75% of my school are in

[ReginaPhalangee]

That's it in a nutshell. Three quarters of my school are classed as keyworker or vulnerable. Might as well chuck the other 50 in and be done with it.

Lockdown 1... 12 children.

No PPE and we've got to double our workload for the ones needing remote learning whilst we are teaching our classes. And then making phone calls to check on them.

It's the same for every school in my area.

We’ve had staff isolating too.

If I am told my nursery has to open by the LEA

Government guidance not LA.

You know it’s bad when even The Telagraph are running a story tomorrow. They include the fact that schools may well be too busy and still spreading the virus. They suggest a harder lock down is coming. I don’t really fancy that, I’m quite worried what that means. It does suggest more support to stop businesses forcing staff into work though.

Telegraph*

Newsnight are discussing this now. Have shown figures on school attendance and public transport use in London.

We got email from school today saying numbers unsustainable and asking parents to really consider if they need to send kids to school. My friend who is A&E nurse as is her husband is freaking out, she had to have kids in school as otherwise she can't do get life saving job but she's now worried kids will get virus, meaning she will be off work. She said situation in hospital (central London) beyond anything she's ever seen and she is so scared of impact on hospital of her and other parent nurses being off work because their kids get the virus in key worker school.

We work at a university (not teaching docs and nurses). This time round the VC sent round a letter staff could present to schools to prove they are a key worker. They can get a place at school now, whether or not they work on campus or WFH.

I don't agree with campus being open and I think its taking the mickey to call uni staff key workers

@KisstheTeapot14 I agree when so many of us are working from home now. I got the same letter from my faculty head. DH and I are both working at home, and frankly I think it would be wrong to send DC into school - it's busy but we can and will muddle through. It was a fairly muted attempt to push us into sending kids to school but I can imagine other people are being pushed a lot harder.

@breadwidow

We got email from school today saying numbers unsustainable and asking parents to really consider if they need to send kids to school. My friend who is A&E nurse as is her husband is freaking out, she had to have kids in school as otherwise she can't do get life saving job but she's now worried kids will get virus, meaning she will be off work. She said situation in hospital (central London) beyond anything she's ever seen and she is so scared of impact on hospital of her and other parent nurses being off work because their kids get the virus in key worker school.

Unfortunately, that's exactly what is going to happen.

'Bubbles' are already bursting, meaning that children and staff have to isolate for ten days. Even though 'the rules' say that the rest of the household to a 'close contact' only has to isolate if they have symptoms (it's not a great mystery how the virus has spread, is it?) one parent will have to stay home with the child, while the other may completely unknowingly be taking the virus into their place of work.

Still makes me laugh, pushing for kids to go in, there is a deadly f*&^^ing disease, and yes, kids can be affected, my nephew is one of them. But sure, throw the dice, take the risk, its only their health after all!

My uni and my DH's uni have also sent us the letter saying we are now counted as key workers so can send kids to school. As neither of us teach on or provide support services to the few courses running in person (nursing / medicine / social work) we won't be. We're currently at home and will keep our kids at home, luckily for us our kids are not younger. However, there are now thousands of extra people in this city entitled to school places as key workers, it's no wonder the schools are more full than last time. It's not the parents fault either, the Uni is placing considerable pressure on staff to work as normal, no additional support measures in place this time round. The management would say they dont need to because everyone can send their kids to school now as keyworkers! Everyone's insecure as uni income goes down, no one wants to be left without a job. No one wants to leave their small children ignored all day either, the employer is very much pressurising parents to take up keyworker places.

Our head has cracked down. She asked for advice and support from the LEA first.

She sent an email yesterday stressing that if there is a parent at home they should not be in school because the point of the closure is about limiting numbers to stop the spread. She stressed in bold writing that this applied even if you were key workers.

The point being the only ones who should be in school are vulnerable and those with a key worker parent (or parents) working outside the home and there is no other person at home.

Even key workers who work outside the home are being encouraged to keep kids home on days they are not on shift in order to stop the spread.

There was no ambiguity about what she said. It was 'stay the fuck' home in no certain terms. To everyone. And don't think you are exempt because you are a key worker. If anyone in the house is working from home, the kids stay home. And she quoted from the latest edition of government guidelines stating this.

I hope that this is followed through at national level to support schools because cases around here have gone nuts.

I was speaking to a friend last night who works for the local hospital and she's said that ICU beds have gone up a third in a week and they are well into surge capacity and struggling already. They have effectively mothballed the sister hospital at the trust apart from for cancer treatment (they are desperately trying to keep the site 'clean' of covid). Its deliberately been made a ghost hospital to enable covid treatment at the other one and be able to staff it adequately. Staff who normally work there have been transferred to the other hospital. She was stressing not to do anything at home which has the potential to land you in a and e. (so lay off the diy with power tools). It was a sobering conversation.

All this 'super special my job is so important crap' needs to be got over. Otherwise it probably will be more restrictions incoming which involves financial hardship and/or restrictions that last longer and do more harm to mental health and businesses etc etc.

This isnt hard to understand. People and businesses just don't want to. And thats the really tiresome thing about this at this point.

@BraeburnPlace

If I am told my nursery has to open by the LEA

Government guidance not LA.

I know it's guidance but my LEA has a way of putting a LOT of pressure on schools.

@BertNErnie

"Government guidance not LA."

"I know it's guidance but my LEA has a way of putting a LOT of pressure on schools."

Our LEA is the same, sticking to the 'guidance' to the letter and demanding the schools do the same. It's totally unworkable in our area, there's NEVER a day where the numbers fall below 60% in our school, and some days are over 70%! Some of the 'key worker' letters are laughable. Some employers are hugely bending the list to say their employee fits into a keyworker job. If these numbers aren't reduced dramatically absolutely nothing will change, and the miniscule number of children who are at home, remote learning, will suffer for much longer than is necessary.

I wonder if it depends on the head teacher to some degree.
My dds school has over 50% attendance and i know many who are taking the piss for sure.
We have a lot of sahm who are sending them in on the back of hubby being a keyworker and they meet eachother for a nice run and a take away coffee after the school run. Its a small but busy area so we tend to all know eachother.
The head is nice but well known to be a bit wet. The staff are very upset and scared and i cant even imagine how they are managing to provide homeschooling on top of a lot of face to face teaching.
However the school I work in has a very low attendance thank god, but the SLT have been very strict about criteria.
I haven't sent my dd in so between me and dh and older dd we are just about managing but dd1 said yesterday that her uni have (quite rightly) stepped up the online classes from Monday so im effectively now a bit screwed.
I home schooled last time whilst working at home so I get the difficulties especially as schools are now providing a better provision.
But... Its shouldn't all fall to schools to help parents, govt should be helping financially and employers should be better supported to be able to furlough for childcare/home learning. Yes its tough but so is dying alone or giving birth without a partner or losing someone to covid. Its a global pandemic and we need to be inconvenienced in order for things to improve.
Carrying on as we are is only going to prolong things and god forbid kill thousands more.

I'm so sorry I've only skim read the most recent posts... but obviously this has become very topical since I posted earlier this week and is far more widespread than I would have hoped.

My workload literally doubled overnight. I want to do the right thing for EVERY child in my class and yesterday I spent 25 minutes on the phone to a parent explaining why I felt her child should be IN school.

School staff are scared. It's different this time round. They feel far more vulnerable without the proper PPE.

This weekend I will stay home alone (and plan for next week). My kids are with their dad. I can't see anybody. Next week I shall have direct teaching contact with 5 different bubbles.

@ReginaPhalangee I predict you will have positive cases before long. Our hub bubble burst on Wednesday

It’s not that unbelievable that a school has 75% key worker families. My DCs school is the same if not more. We have Drs, nurses an abundance of other NHS staff, farmers, carers, nursing home staff, cleaners, shop workers, teachers, first responders (fire, ambulance and police), local authority workers, delivery drivers, pharmacy workers, counsellors.... and they are just the parents I can think of off the top of my head. There is literally one family in one of my DCs class that dose not have a key worker parent and that’s because both parents work in hospitality, both have which have now lost their jobs.

One of the parents at the school works in another school that has over 90% vulnerable children, all have social workers therefore the school is open as usual.

@Carriecakes80

Still makes me laugh, pushing for kids to go in, there is a deadly f*&^^ing disease, and yes, kids can be affected, my nephew is one of them. But sure, throw the dice, take the risk, its only their health after all!

Not just the childrens' health at risk but school staff too!

But sure, throw the dice, take the risk, its only their health after all!

It hasn’t dawned on you that others are able to weigh up the risk of the disease on children (minimal) with the risk of not having them in school (parents unable to pay their mortgage, long term educational issues, mental health problems).

I find the exaggeration of the impact of Covid on children along with the minimising of the impact of lockdown measures pretty extraordinary, let me tell you.

The purpose of having as few children (and staff) on school sites as possible is to reduce the spread of the virus amongst what are the most infected subsets of the population ie primary and secondary school children.

Schools are, and have been for some time, the primary route of community transmission.

Of course lock down isn't good for children or young adults. That's why it's important to reduce community transmission of the virus. Once rates drop and hospitals aren't on their knees, then lock down measures will be reduced.

As things are going, with school 'bubbles' bursting left, right and centre, the lock down (with periods of isolation ie not being able to go further than the garden if you're fortunate enough to have one) will go on for longer.

@TheKeatingFive

But sure, throw the dice, take the risk, its only their health after all!

It hasn’t dawned on you that others are able to weigh up the risk of the disease on children (minimal) with the risk of not having them in school (parents unable to pay their mortgage, long term educational issues, mental health problems).

I find the exaggeration of the impact of Covid on children along with the minimising of the impact of lockdown measures pretty extraordinary, let me tell you.

@TheKeatingFive Agree with all of this!

@christinarossetti19
You are quite right. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I find the exaggeration of the impact of Covid on children along with the minimising of the impact of lockdown measures pretty extraordinary, let me tell you

I've seen nothing about effects of Covid on theses boards, more concern with who they hand it on to. As for minimising the impact of lockdown, far from it. What has been minimised is effective action by a government unwilling to take unpleasant decisions.

I don't think anyone is disputing the fact that children are the least affected by Covid. It's about minimising the spread. And we know that they're the biggest spreaders.

In my small school alone there are over 60 members of staff; some are recovering from cancer, some have other significant health problems, some live with a vulnerable family member, some are over 60, I could go on. None of them have complained and we are all just carrying on.

Tomorrow I'll be planning, recording and uploading teaching videos, sending out Zoom invites for lessons this week which can be done alongside class teaching (whilst safeguarding the children in my class), responding to parent emails, updating the contact log from my calls on Friday, planning for my class who will be in school and sending out the daily lessons for the children who aren't. And somewhere within that I'll be trying to interact with my own children and make sure they're ok, well fed, have clean clothes, quality time with me, school lunches for Monday... and walking the dog!!!!

I love my job. Always have. I don't love the way things are at the moment. As a LP with a bubble I don't dare visit for fear of spreading the virus, it's all feeling a bit bleak.

ReginaPhalangee sounds exhausting for teachers at the moment .

This article is why it's in everybody's interests to keep numbers of children in school as low as possible at the moment.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/09/doctors-raise-alarm-as-covid-strikes-down-nhs-workforce

Every additional child in school increases the chance of 'bubbles' bursting. Every 'bubble' that bursts has the potential to reduce NHS capacity.