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) *

"I can see it. Schools need to be safe for everyone."

Define safe. And also how many months / years will this take? Go on, if you've got all the answers I am all ears

Allowed to see one person outside sitting down. Oh how grateful we should be. As if people weren't doing that anyway.
Months and months of not being able to have another person in your house or to meet anywhere indoors, apart from your support bubble? Awful

We need every single restriction of any kind removed in a week or two plus a bonfire of many of the business and personal restrictions before the pandemic to make up to us for the regime under which we have lived. let it become a bonfire of measure giving us much more freedom than we had even in 2019.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation

So let's stop punishing the kids and reopen the schools. If people are bothered about rates, campaign for proper fines and strict application of the rules for adults.

Alternatively let's recognise that every human has needs to be social and these don't stop at 18. A balanced approach to lifting lockdown measures for all age groups would be best. No age group is more important.

Yes every human has a need to be social but children’s need for education trumps that

And I despair at someone who doesn’t think children should be prioritised

@Xenia

We need every single restriction of any kind removed in a week or two plus a bonfire of many of the business and personal restrictions before the pandemic to make up to us for the regime under which we have lived. let it become a bonfire of measure giving us much more freedom than we had even in 2019.

So, does that mean all workers go back to doing exactly what they did before covid, i.e. no social distancing in workplaces, back to full classrooms/lecture theatres, back to offices instead of WFH, etc?? I can see huge numbers of workers being pretty reluctant to return to "perceived" unsafe workplaces.

Yes every human has a need to be social but children’s need for education trumps that

There is no actual need for an education. Basic needs are shelter, food, warmth, clothing and social contact. School isn't the only place to get an education either.

@Xenia

We need every single restriction of any kind removed in a week or two plus a bonfire of many of the business and personal restrictions before the pandemic to make up to us for the regime under which we have lived. let it become a bonfire of measure giving us much more freedom than we had even in 2019.

I can see the need to maybe leave it a little longer, but yes!!

This is what I meant about DC mixing in school whilst adults are still so severely restricted. It's disproportionate. If it's safe for 30+ families to be connected via school classes (and realistically it's more because of siblings) then why are the rest of us not even allowed, say, the rule of six outdoors and one other household indoors at a time?

If we're ok with it spreading once the vulnerable are vaccinated, why hold back on everything else?

Define safe. And also how many months / years will this take? Go on, if you've got all the answers I am all ears

Actually I said safer. For me that would include: improved ventilation/air filtration, masks, smaller class sizes, blended learning/rotas etc for secondary. NEU, independent Sage, Safer Schools for All - these groups have all published suggested measures to reduce transmission in schools. The government has had nearly 12 months to fund and implement some of these but they simply haven't bothered.

@FreakinFrankNFurter
The government say they should be prioritised but really it's just lip service. What have they actually done except say schools will reopen? They've not put any money or measures in place.

Repeated isolation periods, ill school staff and family members from lack of mitigation in schools is not prioritising children.

Primary 8th March, secondary after Easter. Northern Ireland saying this and I think England will be the same

FreakinFrankNFurter

And I despair at someone who doesn’t think children should be prioritised

Can you give examples of the government doing this?

And by that I mean getting the children back to school in as safe and sustainable way as possible.

"There's no actual need for an education" - just when you thought you had read it all on MN.

That statement is not dissimilar to the now infamous poster who told another MN'er to put cheese in her coffee because milk is a non essential item.

When DC are sent home to isolate because of cases in their bubble
Why do you assume that will be the protocol?
Now that the most vulnerable are vaccinated it may not be necessary. So many doomsters on here seem to be harking back to last year when there was no vaccination and ‘bubbles’ were the only weapon against overwhelming the NHS.
All this has only been about nit overwhelming the NHS -not preventing cases.
So yes, people will probably still catch it but it doesn’t matter if cases are mild and not hospitalising lathe numbers.
So forget ‘bubbles bursting’ Bubbles no longer necessary.

@siestalady

"There's no actual need for an education" - just when you thought you had read it all on MN.

That statement is not dissimilar to the now infamous poster who told another MN'er to put cheese in her coffee because milk is a non essential item.

Haha I missed that coffee thread wondered why people kept mentioning it I can see why now. And yes to comparison.

There is no actual need for an education

Erm....pretty sure education is a basic human right

EmmanuelleMakro

Good to see that as a "teacher" you are also an expert in virology and have the ability to set policy for the government.

I expect schools will carry on teaching in bubbles like before. However, I don't see how it makes any difference because my child was constantly sent home, 3 bloody times to isolate.

It's true, on a basic human level there is no actual need for an education as we have set up society. Just because you don't like this fact, doesn't mean it's not true.

It is also not only schools that are responsible for a child's education. In fact according to the education act, it's the parents.

Like I keep repeating, schools being open safely with rotas, blended learning and funding for better safety measures will benefit everyone. Schools back open as they were from Sept-Dec will kill more people.

It's hugely scary the thought of the majority of the population not being vaccinated and people suggesting we don't isolate due to cases or have bubbles. That's pretty much all schools have.

Are you advocating everyone stops wearing masks or social distancing or is it just schools?

Bubbles no longer necessary! You’re clearly not listening to the science. The vaccine is not a silver bullet but one weapon against COVID. Lose the other weapons and we end up losing the battle.

Define safe: well schools should be as COVID secure as any other business, enforcement of the 2m rule definitely in secondary schools and where possible in primary schools until the rule is deemed unnecessary in other industries. If that means rotas so be it. Some face to face learning better than none. Twice weekly testing of staff and pupils, proper ventilation in all classrooms, no fines if parents choose to keep their vulnerable children at home, vulnerable staff not at work until fully vaccinated.

@EmmanuelleMakro

When DC are sent home to isolate because of cases in their bubble Why do you assume that will be the protocol? Now that the most vulnerable are vaccinated it may not be necessary. So many doomsters on here seem to be harking back to last year when there was no vaccination and ‘bubbles’ were the only weapon against overwhelming the NHS. All this has only been about nit overwhelming the NHS -not preventing cases. So yes, people will probably still catch it but it doesn’t matter if cases are mild and not hospitalising lathe numbers. So forget ‘bubbles bursting’ Bubbles no longer necessary.

Seriously? So no isolating at all, we just let it run rampant through school children, siblings, parents etc?

*not forgetting school staff.

It’s not as simple as that though. I have 4 children, 1 is vulnerable. Do I keep all 4 of them off (including my eldest, who is in year 11)? Will they get any work set? How long do I have to deprive them of an education whilst all of their peers are back in school?

This is a huge issue schools face - this, and how to cater for pupils self isolating. How can a teacher simultaneously teach 30 children in person, plus 2/3 at home vulnerable or SI?

We were ‘lucky’ in that we had a part time teacher who was third trimester pregnant in the autumn term, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to provide for our children with CEV relatives.

The government won’t have thought this through. In a month’s time I expect we’ll see loads of threads complaining that schools aren’t providing well enough for children at home once schools are fully back.

@RedcurrantPuff

There is no actual need for an education

Erm....pretty sure education is a basic human right

There's some other basic human rights like freedom of association and right to a family life that the government have been quite happy to suspend this year. It's considered legally acceptable in times of crisis. I'm not necessarily saying it's morally acceptable, but then I question the other rights they've suspended, most notably the complete isolation of a third of the adult population from March - June.

@LimitIsUp

"I can see it. Schools need to be safe for everyone."

Define safe. And also how many months / years will this take? Go on, if you've got all the answers I am all ears

I see @pinkpip100 has given you an answer. And there's no need to be belligerent and aggressive.