Schools from September

[DinosaurDiana]

I was working in a school yesterday and the lady helping me said that all staff are in next Monday Tuesday to put the school back to normal.
All stickers are being removed, all classrooms and rooms put back to the way they were pre Covid.
So are all schools going back to normal ?

Have schools not learnt anything from the last 18 months? The irony of calling themselves schools.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones how though? Because in reality some workplaces will never be as safe as others. I work in a factory, I know that my workplace will never be as safe as an office because the nature of the work is so different.

We don't know. Our school have said they hope to go back to almost normal drop off & collection from September, with some adaptations (some things have worked quite well & improved the site safety) but that they'll still have the current staggered starts/different entrances ready to go as a contingency. We'll be emailed on 3/9 to say which is happening.

@Waxonwaxoff0 schools are the places of work that have the highest proportion of unvaccinated people in them and they are packed together in often very poorly ventilated rooms.

How foolish of any school to make assumptions at this point in time. Personally, as a teacher, I hope the bubble system stays. Children are the only unvaccinated group so schools are going to be one of the few places where Covid can circulate freely. Better to keep it contained within smaller groups where possible.

In most primary schools, the bubble system is fairly easy to operate. I think secondary school pupils (I am the parent of one) should wear masks as bubbles are harder to manage there.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@Waxonwaxoff0 schools are the places of work that have the highest proportion of unvaccinated people in them and they are packed together in often very poorly ventilated rooms.[/quote]
Yes, so my question is how do we expect them to be as safe as offices?

We can’t make them as safe as offices but I don’t think the Government should be saying schools don’t need any mitigation measures

Our school is planning to go back to normal in every aspect.

@ineedaholidaynow

We can’t make them as safe as offices but I don’t think the Government should be saying schools don’t need any mitigation measures

Yes I agree with that. But I think expecting all workplaces to have the same levels of safety is asking for the impossible.

[quote Waxonwaxoff0]@BustopherPonsonbyJones how though? Because in reality some workplaces will never be as safe as others. I work in a factory, I know that my workplace will never be as safe as an office because the nature of the work is so different.[/quote]
@Waxonwaxoff0
I think I’ve said to you before that if it is so important to everyone that schools run as normal, the government (by taxation) need to find the money. You may or may not care about school staff - as I’m affected, it matters to me, of course - but the impact of staff being off sick is impacting on everyone else, witness the complaints by posters on Mumsnet, all of which people were warned about by teachers on previously. Schools have NO mitigation at all so anything is better than nothing. People moaning about open windows in classrooms really does show how little school staff are valued.

@BustopherPonsonbyJones I never said that I don't care about school staff. I just don't know how you can realistically expect schools to be as safe as offices. Children aren't vaccinated for one thing.

I don't understand why some people need to bring in the comparison between school and other work places. Some work place may not be safe, but it needs to be dealt with individually. School setting affect huge number of families, one teacher ill affect at least 30 children, let alone spreading among school children will affect many families and wider community.

@roguetomato

I don't understand why some people need to bring in the comparison between school and other work places. Some work place may not be safe, but it needs to be dealt with individually. School setting affect huge number of families, one teacher ill affect at least 30 children, let alone spreading among school children will affect many families and wider community.

I didn't bring it up, someone else said they wanted schools to be as safe as other workplaces but I don't see how that's possible.

Controversial but of all the Covid measures schools put in place, the one I wouldn’t mind keeping is the zoom parents evening.

@woodfort everyone at DS’s school and many teacher friends said the same.

Schools may have to revert back to bubbles if they have an outbreak and are advised to do so.

The schools throwing away all their covid measures are taking a huge time-wasting gamble for this reason. They still need to be able to switch to bubbles at the last minute and we don't know what September will look like.

@Legoninjago1

Our school is planning to go back to normal in every aspect.

Is that their 'publicly announced position', though, or the 'only plan they have'?

Where I work, we have detailed plans for every possible eventuality - from fully as normal to complete lockdown, and everything in between - but our 'public' position is 'we hope that everything will be back to normal for the Autumn Term'.

@ineedaholidaynow

Wonder if all the people saying excellent news have CEV child, or whether they will be saying the same thing if their child develops long COVID or T1 diabetes

Oh get lost. The majority of kids can't put up with it indefinitely can they.

Absolutely crazy when all these kids are unvaccinated.

@ineedaholidaynow

They will be until the Government send out a last minute updated Guidance at 11pm one night!

that guidance will be issued the night before students return as the DfE 'love' to be 'supportive and helpful' to schools

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@Waxonwaxoff0 schools are the places of work that have the highest proportion of unvaccinated people in them and they are packed together in often very poorly ventilated rooms.[/quote]
Well they have been offered the vaccine though haven't they. What more can you ask

Well they have been offered the vaccine though haven't they. What more can you ask

No, children have not been offered the vaccine.

At the moment, the majority of my colleagues are still in the 'had one jab, so unprotected against delta' group.

Think about the layers of protection in other workplaces:

• Hand sanitiser
• Masks
• Distancing
• Perspex screens
• Limited numbers
• Wfh if possible
• Vaccination in line with national guidance

Then think about the layers of protection in schools:

• Hand sanitiser
• No vaccination for the vast majority
• Wfh not allowed, even for the CEV

@wasthataburp at least 30 in the room won't have been vaccinated!

We are keeping the one way systems, hand santisers in classrooms/lunch queues and in the library as that will reopen. Rotated staggered lunch will be kept as well as upper/lower days for IT/DT/Music rooms.

Most parents prefer (school did a parental survey) the parents evenings to be on Teams so they will remain apart from the first Year 7 one which will be in person.

Homework will be submitted on Teams which teachers will assess.

We will have a new normal similar to the second half of the summer term but we are not going back to the old normal. Most of the students cant remember the old normal anyway.