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) *

@DenisetheMenace

HauntedPencil

Every day counts for the kids when they've had so much disruption. I don't see the point of keeping them off until after Easter just because
Easter is jn a few weeks - if the advice is that there is headroom.“

Believe the current advice is that there isn’t, yet.

so let's get them back when it's a bit safer then, and avoid more disruption down the line

I think we just aren't there in terms of reducing the incidence of covid to allow full reopening of schools. Yes we have 3 weeks to go, but unless we can really get the numbers down (perhaps to the 1000 that Jeremy Hunt suggests) then we are just going to see a resurgence with inadequate test and trace.

My county is at about the same 7 day rolling rate that it was at mid December. That's when things were going wrong.

The most recent map showing the 7 day rolling rate looks more like 15 December than 1 September - the September one was mostly green, the December one had a bit more purple than the most recent one (9 Feb). And we are living with a different variant now, compared to when schools reopened in September.

It would be interesting to know how the areas having surge testing for the SA variant are going - whether than is impacting the overall spread of covid there. If there is an impact, then that would be the way to go once the rates really drop.

@MyDcAreMarvel

Those 3 weeks in school are the cost of an extra five weeks to reduce the R and gain better understand of the new variants. No child’s long term future will be even remotely affected by three more weeks of remote learning. There will be thousands of extra deaths as a result.

Stop with the hyperbole! Thousands of extra deaths?! How, when the groups who make up pretty much all the deaths will have been vaccinated!

It really makes no difference!!
My class is pretty much full anyway, has been all lockdown as 92% of my school are vulnerable or key worker children.

Great! Our children have lost more school time than any other nation.

The U.K. has had more deaths than the majority of other nations. If lockdown gets lifted too soon again, we’ll end up in another later one with different variants of the virus.

herecomesthsun

DenisetheMenace
HauntedPencil

Every day counts for the kids when they've had so much disruption. I don't see the point of keeping them off until after Easter just because
Easter is jn a few weeks - if the advice is that there is headroom.“

Believe the current advice is that there isn’t, yet.

so let's get them back when it's a bit safer then, and avoid more disruption down the line”

Yes, I agree with you! I was commenting on Haunted Pencil’s post. I believe we need to wait until all over 50s have been vaccinated.

@dipdips

Great! Our children have lost more school time than any other nation.

@dipdips

Do you have evidence or stats for that?

Some schools in the US, for example, have been closed since March.

Some schools in China were closed from January and for several months.

In England our schools were partially closed from March to July, and then from January.

If we open too early we run the risk of them being closed again for a long time again.

sherrystrull

If we open too early we run the risk of them being closed again for a long time again”

You could cry this from the rooftops but unfortunately lots will disagree because it’s incredibly inconvenient, if factual.

I have every sympathy btw, it IS incredibly inconvenient. If we can all just knuckle down for a few more weeks though, just weeks, there’s a real chance that we can be out of this dire situation in a couple of months, permanently.
Covid will probably never go away but neither has ‘flu which kills an average of 11,000 each year.
If we’re sensible for just another couple of months, Covid will be reduced to that.

@DenisetheMenace

sherrystrull

If we open too early we run the risk of them being closed again for a long time again”

You could cry this from the rooftops but unfortunately lots will disagree because it’s incredibly inconvenient, if factual.

I have every sympathy btw, it IS incredibly inconvenient. If we can all just knuckle down for a few more weeks though, just weeks, there’s a real chance that we can be out of this dire situation in a couple of months, permanently.
Covid will probably never go away but neither has ‘flu which kills an average of 11,000 each year.
If we’re sensible for just another couple of months, Covid will be reduced to that.

Completely agree.

@RedcurrantPuff

There is no actual need for an education

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

Schools are not shut.

Some schools have the majority of pupils in.

Education and teaching are happening (It looks different but it is certainly happening)

If we have another surge it is likely to impact negatively in all sorts of ways on the community as a whole and on children.

We need to listen to SAGE - they have usually been right!

You’re not talking about a few more weeks though are you? A few more weeks is March.

When do you think it will be ‘safe’ to open?

No one knows yet. The government have said they are aiming for 8 March. We don’t know if that’s all years, part time, rota, with masks, short days, bubbles etc.

Hopefully more information later this month.

@Delatron

You’re not talking about a few more weeks though are you? A few more weeks is March.

When do you think it will be ‘safe’ to open?

I personally think after Easter. I think community transmission needs to be much lower and as many over 40's as possible vaccinated.

so March 8 is 3 weeks till the Easter holidays. They would then be going back about 19 April. That seems more sensible as an infection break. It would mean that many adults had been vaccinated and give the government more time to vaccinate teachers. And it is only 3 weeks more of term. There could be another review just before Easter.

Yep I think in for 3 weeks then the natural break for Easter. If you wait until after Easter then that’s the latter part of April. Another two months...

It will be 4 weeks here (-friday) almost wished I knew all these places breaking up a week befire us so I could go on holiday there when they go back.... oh wait!

@Delatron

Yep I think in for 3 weeks then the natural break for Easter. If you wait until after Easter then that’s the latter part of April. Another two months...

If we waited until after Easter then we've got more of a chance of lasting and staying open throughout the summer term and also community transmission being low enough for children to get out and about during the Easter holidays which would be wonderful.

Delatron

Yep I think in for 3 weeks then the natural break for Easter. If you wait until after Easter then that’s the latter part of April. Another two months..“

When you’ve been at home for a year, honestly, two months is a walk in the park 😁

Seriously, if someone in authority told you that in another two months we would mostly be free of this, wouldn’t you be delighted?
We can be, if we can all dig down for just a bit longer.
I think lots of people’s expectations are unrealistic. The vaccines were never going to eradicate Covid entirely. But 80% protection (more with some vaccines) is quite remarkable. It means that the huge majority will suffer an unpleasant week then get on with their lives. Very, very frail people will sadly succumb, as 11,000 on average do each year to ‘flu in spite of being vaccinated. But that’s life . If we can as a nation hang on in there for another couple of months, the way forward is bright.

Proviso: the Govt .. must continue to support the population financially. It will be prudent long-term.

If we can as a nation hang on in there for another couple of months, the way forward is bright.

I agree. Going by past experience we will probably open up far too soon and lurch backwards and forwards from crisis to crisis.

Yes I know full well the current situation with schooling, I have school children of my own, @herecomesthsun. I was responding to the poster who said education wasn’t essential. I wasn’t suggesting children weren’t currently getting an education (of sorts anyway)

I also said earlier on the thread @herecomesthsun I thought schools should not open till after Easter and then be part time

@Delatron

Yep I think in for 3 weeks then the natural break for Easter. If you wait until after Easter then that’s the latter part of April. Another two months...

Not sure about a natural break for Easter if Christmas is anything to go by. Schools being open gives a "do what you like" message during holiday times.

I think it does too. Far better to maintain lockdown and open after Easter. Time to vaccinate a huge number of people, let the virus go down and then hopefully there will be a more settled summer term.

Doing it too early risks a chaotic summer.