So Gav says schools could stay shut beyond half term.....

[Coldwinterahead1]

I'm guessing after Easter. What does everyone else think?

Michael Gove was already saying that either last weekend or weekend before (it’s all a blur these days!).

I’m trying not to think too hard about it but I can’t imagine it happening before Easter, if then. This pandemic is a shit show.

Just out of interest why visors?

It's the mid Feb for dose one isn't it? Which provides a high level of protection.

Oh thanks. That's a relief. What level of protection does the first dose give?

Visors will stop aerosols coming from above to the mucous membranes including the eyes. They are relatively useless unless used in combination with masks imo.

I’m still being optimistic for after half term!

Tonight I feel so bloody down about everything, it’s just relentless

Ds isn’t getting the education he should be getting, end of. He’s sitting in his bedroom hour after hour!

I’m so thankful to his school though for setting up lessons, which must be a nightmare for some, especially if they have dc at home too!

Just want to mention a huge thank you to all of the teachers here.

I just worry so much about the long term impact for our dc

By next week all over 90s will be done in Herts and over 80s by end Jan.

Conversely, 101 year old granny in Surrey hasn't got her first appointment until the end of Jan.

The death toll today has really affected me.
I'm not sure why that particular number has shaken me but it really has.

I can't believe some of us are demanding schools reopen right now (not necessarily on this thread but I've seen it on others and have heard this in RL) when 1500 people have died.

Opening schools any sooner than half term would be suicide considering we know children spread the virus and I'm saying that as a teacher who wants schools to reopen when it's made safer. Bubbles are popping left right and centre with larger key worker and vulnerable children in.

Why won't the government allocate the funds for us to make it work? Why are they unnecessarily making this whole school shit show go on for longer?

There have been countless threads detailing what we need in order to make schools as safe as possible and this will enable us to reopen to pupils but the government are not interested at all.

Before Christmas people on a thread were outraged when teachers suggested they were given priority for the vaccination after vulnerable groups. Now some of those are the ones calling for us to be vaccinated.

Yes a reception child will be getting more in school than those at home purely because of the format of the curriculum. My reception children in school follow the same timetable/sessions as those at home but there are huge amounts of child initiated time which is where learning is really developed and embedded. This can't happen at home.

And to the poster who commented asking if a member of school staff even caught covid, yes - many people in my school did and at least 2 have long covid and one is in and out of hospital despite being under 30.

I also think there is a false sense of security on the threads where parents are delighted their primary aged children are having a full timetable of zoom sessions. There is no benefit to a child sitting staring at a screen all day and I really think there will be some children after this who suffer greatly with eyesight problems and overstimulation.

Any school that demands a child is online from 8:30-3:00 (I know if a well known academy chain who does) does not have the children's best interest at heart - they are simply ticking a box so if Ofsted come calling, they can show them how well they have done.

@alwaysraining123

For those desperate for schools to reopen ASAP once it’s reasonably ‘safe’ to do do please consider making some noise about it. Write to your MP, local councillors, write in to newspapers, tweet etc (can’t think of anything else). I only hear the shrill voices of those that want schools to stay closed (I think probably forever !)

This just really frustrates me. Over 1500 people died today and still snidey talk of 'shrill voices'.

Think a little respect for what this country is facing right now would be good.

@HamishDent I agree it is heart breaking. Looking back it will be clear (to those it isn't at the moment) that we are completely failing children.

@BertNErnie

I also think there is a false sense of security on the threads where parents are delighted their primary aged children are having a full timetable of zoom sessions. There is no benefit to a child sitting staring at a screen all day and I really think there will be some children after this who suffer greatly with eyesight problems and overstimulation.

Any school that demands a child is online from 8:30-3:00 (I know if a well known academy chain who does) does not have the children's best interest at heart - they are simply ticking a box so if Ofsted come calling, they can show them how well they have done.

I’m glad we don’t have this. A large part of the day is off screen work at our own pace.

Secondary is working well in contrast.

@Newgirls

This government is so shit

If all four most at risk groups are really vaccinated by mid feb then schools in low tiers should be fine surely? Teachers over 50/at risk get the vaccines.

We have key worker status but don’t think we should use it but I’m not sure we can keep jobs and schooling going here so might well use it soon

Teachers 'at risk' - so CV rather than CEV aren't until group 6. Those over 50 won't be til group I I think. So unlikely to be vaccinated any time soon.

Im CV and teach and can't see me getting the vaccine until near the summer at best right now. Hopefully if things step up it may be sooner.

I caught covid in October and was pretty ill. Was in hospital and then off work for 7 weeks. It's now been over 3 months and I'm not right. I still have complications and one complication I appear to have got means I will be on medication for it for life. Infact as of today I take two extra tablets daily for that issue rather than just the one. The most likely place I caught covid was school and as I didn't have close contact with other staff then it was probably via a child. Covid swept through school afterwards.

Fortunately, as I now have 2 issues that make me CV and the doctors can't say that I have immunity or won't catch it again, my headteacher has me working from home. I don't want to risk catching covid a second time ideally - well, not whilst I can work from home. My role during lockdown means I can justify being home.

But there will come a time when I will return when schools are open to all. It may not be February half term - I'm trying to blank that thought out of my mind tbh as working from home overseeing remote learning is a big job and I'm working very very long hours right now. However I can't see it extending beyond Easter, especially for primary schools.

616,000 people died in the UK in 2018 which works out at an average of 1688 per day, so whilst over 1500 people dying of covid in a day is of course an awful number, I find it a bit strange to feel so affected by it if you were not normally affected by every day deaths pre-pandemic. Excess deaths is a more telling figure to look at.

@Sarahandco

I think they should consider giving Teachers the Vaccine asap

I guess for some vulnerable teaching staff it may mean they are less likely to be as ill if they catch covid.

That won't prevent bubbles closing though, and it won't necessarily stop everyone catching covid. It's more a protecting the individual so I can't see them doing that - not for those who are not CEV.

Trouble is that CV group is pretty big so it'll take a while to get through them. In the meantime you'll have vulnerable people working with not even the most basic protection of social distancing and masks.

I think I read that when vaccinated you are less likely to suffer as badly and although transmission may be still possible it is less likely than when not vaccinated. Maybe to do with viral load???

@ImAllOut

616,000 people died in the UK in 2018 which works out at an average of 1688 per day, so whilst over 1500 people dying of covid in a day is of course an awful number, I find it a bit strange to feel so affected by it if you were not normally affected by every day deaths pre-pandemic. Excess deaths is a more telling figure to look at.

Maybe it's because the everyday deaths weren't in my face or being quoted anytime I turn on the radio or the news.

I'm not stupid enough to think death doesn't occur on a daily basis, but when you start hearing daily how people you know have either lost someone or are on the verge of losing someone, it makes a difference. The sheer number of covid related deaths I have heard about over the last month is awful. I didn't hear of colleagues, friends or even acquaintances losing loved ones on this scale before covid.

If covid wasn't here, I'd imagine a large proportion of those people would still be alive and that's shit.

I think the same as last year. I'm sending mine on the keyworker basis. My dd age 6 school are actively teaching she attends 5 days per week. My oldest in y6 was going daily but has wfh today tomorrow and Friday as she has conjunctivitis. Next week she is going 3 days

@ImAllOut

616,000 people died in the UK in 2018 which works out at an average of 1688 per day, so whilst over 1500 people dying of covid in a day is of course an awful number, I find it a bit strange to feel so affected by it if you were not normally affected by every day deaths pre-pandemic. Excess deaths is a more telling figure to look at.

Yes but there are still people dying from other things, if we added those on we'd see how many people died today, all causes.

You just need to look at the ONS Mortality Statistics.

@ImAllOut

616,000 people died in the UK in 2018 which works out at an average of 1688 per day, so whilst over 1500 people dying of covid in a day is of course an awful number, I find it a bit strange to feel so affected by it if you were not normally affected by every day deaths pre-pandemic. Excess deaths is a more telling figure to look at.

This makes no sense. Presumably the 2018 number includes all causes, and you’re comparing it to those dying of Covid? So you’re actually saying 1500 excess deaths, and they don’t matter much?

I agree I think Eastertime will be when they go back too
However
It's a long time out of school for children again and a lot of time out of a routine aswell not to mention the effect it will have on children's (and parents struggling with home schooling) and their mental health

It's very difficult for people in all sorts of different ways

@noblegiraffe

It has been said time and again that teachers are not being infected at a higher rate than other sections of the community.

Even the government has backtracked on that one. You can't keep peddling it anymore.

Yes and finally there is discussions that teachers police and retail staff get the vaccination after the over 50 s group.

Because they are all groups likely to,be more exposed and have a higher viral load.

I think it be Easter... or later before the children return.

My primary dd is getting 3 zoom sessions a day and so far they haven't been great. She is being taught maths by her usual teacher for one hour using interactive questions where they answer on whiteboards and then complete the work that has been set. After a break she has an English lesson - again, lots of of interaction and work on whiteboards. Afternoon there is a short session of music, PE or a story time session.

A full timetable of lessons would be horrendous - this works perfectly for us at the moment.

*My sons school claims that those in school are at no advantage, as they are being taught the same things as the ones at home.

Complete nonsense. Yes they learn the same things for a few hours. Then the ones in school also get the attention of the teacher and TA for the rest of the day. I’m a KW and my son has been getting LOADS of one on one time with the teacher and TA, due to reduced class size. He has progressed more at school in the past week than he did in the previous 2 months. Really unfair on those children at home*

That may be luck of the draw (or luck of the bubble).

In our school one bubble is full of mainly KW children, so they are getting a fair amount of support from staff in there spread around the children equally.

In all of the other bubbles (small OFE primary, grouped by age), the majority of children are SEND so they are needing a huge amount of support to access online learning, and the KW children in those groups are having to get on with it as they would at home with working parents.

No one seems to be ‘winning’ here. If the could be more (or indeed ANY) government effort to make schools safer, then perhaps they could reopen sooner in a way that is fair to all.

borntobequiet I am not trying to downplay the figures, but it's not 1500 excess deaths per day. There werre 85,000 excess deaths in 2020, which averages out at roughly 300 excess per day which, as I said before is still obviously awful for families grieving. We can never know for sure how many of those 1500 people today would've died from other causes though, we can only work on averages.

My issue is that it is irresponsible for the media to continuously report these death figures with no context when people are suffering from high levels of anxiety. I am not saying the deaths don't matter. Don't be so hyperbolic.