Likelihood of schools closing again before summer...

[confuseddotcomma]

I know noone knows what will happen. But I feel this is increasingly more likely every day... Fingers crossed we can hold out until the summer holidays!

Absolutely not denying that steak and appreciate it's been bloody hard for a lot of working parents and kids. My point is more in response to the fact that what seemed to be a thread speculating about potential school closures is actually a bit of a 'you've had it well easy' dig

Oh, and in answer to the OP, I think the likelihood of schools per se closing as a blanket policy this term is next to zero.
There may well be specific schools in hot spot areas that have to, however.

@Cantaloupeisland

Absolutely not denying that steak and appreciate it's been bloody hard for a lot of working parents and kids. My point is more in response to the fact that what seemed to be a thread speculating about potential school closures is actually a bit of a 'you've had it well easy' dig

Yes op didn't disguise it for long.

@MaMelon

One of the high schools here in Scotland has just gone back to online schooling for 2 weeks - they break up at the end of June and I suspect they'll stay closed till then. I just hope to goodness this doesn't extend to other schools.

What school is that? My school.in scotland hasn't had a case since before the Easter holidays

If they close schools again we are officially more like a third world country. The recent report on school closures highlights the attainment gaps for the whole generation and the cost to “fix” somewhat fix it. Already have the longest school closures in Western Europe. If rates are rising, surge vaccinate teachers at the very least.

What was going on in keyworker group that your kids were so upset? I don't think this is that common, my DD absolutely loved it, she much preferred it to homeschooling as we've had to do both at different times. FWIW I think the vaccination rates mean that even if Covid spreads wildly through schools hospitalization rates will still be low so schools will remain open. Individual school closures or bubble closures seem more likely.

Highly unlikely
I believe that there may be one in the Winter

I think for the five or six weeks left of term it will be random closures due to cases but can see them being closed in the autumn term given how fast cases are rising now, young teachers not vaccinated, no masks as the requirement was removed and theres not much data on case numbers in schools in the news so I’d wonder why.

@Cantaloupeisland

Absolutely not denying that steak and appreciate it's been bloody hard for a lot of working parents and kids. My point is more in response to the fact that what seemed to be a thread speculating about potential school closures is actually a bit of a 'you've had it well easy' dig

I think there will always be a disparity in how feel about teachers and school closure.

My dds had incredible home learning from their teachers particularly my dd3s kindergarten teacher who put on multiple live lessons a day which were fascinating and I loved to sit and watch, it was a tough gig but her teacher smashed it - I sent in bottle of gin for her in appreciation.

However my friends and family have very different experiences of it.

Try not to take it too personally.

Large number of teachers still not vaccinated though

What does the world 'large' mean in that sentence?

I'm reading avg age of teachers in England is 39 yrs old. Currently ppl age 30+ in England can get jab (assuming clinically not vulnerable, coz they got jabbed months ago).

So you'd think a large majority by now would be vaccinated.

I'm despair about learning loss & disengagement from learning due to lack of F2F learning for so long.

Class bubbles will be out. Already had 1 isolation period descending in the week before half term.

But schools are not likely to close so don't worry about lack of face to face. I think if they do it will be because of individual school outbreaks.

It largely depends on how far ahead the government looks.

Closing schools now might allow us to beat back the current wave before it gets hold - by September we may have achieved herd immunity and future outbreaks, even of new variants, MUCH easier to control.

But hang on - nope - we've got incompetent twits in charge. They'll keep schools open at ANY COST for another few weeks until the summer holidays, by which point the third wave will be WELL in progress. Come September we may be facing national lockdowns again and kids face another wasted YEAR of schooling!

It’s weird to compare teachers and nurses, as OP has. Nurses were (rightly) vaccinated much much earlier than teachers (some teachers still aren’t jabbed). Also, it is possible - though not desirable - to close schools and teach from home for periods of time. It’s obviously not possible to do this with hospitals, so why compare?

@strangeshapedpotato

It largely depends on how far ahead the government looks.

Closing schools now might allow us to beat back the current wave before it gets hold - by September we may have achieved herd immunity and future outbreaks, even of new variants, MUCH easier to control.

But hang on - nope - we've got incompetent twits in charge. They'll keep schools open at ANY COST for another few weeks until the summer holidays, by which point the third wave will be WELL in progress. Come September we may be facing national lockdowns again and kids face another wasted YEAR of schooling!

Yes, but if you do this pubs, retail, and adult entertainment will have to close as well. It would be absolutely immoral to close schools while adults can go to the pub, bingo, fill in the blank. Hopefully the government has learnt the lessons from last summer that having pubs open when most children didn’t get any time in school did not go down well with parents. I know my MP received many strongly worded letters about it.

A third wave will be in full swing by the summer holidays and it will be entirely the government’s fault. They sat on their hands and let the Delta variant into the country.

Unlikely this term

Then after holidays all adults who want to be / can be will be vaccinated iirc

@strangeshapedpotato

It largely depends on how far ahead the government looks.

Closing schools now might allow us to beat back the current wave before it gets hold - by September we may have achieved herd immunity and future outbreaks, even of new variants, MUCH easier to control.

But hang on - nope - we've got incompetent twits in charge. They'll keep schools open at ANY COST for another few weeks until the summer holidays, by which point the third wave will be WELL in progress. Come September we may be facing national lockdowns again and kids face another wasted YEAR of schooling!

School closures should not be the default answer to everything. Just punishing kids even more.

Well not here as secondary schools are finished and primary are finished in 2 weeks.

I’m despair about learning loss & disengagement from learning due to lack of F2F learning for so long.

And just to play Devils Advocate to you ‘define large re: vaccinations’, what do you mean ‘for so long’?

For some keyworker and vulnerable children, they have had f2f the whole way through, such as the OP’s children.

For most nursery/reception/year 1/year 6/ year 11/year 13 last academic year to this year, had 6 weeks off before going back in 1st June (and yes I know not all but a large number) and then 8 weeks from this January.

For Years 2,3, 4 and 5 and years 7, 8 and 9 last year to this year, they had 12 weeks last year and 8 weeks this year.

There are also though, to acknowledge, many children in any year who had to self isolate during any period since March.

Definitely felt longer at the time of course but by and large, children have been in school face to face longer these past two academic years than they have not.

*What proportion of teachers are

@PurpleDaisies

Large number of teachers still not vaccinated though and I can imagine they will kick off now there is evidence delta variant spreading in schools.

Teachers want kids in schools. Teachers want to be safe in the workplace. That means mitigations and testing, not schools shut again.

There's been plenty of evidence throughout that children do catch this, do spread it and yet schools have remained open, with those from over thirty different households undistanced, unmasked, in unventilated spaces.

School closures should not be the default answer to everything.

And it hasn’t been. Quite the opposite in fact. Whether that has been to the detriment of people’s lives or livelihoods though, we may never know as the govt has been suppressing that information.

In the next 6-7 weeks? Of course not!

@Sunnyfreezesushi, "Already have the longest school closures in Western Europe."
What is your source for this claim? Is it the one where they lumped together universities with schools, thus distorting the figures?
My school was "closed" (apart from being open for Key Worker children) for half a term in 2020, (opening for four year groups at the beginning of June and the whole school from 22nd) and then 8 weeks from January 2021.
I'm pretty sure many other countries had closures (and complete ones, at that - no Key Worker provision) for much longer.

@dementedpixie - Falkirk High School.

My son’s high school has had several cases since they went back. Another case today, we just got the email.