok.

The big problem is that the only thing that gives unions strength is the participation of all its members. Union can't do much if it can't show its members are prepared to act, and a very high proportion of teachers just aren't.

I’m wondering why in our town, in a tier 4 area where rates are approaching 800 per 100,000 (on 27 December) it is considered acceptable to open primary schools to all on Monday when many London Boroughs will have their schools closed on lower rates than that. They aren’t even closing all primaries in Kent, the place where the new strain started out - although bizarrely, are closing primaries in bits of Kent that look less affected than other areas where they remain open (eg Tunbridge Wells - doesn’t exactly look worse off than many if the other places that remain open?).

Walk same, our numbers are higher than some London Boroughs.

Sounds like my school! Pink cleaning spray is like heroin.. we’re all addicted to it

can you wear visors?