Staggered reopening of schools by area?

[LacyEdge]

Jenny Harries has said today that schools might be reopened gradually by region, depending on the local infection rate.

What do you think about this? And which areas do you reckon would be first/last?

I don’t agree with that.
I think we should have a reopening when the WHOLE country has managed to bring the numbers down.
1- because this will only breed resentment towards the areas where rates are higher
2- because the areas that will be more likely to not open are the ones who are also deprived and with bigger BAME communities. Again.

Basically it saying that the areas who are the most disadvantaged will be disadvantaged even further both by economic cost and the cost in live. Whilst still being at risk of the ‘lower rates’ areas spreading the virus like it happened with the new variant spreading from the south to the north of England....

All kids should be back at the same time to ensure opportunity across the whole country

If there is one thing that has been completely blown apart over the course of this pandemic it's the myth of equal opportunity in the educational system.

I live in bumfuck nowhere

Is it nice there?

The tiers system we ended up with just before Christmas was stupid. I couldn’t figure out if I was allowed to shop in my local supermarket as we were different tiers.

@Allispretty

I think it's a terrible idea and completely unfair. All kids should be back at the same time to ensure equal opportunity across the whole country. Can guess what will happen with this as well most of London will be back whilst us poor northern peasants will be waiting until may/June.

It's an awful idea and no consideration for exams etc. The schools need to be top of the priority and the absolute first thing open once lockdown ends

I knew London would get a mention - please look at this: t.co/idYO0OJsKD?amp=1

But I agree it's totally unfair if exams go ahead as normal next year.

Selfishly I'd rather them prioritise getting 6th form colleges open, as they seemed to have very few cases before Christmas.

Well it is what I said would happen back before Christmas if things got bad in December.

So tiers 1 (I know like that will happen soon), 2 and 3 schools are back. Tier 4 schools are online.

This is the way to go definitely, and lets hope they open all of them super quickly.

I am so worried about the children during this lockdown, and it is grossly unfair to keep them at home and locked away for a moment longer than we need to.

@FourTeaFallOut

All kids should be back at the same time to ensure opportunity across the whole country

If there is one thing that has been completely blown apart over the course of this pandemic it's the myth of equal opportunity in the educational system.

Yep, it has shown inclusion for the tick box exercise it is. People don’t really give a fuck if children are equal, treated well, have equality of opportunity and free from the afflictions of poverty. Until it impacts their lives.

It’s blown apart the whole concept of an inclusive society. We don’t have one and it didn’t take a lot of that veneer to come off.

@Allispretty

I think it's a terrible idea and completely unfair. All kids should be back at the same time to ensure equal opportunity across the whole country. Can guess what will happen with this as well most of London will be back whilst us poor northern peasants will be waiting until may/June.

It's an awful idea and no consideration for exams etc. The schools need to be top of the priority and the absolute first thing open once lockdown ends

@Allispretty Completely agree with all the above.

She also spouted more rubbish about children being infection drivers and insisted it is not happening in school, she doesn't have the data yet?

No, my understanding is Dr Harries is saying children can and do transmit the virus but she doesn't have evidence of them being drivers of large-scale community infections.

In other words the infection rate in schools rather reflects the infection rate in the community as a whole.

I'm glad she referenced balancing children's wellbeing and that schools will be a top priority for reopening.

I wouldn't worry to much about us in London going back first. If we do then there is a good chance it will go bad quickly.

They are saying the BAME population expected take up of the vaccine in as little as 30%. BAME people make up half the population of London unlike the UK as a whole is I think 5%.

London is a bit stuffed It turns out we may be relying a lot on part vaccination and part herd immunity.

@noblegiraffe - she also says Cheltenham was right to go ahead.

God I hope so, our rates are less than 300 and falling. We were one of the last tier 3 areas and we were tipped for tier 2 when lockdown changed everything.

It's tier 5 by stealth?

Tier 1 - nowhere
Tier 2 - next to nowhere
Tier 3 - a few, gradually increasing in numbers
Tier 4 - most of us, for quite a while
Tier 5 - tier 4 which also falls under the DofE 'contingency framework' and where schools close. Remains there at least until Alert 5 and State of Emergency are formally lifted - mainly led by NHS capability in the region

And the last graphic I saw said we’d vaccinated the most people in the country so far.

I agree Harries hasn’t exactly covered herself in glory throughout the pandemic. So after talking shit about children facing forward etc I’m inclined to eyeroll and ignore. But it does seem likely to happen.

Plus I can’t see the Us for Us brigade accepting a moment’s delay in full reopening, for a start.

@Truelymadlydeeplysomeonesmum

I wouldn't worry to much about us in London going back first. If we do then there is a good chance it will go bad quickly.

They are saying the BAME population expected take up of the vaccine in as little as 30%. BAME people make up half the population of London unlike the UK as a whole is I think 5%.

London is a bit stuffed It turns out we may be relying a lot on part vaccination and part herd immunity.

I think it depends how BAME is being defined. Some BAME communities and races won't be taking the vaccine or tests. It covers such a wide range of people.

The data before Christmas suggested that teenagers and children down to 10 or it could have been 9 transmit the virus the same as adults. At least the level of infection is around the same.

Children under 9 or 10 had more cases among them than previous thought they would but no were near as many as older kids.

They have said the viral load found in young children is lower. I think still stands. Therefore they can probably spread the virus but not as well.

What Harries seemed to be proposing was that schools should open as normal, no masks or extra mitigation measures, no vaccines for teachers, no idea whether the bonkers plan for daily testing instead of isolating would make things worse (‘hypothetical risk’) and instead merely rely on local infection levels being low enough for it not to go immediately horribly wrong.

I wonder if she remembers that infection levels were very low in September and that didn’t go brilliantly?

'I couldn’t figure out if I was allowed to shop in my local supermarket as we were different tiers.'

You couldn't 'figure it out'? But we've always been allowed to shop in supermarkets regardless of tier or lockdown.

I found tiers incredibly easy to follow I don't know why people got so confused.

'agree Harries hasn’t exactly covered herself in glory throughout the pandemic. So after talking shit about children facing forward etc I’m inclined to eyeroll and ignore'

Do you think she just makes stuff up? I think what she says will be evidence based.

I think Jenny Harries is brilliant. Comes across as no nonsense and I bet irl she doesn't suffer fools.

Have they made any comments about what they plan to do to make schools safe? Currently every resource they have is being thrown into home learning. The government are going to have to provide assistance to schools this time in both money and resources. The lateral flow testing is just a disaster waiting to happen.

They can't possibly think there will be a different result if we do exactly the same as before.

'No, my understanding is Dr Harries is saying children can and do transmit the virus but she doesn't have evidence of them being drivers of large-scale community infections. In other words the infection rate in schools rather reflects the infection rate in the community as a whole. I'm glad she referenced balancing children's wellbeing and that schools will be a top priority for reopening.'

Yes absolutely agree.

Oh sorry you are right I should have said how BAME was defined in this scenario.

They are saying black and Asian people. Black carers has been a particularly issue as you can imagine. When they say Asian it seems to be the same Asian communities are at highest risk. I know the Muslim community is being targeted with a campaign to promote the vaccine for example.

Makes sense to me considering we have only ever had one case

But we've always been allowed to shop in supermarkets regardless of tier or lockdown.

But you weren’t supposed to travel between tiers.

Do you think she just makes stuff up?

Children facing forward plus comments about lunchboxes do suggest she pulls the occasional statement out of her arse.

I think Jenny Harries is brilliant. Comes across as no nonsense and I bet irl she doesn't suffer fools.

That doesn’t mean she’s right. And in fact when we look at the state of schools just before Christmas, she was in fact horribly wrong.

[quote luckylavender]@noblegiraffe - she also says Cheltenham was right to go ahead. [/quote]
Living there, whilst I didn't like it, many of the area's poorest employed people would be in worse position if it hadn't gone ahead. Many hospitality businesses in the area (which tend to employ low paid workers) rely on it as much as Christmas to stay afloat.

Have they made any comments about what they plan to do to make schools safe?

They’ve made comments that suggest they’re not going to bother.