Strategic planning to open schools safely

[Elephant4]

No one seems to mention that this should be happening.

Government needs to get going on this.

Labour and unions should be putting the pressure on.

blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2021/01/12/creating-covid-secure-schools-we-need-strategy-not-just-ad-hoc-responses/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=hootsuite&utm_content=sme&utm_campaign=usage

I started a thread like that, no one replied...

The government should be acting now i agree. Social distancing is going to be needed for some time to come. Now is the time that schools buildings could be thought about. Do the screens put up in schools elsewhere in the world make a difference? There must be data available to show what measures are the most effective. By Easter outdoor areas could be feasible using gazebos etc. I do think some kind of rota system may be required. It would be crazy to go back with full classrooms all over again.

Aren't these plans usually announce the day before? We've got ages yet but this will even be considered

Yes. @herecomesthsun I think I started a similar thread a week or so ago too.

No- one anywhere seems interested. I wonder why? It’s not just planning for schools, it’s planning in general for all eventualities.

It’s quite clear now that other variants, issues with the vaccine etc might occur. We need to plan. But I’m pretty sure that’s not happening.

I’m interested!
IMO we need to

1. vaccinate teachers as a priority
2. have kids go back 1 day a week ASAP/ after 1/2 term in reduced bubbles 1/5 of class for say 2-3 weeks
3. then widen bubbles slightly to allow 2 days per child for another month - then it’s Easter hols anyway - all vulnerable will have been vaccinated
4. then back to normal

I have don't agree, nothing should be rushed at all because that will cost lives.

We know what needs to happen, this new variant needs to be totally surpressed, then, students need to be tested for covid,before they step foot into school, then when they do, they should go in blended to give room to the school and wear masks everywhere.
Schools should adapt and give dc breaks with masks, shorter lessons etc. And keep self isolation for the bubble if someone gets infected.

Oh yes and vaccinate teachers and particularly tas actually as many get closer to students than even teachers and have 1:1

Vaccinate all school staff that have contact with students not just teachers and tas

lick this “new variant totally suppressed”... well that could take years or never happen. So that’s out.
Are you suggesting masks for even the younger primary age kids? As again, that won’t be possible.

Fembot123 agreed - vaccinator anyone working in a school - from caretakers to the breakfast school staff. Everyone.

#vaccinate!

I thought this was exactly what all of noblegiraffes threads have been about and also what the NASUWT are working on.

Are you suggesting masks for even the younger primary age kids? As again, that won’t be possible
And yet it is possible in lots of other countries...

I completely agree, op. It's the sort of thing that in days gone by we would have just rightly assumed was happening because it seems so evident that the planning is needed.

However, planning for schools needs to go hand in hand with a rethink of all sorts of things such as reforming our employment laws to make it possible for parents to keep children off school when they need to - far too many are forced to send in sick children because it's either that or lose pay. We need to think of it as societal planning, not 'schools planning', 'hospital planning', 'business planning' etc because covid has really highlighted just how interdependent all these things are.

How would part-time rotas work with the children of key workers do we think? DH and I are both teachers. We can't both go in every day to teach other people's children if our primary-aged DC are only in part-time. We could reduce hours, but our schools would need time to find other teaching staff to replace the hours we were cutting.

Something like this will only work if there is plenty of advance notice, not the usual 24 hours or less.

@OppsUpsSide

I thought this was exactly what all of noblegiraffes threads have been about and also what the NASUWT are working on.

Exactly this.

Definitely-this is so important and we can’t just find out from Boris one day that schools are fully open as normal the next Monday, not again.

The government should be talking to heads now.

I do think some kind of rota system would make sense to increase the amount of hours Each child is in school. But, In practise, there are lots of issues. what happens to the critical worker dc who need a full time place? Are their parents expected to stop nursing or refuse collection or early years or teaching or whatever Critical work they do as they don’t have childcare?
Also, what happens to those not in school on that day, it’s far from ideal to expect All teachers to teach half the class face to face and the other have virtually at the same time (Although I appreciate some are doing this now. Maybe a teacher can say how well this works?). Or do those at home do crappy worksheets for half the time and only get taught half the time?

I’m not convinced schools have enough staff to split each class in half and put half in a marquee on the yard for the summer. At our primary, each class has a teacher and a part time TA. TAs are not qualified to teach a class all day, so that’s not an option to put them with half a class and have the teacher with the other half.

I think education is going to need quite a lot of money throwing at it to make this work. (There are thousands of qualified good teachers out there, who have left in droves over the past couple of years, unfortunately I don’t think even paying mega bucks would tempt them back to the classroom).

@3littlewords

Aren't these plans usually announce the day before? We've got ages yet but this will even be considered

@sundowners

I’m interested! IMO we need to 1) vaccinate teachers as a priority 2) have kids go back 1 day a week ASAP/ after 1/2 term in reduced bubbles 1/5 of class for say 2-3 weeks 3) then widen bubbles slightly to allow 2 days per child for another month - then it’s Easter hols anyway - all vulnerable will have been vaccinated 4) then back to normal

Perfectly sensible, this is completely what I would have gone for, but I’m not sure it can work now.

What about all the schools that are already 60% full of KW and vulnerable children?

Testing kids. I've just done my training so I can help our local school with it

@Swirlingasong

I completely agree, op. It's the sort of thing that in days gone by we would have just rightly assumed was happening because it seems so evident that the planning is needed.

However, planning for schools needs to go hand in hand with a rethink of all sorts of things such as reforming our employment laws to make it possible for parents to keep children off school when they need to - far too many are forced to send in sick children because it's either that or lose pay. We need to think of it as societal planning, not 'schools planning', 'hospital planning', 'business planning' etc because covid has really highlighted just how interdependent all these things are.

The exact opposite of the government's strategy since September then! The decision to keep schools open at all costs was disastrous in my opinion. They should have linked schools with the area tiers system. Something that was in the schools guidance but then was never followed through on. We have little faith though that any plans are being thought about.

TAs are not qualified to teach a class all day, so that’s not an option to put them with half a class and have the teacher with the other half.

The return to school guidance was perfectly happy with anyone being in front of a class as long as the class was kept open- TAs, office staff, students!

@Fembot123

Vaccinate all school staff that have contact with students not just teachers and tas

Even vaccinated people will still carry and transmit the virus. Vaccinating teachers ( or anyone for that matter) won't mean they can't then test positive for covid just that its less likely that they will be severely ill with it. Of course teachers not getting ill (or worse) is a good thing, but its not the golden nugget in making schools completely safe. Devils advocate could have the opposite result, positive asymptomatic teachers could spread it unknowingly to their families and the pupils . There will need to be more than just Vaccinating school staff and all will be OK again.

@cheninblanc

Testing kids. I've just done my training so I can help our local school with it

Lateral flow tests instead of self-isolation for the close contacts of positive cases is going to be the one thing that closes schools, rather than helps to keep them open.