No school for us til 9th April at the earliest. Royally fucked off now.

[WeAreFromThePlanetDuplo]

Announcement just made for NI that most kids won't be going back to school until after the Easter holidays, and there's no guarantee of that. So fed up.

Three primary years will go back for acre weeks then homeschool again while some secondary years go back. Which seems very odd.

Our rates are lowering but we had some of the worst in the UK before Christmas.

I am hanging by a thread waiting for the announcement on Weds in England, I really hope they are all back 8th March tbh but am expecting after Easter.

I’m in NI too- totally fucked off.

Dd has a bad speech and language delay and should have started SLT through the NHS nearly a year ago. The service has been shut down due to Covid, so she’s not had any meaningful help.

She’s due to start her nursery year in September and I’m so worried about the knock on affect on her getting settled in a school environment 😢

Repeating the year en masse would be unfair and ridiculous. I want them to go back for their own sakes but my primary child is in anyway as I work at a school. Those trying to work and homeschool young kids should strike against it, it’s too much and I feel like they’ve been thrown under the bus by The Governments woolly advice that is wide open to interpretation by employers.

@whyarentiskinnyet

I am hanging by a thread waiting for the announcement on Weds in England, I really hope they are all back 8th March tbh but am expecting after Easter.

It’s Monday isn’t it?

I would be very happy if they said this in England. It's still too soon yet. Levels are the same rate they were at at the end of September, we need to get them lower.

whenwillthemadnessend
I'm raging. They better not do this in England.
At least send the poor GCSEs kids back My dd has lost nearly two terms of her GCSEs now

I would like to know what I am teaching them, what I am preparing them for and how it will be assessed otherwise there is little point in sending them back.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this is similar for England too.
They seem to be giving off much more cautious vibes this time.
I honestly can’t call it and I’ve been pretty good with the other decisions.
The waiting is awful

If the same is announced in England that means we are only half way through the homeschooling so far this lockdown. I cannot do another 6 weeks of it or whatever it is. I just can't. And my kids can't

I'm just hoping and hoping that children in England go back on March 8th. My own are struggling and need to go back. My ks1 children in school are struggling because it's not school as they know it.

Let them back please.

It’s pretty desperate for the children to go back to school now - they’ve carried the can with no say for too long and will be paying the high taxes in the years to come as a result of this pandemic - I am very grateful that none of my children are in key exam cohorts - all those who’s kids are have my sympathy

I hope England does the same thing too.
If they go back early March we'll set off another round of infections and possible mutations just in time for summer to be buggered up.

That’s rubbish OP, I’m sorry to hear it. I really really hope England doesn’t follow suit!

Oh no OP I’m so sorry. I’m absolutely dreading the same in England, I can’t keep on like this either, my DC have had enough. I’ll also be considering ditching the home schooling from March 8 if mine don’t go back, it’s not worth sacrificing my health.

This is all such bollocks. I can't teach my kids, I just don't know how.

I started a thread about NI earlier today including this.
I wish the government follows a four nation unity after all we are suppose to the UK! Why would it be “safe” for children to return en mass to school on 8th March in England if it’s not deemed safe in NI or Scotland? Science is science if we’re still following it. The is evidence to suggest infection rates in 5-12 yr olds is spreading faster than other age groups.
www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/covid-infections-in-england-fall-by-two-thirds-but-spreading-fastest-among-young
Open all schools as “normal” and we will be back to high community spread and the threat of new variants.

Wow I wish I lived in Northern Ireland it must be a relief for you that education is devolved @WeAreFromThePlanetDuplo

Bet this will be the same for most secondary school kids in the UK, as per an imminent announcement, is my prediction.

Aren't primary in NI starting back in March though?

P1-p3 (and preschoolers) are back for 2 weeks, then one week homeschooling, then Easter holidays.

Years 12-14 go back for a week when the p1-p3 swap back to homeschooling.

Good decision from NI; I hope England are as sensible.

@whenwillthemadnessend

I'm raging. They better not do this in England. At least send the poor GCSEs kids back My dd has lost nearly two terms of her GCSEs now

Yes GCSE, A-level and early years, reception and year 1 to make sure they can read, need to go back at the very least (our kids are not in these years but we understand there are some years that are more essential than others), essential as in key moments of education not that each and every child isn't valid.

This is the only way to give the vaccine a fighting chance of keeping the numbers down. We can't keep lurching in and out of lockdown and the virus won't give up because we're tired. It's not enough to have the elderly and vulnerable vaccinated. We'll end up in an even worse position if we allow transmissions to spike again, having applied the selection pressure of a vaccine that only just works. Also, long Covid can affect anyone, including children, so it's in everyone's interests to actually keep those numbers down. They're not low at the moment. They're just lower than they were. We have more ventilated at the moment then we did during the first wave. We're still on a very fragile situation with a virus that is worse in every way than it was in the spring. There's a way out of this but we'll miss it if we're not cautious.

@SerenadeOfTheSchoolRun Poor kids and parents in NI. yes being forced to put others lives before three extra weeks of home education must be devastating.

Same with my 9 year old son. :( We were hoping for a normal ISH spring and summer. These ideas for taking our kids out for even an outdoor meal at the end of April are feeling like a pipe dream now :( we're just about running out of hope :( there's not much left to reopen at this rate :(

@sittingpondering I’ll also be considering ditching the home schooling from March 8 if mine don’t go back, it’s not worth sacrificing my health. but other peoples actual physical health /life not really a concern of yours?