Sunday Times just reported that all schools in England will be back on 8 March

[LimitIsUp]

This quote from the article:
"All schoolchildren will return to the classroom on March 8 under plans to start lifting the lockdown, Boris Johnson will announce in a national address next week.

Under the government’s blueprint to reopen society, adults will initially have only small new freedoms so as to prioritise the return of schools — a move ministers know will raise the coronavirus R number for infections.

Adults will be allowed to sit down outdoors for a coffee or on a park bench with one friend, or with members of their own family — a slight relaxation of the current rule, which permits outdoor meetings only while standing up.

The decision to reopen both primary and secondary schools goes against the advice of some government scientists. But the prime minister was swayed by faster than expected reductions in hospital admissions and infections."

I can link to the article but for those of you without a subscription, there is a pay wall

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/back-to-school-on-march-8-as-johnson-starts-lifting-lockdown-0v5zbz5bt

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• Title edited by MNHQ (it said October, we've changed it to March as reported) *

in referring to young children - not a 19 year old!!!

And what data do you have to show long covid is not happening in young children?

I hope the schools are able to open more fully from 8 March but no one knows yet whether that will happen as it will depend on transmission rate, number of hospital admissions and deaths. The R has come down but the hospital admissions and deaths are still too high.
The government has, apart from the vaccination programme made a total mess of handling the pandemic. The country should have been locked down earlier and with tighter restrictions.
The government won’t want yet another u-turn so I expect that schools will just reopen initially to some year groups and wait and see if the cases numbers change before opening more fully.

It's not just the risk to teachers though it's the parents the children are going home to. Plenty of our students parents are over 50 and that's the group with increasing hospitalisations.

There are so many factors influencing the government decisions. Impossible to please everyone and keep everyone safe.

If they go against the science, then they’re fucking idiots. Theres not much else to say really.

They miss fun, jokes from people of the same age, they miss birthday parties. They need to learn to be independent, they need the social aspect and a chance to a healthy and happy future. They need friends

My child is perfectly happy at home. I accept many are not, but mine is.

Why can't you accept that?

@Chollok

They miss fun, jokes from people of the same age, they miss birthday parties. They need to learn to be independent, they need the social aspect and a chance to a healthy and happy future. They need friends

My child is perfectly happy at home. I accept many are not, but mine is.

Why can't you accept that?

I accept that YOUR child is happy to be alone.

You need to accept that the majority of children, mine included, need a lot more than being stuck home with their parents!

It's not healthy to be stuck with adults and have no life.

Not one mention that I can see of the impact on working parents (or the businesses they work for). Dh works out of the home. I work full time at home. I simply cannot supervise home learning and do my job and my children are not the kinds to just get on with it themselves.

My work is suffering. My team are not hitting kpis and milestones, sla’s are being missed. My children are doing less than an hour of school work a day.

We’ve had two heartstopping incidents. One toaster fire and a melted wax art attempt going horribly wrong while I’ve been shut away on work calls, and my children are sensible, capable and generally undemanding.

This situation cannot go on, but then I said that 10 months ago and it has.

@Chollok I think you should definitely keep your son at home. On another note I do not believe that a 5 year wouid prefer to play with his grandmother than his mates!!

Good luck

On another note I do not believe that a 5 year wouid prefer to play with his grandmother than his mates!!

You can believe what you like, it's true. My son is not comfortable around children his own age. This is pre pandemic. He's always been like it.

He's an old soul. It's been picked up on by his teacher.

Meanwhile families and loved ones remain separated indefinitely.

You need to accept that the majority of children, mine included, need a lot more than being stuck home with their parents

I have, where have I said I disagree with you?

I would actually think that's it's a worry if a child is happier with his mum and grand mother, and that they really NEED to be in contact with other children fast.

It's lovely to keep them home when they are babies and toddlers, and they really have no need of socialisation, but when they reach school age, it's healthier if they have friends.

My son is not comfortable around children his own age
keeping him home is not going to help that at all, thats the point.

@CoronaIsWatching

Meanwhile families and loved ones remain separated indefinitely.

you can still be in contact.

It's a lot more important for kids and especially teenagers to have a social life!

I would actually think that's it's a worry if a child is happier with his mum and grand mother, and that they really NEED to be in contact with other children fast.

Yes it is; what would you like me to do about it? He's fine with small groups of children like his cousins but not in his massive class of 30 children. I was the same. Hated being in a large group as a child, hated it throughout school, hate it still as an adult. Not really sure how my attending school altered that.

And BTW in my country your child tends to interact more with the extended family (cousins etc) than schoolfriends.

There is very little emphasis on extended family in Britain.

keeping him home is not going to help that at all, thats the point.

I'm not keeping him home, if we were to home school we would bubble with another home schooling family. Hth.

*with regard CV teachers - we are over 3 weeks before schools go back . Group 6 will be done by then based on an average of 400,000 vaccines per day. So no excuses. Perception of risk differs from teachers actual risk. Those at risk will have been done by 8th march.

I seriously hope we don't keep schools closed to protect a 25 year old teacher*

I agree. Covid will never be eliminated and we need to learn to live with it. Most people are not at high risk and hospitals will have more capacity.

Good. As a high school parent I would accept part time school mixed with online learning for a while, but then we have had quite good support from the school this time around-live lessons etc, which I know not everyone has had. Plus, I am wfh and have had family help to glue dc to their chairs, which I am extremely lucky to have had. Again, so many children have had to be left to it because their parents just cannot help them as they are too busy with their jobs.
It can't go on like this much longer, we need to prioritise children and also the people working f/t and beginning to suffer chronic stress after months of this situation.
As for "no safety measures", well, this surprises me a bit, because when dc went back in September it was very different to how school had previously been. Each year was had staggered starts, they only used 2 classrooms per group-no moving around. There was no lab work at all, no cooking, no use of the cafeteria. Masks in all communal areas (and this was strictly enforced). They were not allowed to play together in breaks, or to congregate in groups.
The teachers entered the classroom last and stayed at the front, and sometimes lessons were delivered on a screen if the teacher was isolating, and the Head would sit at the front and keep an eye on behaviour while working.
Not saying any situation where you are teaching (or working in a supermarket/warehouse/police station) is 100% safe but school had very few outbreaks.
So, basically, it was a bit shit for dc, and for teachers, but better than no school whatsoever for the best part of a year!
I would support vaccination of all over 40 or cv teachers, I would support staggered starts prioritising exam years, and then lets crack on fgs.

Aren’t we still meant to be protecting the NHS? Isn’t the key thing for hospital admissions to fall so pressure is taken off ITU etc? The nhs can then start to revert to normal routine stuff? People have had procedures/investigations cancelled/postponed or not bothered to go to GP.

@Rosesaresweet

*with regard CV teachers - we are over 3 weeks before schools go back . Group 6 will be done by then based on an average of 400,000 vaccines per day. So no excuses. Perception of risk differs from teachers actual risk. Those at risk will have been done by 8th march.

I seriously hope we don't keep schools closed to protect a 25 year old teacher*

I agree. Covid will never be eliminated and we need to learn to live with it. Most people are not at high risk and hospitals will have more capacity.

So they won’t be protected in 3 weeks will they! As it takes 21 to take effect

We need to ensure that we are at a stage that when we are all back in school school that we do not have another lockdown situation. The in-out in-out approach is really disruptive.

So Whitty/Valance/PVT and the gang need to get it right and not a bunch of journos in the ST or Telegraph or the Sun with their Big Bang announcement

Meanwhile in Scotland where we have less time left in the academic year the scottish govt are very quiet on their plan.. If they have one..

Hospitals don’t really have capacity at the moment the staff are bloody knackered

Is it really worth the risk for just 3 weeks? They're off for 2 weeks at Easter, so surely it would make more sense to hold off and send them back after the Easter break instead when infection rates would be a lot lower. It's one hell of a risk for just 3 weeks in school.