Considering whether schools might close in Janl?

[PigeonLittle]

Trying to create a title so as not to panic anyone!

What are your guesses, will schools close again?

I don’t know any teachers that want schools to close.

What I do want is the government to acknowledge there is a problem in schools, provide money to sort out ventilation/air purifiers (not telling schools to buy overpriced ones off Dyson), tell schools that kids and staff should wear their own warm clothes/trainers to keep warm with the windows open rather than freezing and trying to concentrate in school uniform. Encourage mask wearing for all who can, in all areas, sort vaccinations for under 12s who want it and second jabs for 12+. Telling schools not to put on whole school nativities would have been a good idea as well.

As the government didn’t do any of these things, it really wouldn’t surprise me if schools end up having to close next year. You can’t just ignore the problem and hope it will go away.

From experience, teachers can post on MN till their hands drop off that they don’t want schools to close and still someone will pop up with ‘you want schools to close tho’.

@sunnyandshare

My 3 secondary school dc were given 'just in case' subject booklets today. I think the teachers have been given a heads up that they will be returning later than expected.

The heads up? Do you think we have a personal line to Boris? Don't be ridiculous. We have to plan for every single eventuality at the moment. We have contingency plans for everything. This will just be part of their ongoing plans they've put in place.

@Makingnumber2

Our staff have been asked today to ensure classes have all the materials they need for the first 3 weeks of next term's lessons at home with them.... It is clear management are definitely preparing for the worst.

Where are you and are you primary or secondary?

If they close schools, they'd better bring back furlough as I don't know how they expect me to go to work. Can't work from home, and not a key worker.

Everyone calling for schools to close needs to consider the people who won't earn a penny if this happens.

Highly unlikely in my view. Individual schools may close year groups or close temporarily due to staff absences, but a government-backed closure of schools is not going to happen again.

@noblegiraffe

From experience, teachers can post on MN till their hands drop off that they don’t want schools to close and still someone will pop up with ‘you want schools to close tho’.

I can’t even imagine how infuriating this is. Our kids school has been amazing throughout but I still see parents giving the teachers shit about one thing or another. It’s relentless!

We’ve not been asked to prepare anything for kids not returning as usual after Christmas holidays.

@Dghgcotcitc

Teachers will call for it, whether they are successful is anyone’s guess

None in my school are.

What we have called for and have called for over and over is some sort of mitigations.

Bubbles etc is a good start again.

I bloody hope not. Most of the kids have had it now. A fair proportion will be in as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘keyworker’ anyway. I didn’t send DD in last year as a keyworker child. This year, she will be at the front of the queue. Kids get cold so mild, absolutely no point in closing the schools

Surely like every other workplace, place of gathering of humans ( including healthcare staff) people will catch it and will mostly be back to work once recovered/ isolation ends. So schools won’t be any worse than anywhere else struggling to stay open, including your local hospitals/ GP practices etc.

My DS's school doesn't go back until 10th January, maybe all schools will fall in line with this to allow testing to be done after Christmas mixing.

@PigeonLittle

Trying to create a title so as not to panic anyone!

What are your guesses, will schools close again?

Has Boris stated explicitly that school will be open in January. If he has then we know they will be closed, otherwise we can't be sure.

I'm a teacher. I'm desperately hoping schools stay open. Teaching online is hellish. But I'm making sure all the kids take their books home with them this week...... 😔

@RenegadeMrs

Based on the rebellion around the new covid rules in House of Commons today I think a blanket closure policy unlikely but there might be local closures to combat outbreaks / if staffing levels are too low.

Agreed. National closures would be politically suicidal as well as achieving much less in the absence of furlough and with restriction fatigue. Local ad hoc closures that the state can evade responsibility for are more likely.

It’s ‘ripped’ through my child’s SEN school twice now. Last year and this year. It seems to have settled recently as I don’t think there’s many if any left who didn’t have it before and during half term. Where this leaves them with the new variant and whether the staff & children have any protection from prior infection is yet to be seen.

No. We can't keep doing this. I can't work, and I don't see how a closure would be justified with everyone vaccinated. That would imply closing every year, because this is now as good as it's going to get. My kids would really struggle (not to mention my job would be done).

And the fact they are talking about offering vaccine to primary aged children shows they aren't planning on closing.

[quote OnceuponaRainbow18]@generalh

This teacher is not calling for it; I hated online learning. It was soul destroying.

Muting a few students was fabulous though… wish we could mute in the real Classroom 😂[/quote]
With you there!

Teachers will call for it, whether they are successful is anyone’s guess

I doubt this! I’ve worked really hard getting my GCSE groups caught up, I don’t have the energy to do that again so the last thing I want is them all off. The year 7s are so weak too, they are really immature also because they’ve missed so much opportunity to grow up.

The suggestion of half in and half out is also ridiculous, that’s twice as much work for me. I don’t want twice as much work when I’m already at breaking point.

Don’t put words into teachers mouths as a way of making us look lazy. I’ve never seen so many of my friends and colleagues at breaking point - we’ve got more teachers off than supply available, we’re all covering each other’s lessons so that year groups aren’t sent home and then taking even more work home with us because we’ve lost our planning time. I’ve not heard a single colleague suggest schools closed, but I regularly hear from people that don’t work in schools that we are trying to insist on it.

Dear parents,
Could you just get your kids to wear masks in school? And maybe buy them a pen occasionally? I don't want to catch cv and I'm sick to fucking death of supplying equipment. Remote teaching is shit, but saved me a fortune in pens.

Thanks.

I can't imagine anyone including teachers will know until approx 12 hours before the schools are due to open after Xmas, so no point speculating now (before a lot of schools have broken up) we surely won't know anything until at least 4th January.

@Dghgcotcitc excuse me?? Actually the last thing me or any of my colleagues want is a return to remote learning because believe it or not, we care about the children we work with. As teachers we're already used to working with minimal no mitigations anyway!

Schools haven’t had any sort of heads up about the possibility of closures.
However as they’re run by responsible, competent people who are capable of forward planning for all eventualities - unlike the Government - they’re putting contingency plans in place.

'The young have given up so much for older people. They are the very last who should be made to suffer going forward.'

Exactly this ^