Schools - what has changed?

[Indecisive12]

Post after post about closing ALL schools (and yet I start another one). What has changed for most areas to prompt calls for this?
In my area (tier 4). Rates are the lowest they have been since July! So why should my towns schools close? Why are they suddenly riskier than any time in the first term? I should add I’m in the north west where there is little of the new variant.
I want my children to be educated. I want my children to be able to see their friends. They deserve that.

Good question. Our rates are loads lower than they were in October - Yorkshire. We had lots of cases then in school - teachers off etc. Dc had to take 2 weeks off several times but we all got through

I guess it’s to stop the new variant spreading at the speed it has in London, in other parts of the country?

I'm in North West and our current figures are the highest our region has seen since the beginning. We are close to the figures in London where schools are shut.

Because it’s better to act before a disaster than when it’s too late. Someone needs to tell Boris though!

Because numbers are ticking upwards again and by adding schools.back into the mix they will continue upwards. My area has gone from 400 cases a day to 750 in the past week.

I guess when hospitals become overwhelmed in one part of the country, they will ship patients to hospitals with available beds.
Your local hospital then becomes full and can’t cope with anymore patients. and not just covid patients.
We’re all in this together, it’s all of our problem when numbers rise so quickly due to the new variant.

Our rates are on the rise and people and parents are flouting the rules.

School has been relatively free of cases but the worry is from returning parents and families who have no respect for others. Hence we have closed the school except for KWs along with about 20 other local primaries.

Too many people taking risks that may affect staff and their loved ones.

@cabbageking

Our rates are on the rise and people and parents are flouting the rules.

School has been relatively free of cases but the worry is from returning parents and families who have no respect for others. Hence we have closed the school except for KWs along with about 20 other local primaries.

Too many people taking risks that may affect staff and their loved ones.

That's a pretty big speculation you've made, how do you know majority of parents are flouting the rules? Have you physically seen this on numerous occasions in massive numbers over the Christmas holidays or have you heard 1 or 2 things and assumed everybody is the same? I've no doubt there will be a minority that do flout the rules, there always will be, but I suspect they come from all walks of life with differing careers, not exclusively every parent with a school aged child!

I’m terrified of it happening. One of my DC did not cope with it well last time. I just wish they’d have taken measures sooner to prevent closure. It shouldn’t be all or nothing.

Our rates are not lower. 82 on 7th December when we had a third of the school isolating, 873 today. We had 2 weeks of parents keeping children at home as rates rose. It's not safe for our community for our school to be open fully.

Science

I don't know if this helps but I thought it set out the problem well

www.itv.com/news/2021-01-03/robert-peston-covid-the-statistics-that-make-school-closures-almost-inevitable

Maybe it’s time to learn some lessons and not just be reactive.

We have seen what’s happening and can put plans in place to stop that or just wait until it overwhelms us to.

@FalseAlarm1

Good question. Our rates are loads lower than they were in October - Yorkshire. We had lots of cases then in school - teachers off etc. Dc had to take 2 weeks off several times but we all got through

I’m from Yorkshire too and with the “wild” variant our cases were very high and at one point we had the highest cases in England despite restrictions at the time. They have only just levelled off, however imagine how bad things will get again if this strain gets into our schools under the same conditions we had back in sept-October.

Our rates are the highest they've ever been and doubling. The more transmissable variant is what's changed.

@starrynight19

Maybe it’s time to learn some lessons and not just be reactive.

We have seen what’s happening and can put plans in place to stop that or just wait until it overwhelms us to.

Exactly this. I don’t want lockdowns, but I think we need to learn from previous experiences and that is don’t leave it late and the tier system just doesn’t work.

Parts of the NW have a growing problem with the new strain.

Cheshire is up shit creek. As is Cumbria. The % growth in new cases in parts of Cheshire mirrors what was happening in the SE before Christmas. This is now beginning to spread into other areas of the NW by the look of it.

And in Great Manchester the new strain is clocking up 25% of all new cases and this percentage is growing.

We've also had Christmas with lots of indoor socialising.

Keep you eyes on numbers, because if you think its ok in the NW and its not a problem, you are in for a rude shock in a couple if weeks time.

Maybe what has changed is that people aren't prepared to wait until the horse has bolted to shut the stable door?!

The schools need to close as the virus is on the rise and because it's particularly rising in children and young people. If we do nothing, your area will soon have loads of cases and your hospitals will be overwhelmed, as they are elsewhere.

I would not mind online learning if Boris categorically stated all schools must teach for 5 hours each week day and not leave it to individual school discretion. My foster sons secondary school only teaches for 1 1/2 hours each day and no work marked my niece secondary same Year 10, gets 5 hours a day and work marked and feedback. If he wants to level up he should start by making schools level up. Before readers give excuses of not all children have devises. He is in an affluent area where most children have laptops, tablets and smart phones. Every child in his class has at least 1 devise to work on.

Hard to trust rates at the moment. The positivity rate is sky high which indicates nowhere near enough tests are being performed. Many cases will be missed.

I keep seeing people complaining that work isn’t marked at home but I wonder if that’s just the same as in school these days. Books in shown at parents’ evenings aren’t always marked. My kids say they and peers often mark each other’s work. I remember doing that too. If feedback is given then that is more vital.

We've been reactive- didn't work

Let's be proactive- might work

Am also in the NW in a Tier 4 area and our rates are shooting up very very fast.

I expect Liverpool'a rates will do the same as people from my area are going there because it's the only place nearby (tier 3) where the shops are open and - well you know- sales are on 🤦🏻‍♀️