What do we do if cases rocket in September?

[ncnoclue]

If schools etc being closed means that cases massively drop and we can in fact, live normal lives. And then once they go back, they shoot up again and we can't cope.

Is the plan to keep everything else closed, just to keep schools open? So even though everyone who wants it has been vaccinated and there's no other answer, we keep the economy closed indefinitely to keep schools open?!

I don't know whether my school is typical, but our caretaker works term-time only, and only for a couple of hours a day. Cheaper, though it does mean that nothing happens in the holidays at all unless we successfully bid for a big grant to get something serious sorted, in which case contractors are used.

@cantkeepawayforever

I don't know whether my school is typical, but our caretaker works term-time only, and only for a couple of hours a day. Cheaper, though it does mean that nothing happens in the holidays at all unless we successfully bid for a big grant to get something serious sorted, in which case contractors are used.

It was an issue before schools broke up though wasn’t it?

Have you requested the blind be taken down?

@BigWoollyJumpers *OK. In my lovely perfect world, where anything is possible:

1. Do you have a caretaker?
2. If not, can you put out a plea for parental help?

Honestly, we have helped school out in painting and decorating, garden maintenance, and various odd DIY tasks. Someone, somewhere HAS to be able to take down your blinds? A local business may even sponsor the school to replace them?*

Exactly this, it should be possible for all the "small" jobs to be done from within the school and local community. Has the school in question put out a call for help from volunteers/donations?

It's amazing how helpful the local community can be if they're actually asked for help, especially practical help, or goods/products.

Our local pre-school have set up an Amazon shopping list where people can view what they want and then buy it for them, and Amazon deliver it straight to the pre-school. They ask for all sorts, from children's play/learning resources right through to door locks, paint for the walls, tea/coffee, - basically everything they're use/consume. They've also put out a few requests for volunteers on the local facebook group for working parties to help paint/decorate, or for local tradesmen to do odd-jobs for free.

@cantkeepawayforever

We absolutely need to get on with life. Kids are deemed lower risk to get Covid than vaccination, so they are going to catch it. This is whether we like it or not, improved ventilation will just slow that process down, although in general improved ventilation would be a positive in lots of ways, Covid aside.

What did your school leadership team say when you asked for your blind to be fixed?

No money. As ever.

Re the suggestion to take down the blind - we have had faulty blinds taken down in other classrooms and now the children sat on that side of the room can't actually see for the first two lessons of the day due to the sun streaming in. I think in one room with a missing blind the sun shines directly on the board so no one can read it.

It's weighing up whether you want air from the windows to circulate versus the kids being able to see.

Like I said, if parents knew the state of some classrooms, they'd be outraged.

I’m also not a massive fan of Boris but Covid would have been a horrendous problem with difficult decisions whoever is in government.

Australia are in lockdown, Delta has made any dream of zero Covid via suppression impossible.

Like I said, if parents knew the state of some classrooms, they'd be outraged

Have they been told? Have you got a PTA type organisation at your school who can communicate the issues to the parents and do some fundraising?

@noblegiraffe I think you should get your union reps onto this.

Unless you want us to have a whip round? This tbh has nothing to do with Covid and everything to do with your senior leadership being shit.

Has the caretaker had a look at the blind? It just seems like such a small thing that shouldn’t be causing months of angst. There must be a solution to fixing a blind.

I’m on a mission now. ‘Fix Noble’s Blind’!

Fixing window mechanisms and improving ventilation wherever practicable should come from central funding and should be nationwide.

We want kids in school, we've paid for £2.2 billion of rubbish PPE and God knows what for Test and Trace, let's fix the bloody windows.

It's not just covid, it's flu, coughs, colds etc.

I'd also like more washbasins, soap etc but I imagine that seems grabby.

I know painted closed windows is not a sexy topic but I wish somebody in the media would get stuck in to this.

Has the caretaker had a look at the blind?

Of course they have. It's got to the point where no-one even dare mention the word blind to them.

The entire school is in a state. We were hoping to get a new school building under the BSF fund but that was one of the first things the Tories cancelled when they came into power. They've done nothing to improve the situation so 11 years on from being in dire need of a new school building, things are even worse.

It's not something that can be solved by a quick whip-round. A ventilation fund which the government should have implemented would have fixed my blind.

But the thing about my blind is that it is replicated in various ways and forms in classrooms and schools across the country. Schools are seriously underfunded and what should be a quick fix is instead an ongoing problem that affects education due to lack of money.

Fix Noble's Blind really needs to be Fix Our Schools.

@Notonthestairs

Fixing window mechanisms and improving ventilation wherever practicable should come from central funding and should be nationwide.

We want kids in school, we've paid for £2.2 billion of rubbish PPE and God knows what for Test and Trace, let's fix the bloody windows.

It's not just covid, it's flu, coughs, colds etc.

I'd also like more washbasins, soap etc but I imagine that seems grabby.

I know painted closed windows is not a sexy topic but I wish somebody in the media would get stuck in to this.

I agree totally. But in the absence of that happening in the next 4-5 weeks before schools go back, surely there’s a way to fix a stuck blind? Especially as it’s apparently been an issue for months.

I'm sorry about the state of UK schools too. On the other hand, I suspect there'll be even less money if endless school closures result in a) the economy tanking b) large numbers of (female) taxpayers leaving the workforce long-term due to it becoming obvious that families can no longer function without someone at home to handle the children because the school keeps clanging shut every five minutes.

Fix Noble's Blind really needs to be Fix Our Schools

Yep. But Fix Noble’s Blind would surely be a quicker solution?

I know painted closed windows is not a sexy topic but I wish somebody in the media would get stuck in to this

Maybe Marcus Rashford was taught in a classroom with non-opening windows?

@noblegiraffe

Has the caretaker had a look at the blind?

Of course they have. It's got to the point where no-one even dare mention the word blind to them.

The entire school is in a state. We were hoping to get a new school building under the BSF fund but that was one of the first things the Tories cancelled when they came into power. They've done nothing to improve the situation so 11 years on from being in dire need of a new school building, things are even worse.

It's not something that can be solved by a quick whip-round. A ventilation fund which the government should have implemented would have fixed my blind.

But the thing about my blind is that it is replicated in various ways and forms in classrooms and schools across the country. Schools are seriously underfunded and what should be a quick fix is instead an ongoing problem that affects education due to lack of money.

Fix Noble's Blind really needs to be Fix Our Schools.

But you have been arguing about all the quick and easy solutions?

And now you are saying school buildings need an overhaul and there is no money to do it? Like I was in fact

@Notonthestairs

Fixing window mechanisms and improving ventilation wherever practicable should come from central funding and should be nationwide.

We want kids in school, we've paid for £2.2 billion of rubbish PPE and God knows what for Test and Trace, let's fix the bloody windows.

It's not just covid, it's flu, coughs, colds etc.

I'd also like more washbasins, soap etc but I imagine that seems grabby.

I know painted closed windows is not a sexy topic but I wish somebody in the media would get stuck in to this.

Doesn't matter whether it "should be". Lots of things "should be" done by other means, but we live in the real world!

Round here, the council "should" weed the graveyards, footpaths, etc., they "should" pick up litter, etc. They don't. So rather than howl about it, local people have set up there own litter picking and weeding groups, and it's made a massive difference.

you have been arguing about all the quick and easy solutions?

To improving ventilation. Like fixing my blind. Which the government should have put money aside to do. Yes?

I'm confused. A blind being down prevents ventilation but not having the blind prevents kids from seeing anything at various points of the day.

Can you not just put something on the windows, like craft paper as a short term measure? Means windows can be open but the glass is obscured.

Sorry, quoted the wrong post!

@Bordois

I'm confused. A blind being down prevents ventilation but not having the blind prevents kids from seeing anything at various points of the day.

Can you not just put something on the windows, like craft paper as a short term measure? Means windows can be open but the glass is obscured.

So even if the blind was fixed so it could open, it would have to be kept shut anyway so keep the sunlight out?

@noblegiraffe

you have been arguing about all the quick and easy solutions?

To improving ventilation. Like fixing my blind. Which the government should have put money aside to do. Yes?

But they're not going to. So either you put up and shut up, OR you look for alternative solutions, which may well involve your school asking for local community help. I know which I'd rather do. There's this thing called "self help" rather than always expecting "someone else" to do it.

People don't seem to understand why my blind hasn't been fixed, given that it seems such a small issue and a quick fix.

But there is no money to fix my blind. That is what I am explaining there.