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) *

@AnniversaryScaresMe

This is ridiculous. Kids mixing in schools whilst adults still can't see even one person at home? They are torturing the population.

People instantly moaning they can't do things even though their children are in school is the reason schools shouldn't be reopened until it's considered safer for all.

We either value and prioritise children's needs and their education or we don't. Prioritising it shouldn't result in howls of 'it's not fair' from everyone else.

I have zero respect for people who want to send teachers into crowded classrooms with no safety measures or vaccination. I utterly condemn politicians who are not even providing the most basic safety measures.

If other countries can do it then so can we.

And I'm not a teacher.

No child’s long term future will be even remotely affected by three more weeks of remote learning.

Where do you stop, though?
I had a reception child in my class on placement last March who could barely talk because he had such a severe speech delay and his understanding was so low. Qualified for vulnerable place but parents didn’t accept it. People are SO blasé about “oh a few more weeks won’t do anything!” and it makes me think they’ve never actually grasped how much of an impact school closures have.
I still think we had no choice but to have the schools closed in January because we got to 60,000 cases a day. Obviously I don’t want to see that happening again, but I think being this bloody flippant about children’s mental health is unnecessary.

And I am sorry that yours have been affected so badly, I do appreciate that this has hit everyone differently.

@Snowsnowglorioussnow

If childrens futures will be so deeply affected by three more weeks then we need 🔝 stop long summer holidays. Private school especially as they get far longer.

hahahahahahah

No.

If only school safety had been planned better in the first place.

"School staff who are over 50 or vulnerable should be able to access the vaccine now."

Yes I agree with this, bump up the over 50 teachers by all means, - but NOT for the under 50's (until the priority groups have been done)

Lots of under 50 teachers live with vulnerable people as they can't afford accommodation. Loads of them.

It'll all just be transmitted home to relatives and parents.

@Beebityboo

With no extra safety mitigations for children or staff, still no real recognition this is airborne, and it's been stated a few times that children are much more likely to get the new variant than the original. I'm disabled and though I'm not on a priority list for the vaccine I am still so, so scared I will catch it when the DC's go back. It feels inevitable. Though I know they need to be back in school for their well being. I don't know what the answer is .

Look - I know you’re vulnerable, but I have been teaching face to face the whole time, I have half a class in. Rates in my area were also sky high before lockdown in November and I had them all in. I didn’t get it. Obviously I could have been asymptomatic, but how likely is it that no child got any symptoms in my class, nor any of their family (or they would have had to isolate), nor my partner, nor my TA...

It really really really is not inevitable.

You got lucky.

Others were unlucky and some died.

I'm still not seeing any adequate safety plan or mitigation measures for schools from Government.

@LimitIsUp

Personally I am pleased. It would really have stuck in my craw if my Year 12 hadn't gone back

Same here!

My kids will get more out of seeing their friends locally in the long summer hols than going into school for an extra 3 weeks now.

Absolutely this. It’s ridiculous that apparently all these kids love school. Every child I know hates going back to school after the holidays but on mumsnet all kids love being at school. Most kids love seeing their friends and don’t mind school but certainly wouldn’t be desperate to get back there if they could just socialise a few times a week.

@AllAroundTheWrekin

You got lucky.

Others were unlucky and some died.

If this is directed at me then yeah, OBVIOUSLY not everyone has avoided getting covid.

The poster I replied to has posted for months about being very anxious. I’m trying to reassure her.

@AllAroundTheWrekin

I'm still not seeing any adequate safety plan or mitigation measures for schools from Government.

Absolutely. They've done nothing, again to keep school staff, children and their families safer. Vaccination is the only difference between now and September 2020. And we all know how that turned out.

@TwelvePaws it’s not just about kids loving school, it’s about school being potentially the only safe place for hundreds of children. And vulnerable children tend to have poorer attendance in general so we can’t assume they’re taking vulnerable places. I know many who aren’t.
It’s great that some children are doing fine with all this but loads aren’t and it’s not just about what already happy children will “get more out of”.

@AllAroundTheWrekin

Lots of under 50 teachers live with vulnerable people as they can't afford accommodation. Loads of them.

@AllAroundTheWrekin - but all the vulnerable groups will have been offered the vaccine by then.

year5teacher

Vulnerable kids are in school.

[quote actiongirl1978]@Snowsnowglorioussnow

My two are at private school. I would be happy for both children to be off until after Easter and in fact have told them this will be the case.

But they'd better not touch our summer holidays.

Both of them have been online from 8.30am till 4pm daily, including Saturday school.

The only thing that's lost is the extra curricular and the social aspects of school. Both have followed a full timetable and curriculum and the Yr6 has nailed it this term, working his socks off.[/quote]
My youngest child is also at private school. The provision has been the same as yours.

It has been an absolute fucking nightmare, and her mental health (which has long been an issue) has never been worse.

I personally wish her school had been independent enough to open regardless of the diktats from Number 10, and would gladly lose the summer holidays if it helped her to reconnect with her education and her friends in real life, not behind a screen.

Definitely need at the very least secondary dc in masks too like France.
If vaccines stop transmission then that will help teachers stopping passing it on to their close contacts who may be vulnerable.

And those who aren’t should be followed up and checked on. The issue of vulnerable kids was an issue before all this.

I would argue that the fact that the vulnerable people have been vaccinated is a huge difference between Sept and now!

[quote actiongirl1978]@mrsminiegg

My comment was more directed at the idea that private schools have long holidays so shouldn't be able to have the full summer holidays because their are longer than most.

My kids will get more out of seeing their friends locally in the long summer hols than going into school for an extra 3 weeks now.[/quote]
Well yes I agree, but it's not as simple as that. Teachers won't agree. They are entitled not to. Schools won't have the money particularly now to add supplementary wages and running costs. Kids particularly those who have struggled need reintroduction to routine and normality not play dates.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56058744

It's crackers. Just look at the figures and the chart. And with the new strain it could explode again if all the kids are sent back in one fell swoop with no mitigation measures.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Einstein I think.