Can we unlock the schools at start of Feb?

[MeandT]

I'm totally supportive of the lockdown BUT by the end of next week, case numbers nationally will be the same as they were at end of November. Hospital admissions are falling again.

Rather than going back into tiers with the shops and food pubs open (where all the spreading happened in December), can we not issue all the teachers with N95 masks (and vaccines for the clinically vulnerable), make all the kids wear triple layer face masks all the time, and just get on with the important job of educating this country's kids in person? Starting again 1st of Feb.

AIBU to ask if we can send the kids back as soon as we hit the case rate we unlocked at on 2nd December?

IABU= no way, the cases will shoot up too quickly again, even if they all wear masks all day.

IANBU = yes, get them back before half term, the only reason it went nuts in December was because everyone was out Christmas shopping and seeing family.

I don't want to spend my days outside trying to teach children in the playground! It's already bloody freezing enough with all the doors and windows open.

There’s a huge disparity between real life and what is thrown around on Mumsnet.

There is no single source of infection and it’s been shown that infection in schools mirror infection in the community.

As soon as cases and hospitalisations come down, schools will likely be the first thing to open. Rightly so.

It’s always the same teachers with an agenda posting on every thread. A loud minority, but not the majority.

When it's warmer?

You wouldn't mind teaching them outside when it's warm surely? Our dc primary had them out all summer!

@FightingFiles But the people that are dying this week are dying as a result of the restrictions in place (or not) in the week before and after Christmas. The date to have locked down to make a difference was 18th December. That's when it should have happened.

Making decisions based on today's data is always several weeks out of phase. That's why we need to consider school reopening ahead of a significant fall in the daily death rate.

Picking a region with low case numbers to go hard with DIFFERENT measures from what we've tried before in schools (ie not none) would give Sage a chance to gather data on what actually DOES make a difference to school transmission rates, so this can be rolled out effectively everywhere.

Without muddying the waters with foreign holiday, eat out to 'help' out, encouraging workers back into offices and opening the pubs and non-essential shops!

There were too many other factors to figure out HOW to make schools safest in both September and December.?

it’s been shown that infection in schools mirror infection in the community.

Why then, before Christmas, were secondary schools kids vastly more infected than everyone else?

[quote Turtleshelly]bylinetimes.com/2021/01/21/parents-campaign-against-school-closures-receives-pr-support-from-boris-johnson-advisor/[/quote]
I wonder if this group of usforthem founders are going to end up changing their identities in yearsxto come? How anyone can be associated with this lot and not be embarrassed at the damage their PR campaign has caused. I do hope an inquiry into the relationship with usforthem and the government will be forthcoming in time. There is an excellent counter group on twitter doing a great job gathering evidence.

@LickEmbysmiling

When it's warmer?

You wouldn't mind teaching them outside when it's warm surely? Our dc primary had them out all summer!

That’s not an easy fix. All the tech is indoors. It’s going to be months before that’s a feasible option. Lots of schools are pretty lacking in outdoor spaces.

My school had lots of outdoor play for the children in key worker bubbles last year, but it wasn't formal maths and English, and in a concrete playground with no shelter from sun or rain time has to be limited due to the weather. It rained a LOTin June/july in Yorkshire

[quote Turtleshelly]bylinetimes.com/2021/01/21/parents-campaign-against-school-closures-receives-pr-support-from-boris-johnson-advisor/[/quote]
Grassroots parent campaign group my arse.

Mumsnet had them sussed back in the summer, try as hard as they could (and they’re still trying, we see you), they never gained traction on here.

Dishonest, self-absorbed and scientifically illiterate. And apparently shadily funded.

Exactly-outdoor play is very different from actual lessons.

It's about bloody time that mask-wearing in supermarkets and other shops was made mandatory for nt children over the age of about 7 or so. They mingle at school all day with no masks on, and the first thing their parent does on collecting them from school is take them to the supermarket on the way home.

Not exactly ideal for limiting the spread of infection, is it?

@Fredshred so in Belgium are schools open at the moment? Would you say keeping them open has been differently prioritised compared with England?

Trying to get 30 children to listen in a quiet classroom is hard enough, never mind trying to get them to listen and concentrate outside alongside 200 other children in a playground.

Primaries should go back.

I said that I hoped the dfe are coming up with advice for how to teach a reduced curriculum outdoors in summer term. Because if restrictions are needed past Easter that feels like it is more feasible than primary children learning at home, on screens, with light supervision as parents wfh.

Not teach a full curriculum, just get the primary school children face to face learning whilst the weather is good.

I can see this might be a problem in some urban areas, but in our northern town there is the space.

“These aren’t my grandparents on the ward here, these are school-aged children’s mums and dads on this ward.”

twitter.com/itvnews/status/1351305737637658625?s=21

[quote smogsville]@Fredshred so in Belgium are schools open at the moment? Would you say keeping them open has been differently prioritised compared with England?[/quote]
I’d also be interested to know what things like class sizes, classroom sizes (ie scope for distancing), mask wearing and ventilation is like in other countries.

YABU- whilst it is not clear if cases will shoot up again, they might. It takes a long lag for people to be discharged from hospital - so even if new positive cases go down there will be a few weeks lag for hospital admissions and after that bed occupancy to decrease.

In addition, nhs will then want to catch up on all those important surgery and other treatments which have been delayed by the pandemic, so any further rise will risk making those worse.

Does anyone have any idea about who does fund them?
And why??

Who is the counter group on twitter!

I said that I hoped the dfe are coming up with advice for how to teach a reduced curriculum outdoors in summer term

The DfE are a useless bunch of shite. They spent the autumn term coming up with yet another new teacher training route. Because that’s the priority right now.

@FreekStar

Trying to get 30 children to listen in a quiet classroom is hard enough, never mind trying to get them to listen and concentrate outside alongside 200 other children in a playground.

That’s ok, it took my son 4 hours to pay attention to a 10 slide instruction deck and write 12 lines yesterday.

If covid is spreading come May, what is your suggestion? That will be 5 months at home.

Anyway.. They, gavin... D of e needs to be looking at summer, what they will do in summer.
They also need to look at air purifying systems, for winter and what systems will be in place for winter.

If covid is spreading come May, what is your suggestion? That will be 5 months at home.

How long it has gone on for is largely irrelevant. Dealing with what was still driving the spread of covid would have to be the priority at that point.

@MinesAPintOfTea

I said that I hoped the dfe are coming up with advice for how to teach a reduced curriculum outdoors in summer term. Because if restrictions are needed past Easter that feels like it is more feasible than primary children learning at home, on screens, with light supervision as parents wfh.

Not teach a full curriculum, just get the primary school children face to face learning whilst the weather is good.

I can see this might be a problem in some urban areas, but in our northern town there is the space.

I agree that in primary and early years there is scope for more outdoor spaces and with planning there has to be a better option than just stuffing 30 kids into small classrooms. How about rotas where half are doing outdoor activities on alternate weeks/days? I know our weather is unpredictable but it is doable.

[quote BustopherPonsonbyJones]@SleepingStandingUp
If it were up to me, I would expect the school to be given an exemption letter from a medical professional. If there is a valid, non-U4T reason, why a child was unable to wear a mask, they would be welcome in school unless there was a Covid outbreak (number of cases to be decided). At that point, for the child’s safety and the safety of the community I would ask they were educated at home, returning when cases dropped.

I don’t get to decide though. Just my opinion.[/quote]
What's a non-U4T?