Can anyone explain this?

[Shitfuckoh]

I did attempt to watch the PM broadcast this evening but it was difficult as it clashed with bedtime.

I'm wondering if I misheard it as I thought he said they'll ''look'' to reopen schools after Feb half term. Then was talking about how cases, hospital admins etc need to come down.
How they hope to have had the first 4 stages vaccinated by mid feb but that it will still be 2-3 weeks after that for the vaccine to take affect and 2-3 weeks after that for hospital admins to come down?

So based on that (like I said, if I heard right) are we to be looking at Easter for schools, rather than feb half term? Or was that more in regards to other restrictions, with schools going back after half term?

I know I'm asking questions that no one actually knows the answers to yet, just wondering if I heard it right and if not, what he said? Or if you took it to mean different to how I have?

You heard it correctly. When the schools go back is dependent on getting the vaccine rolled out to as many people as possible. I agree it will probably be more like Easter.

My take on it was he was basically saying Easter at the earliest without actually saying that.

Thought so. The social media for the 2 schools my DC attend went crazy with parents hearing half term so I was beginning to wonder if I'd heard it wrong. Easter is my guess too

Transcript here:

www.gov.uk/government/speeches/prime-ministers-address-to-the-nation-4-january-2021

Yes I think Easter is more realistic. It's very unlikely they will meet the vaccination targets on time, so everything will be delayed.

The vaccination roll out is probably a moon shot so Easter is ambitious if school reopening is really reliant on that.

I took it as Feb at the earliest, but I think that's a good 12 weeks before they'll return.

Maybe Boris will fix things so the kids can return back to school in July for the last day of term before they break up for 6 weeks.

Honestly though, at this point im taking anything offered or promised half the expectation and double the time and were more likely to know when to expect things will happen

Basically he doesn’t know exactly. No one does. We’re just going to have to take it one week at a time and stop this endless cycle of predictions. Everyone’s been wrong so far anyway.

The schools will go back when they go back, and this will end when it ends.

Maybe they will make provision for the year 10s like they did last year, where Boris said all children heading into year 11 will get time in school between May and July to have face to face time with their teachers.
Which sounded to the general public like the DC would be in school for at least two months, but which turned out to be 4 whole days for DD with mostly teachers that were not her actual teachers just ones that taught the same subject!

And annoyingly Boris also trotted out a load of old rubbish about DC getting online lessons with their teachers across the country. Which in reality was; read this chapter of a book and do this online worksheet and hand it in, but it won’t actually get marked and we won’t actually teach you anything you have to work it all out yourself.

I understood that they might bring schools back after February half term but it depends on the figures. He said that schools were the last to close and would be the first to open so other restrictions could easily stayed until Easter.
I actually was hoping for some restrictions and school closures as we are in tier 3 but our rates are rising dramatically and matching London already. However I didn’t expect February half term as a possible point, I thought end of January max so started wondering how bad things were. Boris actually has done what Keir Starmer suggested, and even more, in less than 24 hours.

Let's consider that the first lockdown had no vaccine and the children were home a little before Easter. Easter hols, half a term and half term break then back in June part time - so surely wtih a tier 3/4 Xmas hols and now lockdown for half a term we should hopefully get back to school for feb even without any vaccine so even though only a small proportion by feb that's better than last March - I'm hopeful schools go back for after feb half term! 29 days of homeschool here we come...

In Scotland here, initially we were told 'at least 18th jan' now were told 'at least 1st Feb'

I think Feb half term is ambitious, more likely Easter. Seasonal virus coupled with the vaccine the numbers will start to drop by then.
And that's what Boris alluded to as well.

“Let's consider that the first lockdown had no vaccine and the children were home a little before Easter. Easter hols, half a term and half term break then back in June part time - so surely wtih a tier 3/4 Xmas hols and now lockdown for half a term we should hopefully get back to school for feb even without any vaccine so even though only a small proportion by feb that's better than last March - I'm hopeful schools go back for after feb half term! 29 days of homeschool here we come...“

Most Children didn’t go back until September and left on 18th March. As I said DD at that time was in year 10 and had 4 days in school from March until September! So 14 weeks of school missed or 17 if you include the holidays.

And there hasn’t been a single case in DDs school.

@Tinty maybe not all school got back and yes definitely not full time but by the summer the kids were all back to socializing and mixing and people were more freely dining out under rule of 6 etc

The vaccines for our borough have already ‘gone missing’ meaning all scheduled appointments now cancelled!

I've just read that each batch of medicines needs to be tested 3.5m doses are waiting on being tested.

Its seems a bit mad but the checks are there for a reason and people would be calling neglect if they skipped the testing and something goes wrong