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?

Children are being murdered in their homes FFS

@Fabcar

Can’t they get schools ventilated and kids wearing masks…??

Well they haven't managed it in the last 21 months so apparently not

At the very least we’ll be back in bubbles, then those bubbles will keep popping.

@Emmelina

At the very least we’ll be back in bubbles, then those bubbles will keep popping.

What do you mean?

We won’t have close contact isolation as before

I dont see it happening and dont see point in speculating

I hope parents are supportive if there is a return to bubbles, masks, online parents evenings etc after Christmas.

I don’t see how they can close schools again without furlough in place first.

They cannot.

@Benjispruce5

They don’t close. Keyworker’s children would go in and last time, the list of keyworkers was nearly everyone!

Too true, I'd say the schools I know were lightly trimmed rather than closed last time. Incredibly sad for those few families who somehow don't manage to qualify for a place and hugely disruptive for everybody who's still in school. Nope, School’s need to stay open and they'll have to find another solution.

What reason is there to suggest schools who need to close?

A new variant which based on evidence from South Africa is not causing greater illness or significant increase in hospital admissions? And that is from a country who haven’t vaccinated their population to anywhere near the extent that we have.

By January we’ll be wondering what all the panic was for.

@Dghgcotcitc

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

This teacher isn’t calling for it! I did online learning for the first lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic and then went on mat leave at the start of the next academic year! I have just returned with, you might say, a fresh pair of eyes and the gaps in knowledge are astounding! I’ve never seen weaker cohorts and it’s so sad for them! The lockdowns have had a clear impact on pupil progress and further lockdowns would have a big impact on this and would certainly widen the gap between disadvantaged and non disadvantaged pupils.

However, thinking about my school even if a lockdown wasn’t imposed, we would potentially have to temporarily close as our staffing levels are so low. The school is on its knees and each days it’s getting worse!

Have a look at the recent SAGE report.

@Doris86

What reason is there to suggest schools who need to close?

A new variant which based on evidence from South Africa is not causing greater illness or significant increase in hospital admissions? And that is from a country who haven’t vaccinated their population to anywhere near the extent that we have.

By January we’ll be wondering what all the panic was for.

The panic is so that Boris can be seen to be doing something and making great speeches on TV. That way everyone will forget that there are nearly 100 loons in his party and that he and his staff had multiple parties last year when the rest of us weren't allowed to see our family.

I guess it depends how bad it gets but in a health emergency schools can't exist in a bubble.
Eg... Not allowing the wearing of any clothes as long as they are warm.
Messing around with heating when windows should be open.

Sloppy, weak "guidance" only on masks and only in corridors.
No clear national messaging on ventilation and windows. No support from many parents on children wearing layers and keeping warm.

They shouid never close again

I dont think they will

No, I don't think they will whilst shops, pubs, clubs etc....are open.

I think they'll enforce mask wearing in classrooms for secondary schools.

Also just to add, it’s imperative from a safeguarding point of view that schools don’t close as a general rule because children are slipping through the social service net with dire consequences. We need them in school!

I think if parents want to keep them open and the government it's high time some proper safety measures were actually put in place.

@WoodenReindeer

Have a look at the recent SAGE report.

Do you have a link?

Aw, I really hope they can find a way to avoid school closures, this time round. My year 13 son has only just got back on track after missing so much time. If exams are to go ahead in the summer they really cannot afford to miss any more. Learning a levels online with dodgy rural Internet connection is really tough on them.

Children taught in line can be kept on the radar. Our setting ran as normal. If a pupil didn't turn up on line they were chased, called they were seen or welfare contacted them, it was tight.

@Doris86

What reason is there to suggest schools who need to close?

A new variant which based on evidence from South Africa is not causing greater illness or significant increase in hospital admissions? And that is from a country who haven’t vaccinated their population to anywhere near the extent that we have.

By January we’ll be wondering what all the panic was for.

Schools are already closing - not enough staff to keep them open.

The firebreak of Christmas - when we send the children, infected in schools through lack of mitigations, to mix with elderly relatives for a few weeks - may mean that we restart at a slightly lower level, then rise very rapidly once more.

I don't think schools will be closed by the Government. Boris will declare 'schools are open', to avoid paying furlough. All around him classes, years and schools will be closing in an ad-hoc and chaotic way, without any provision for keyworkers or vulnerable children - the worst of all possible worlds.

Ventilation (and money for heating and air purification systems), hugely expanded vaccination for children and clear unambiguous messaging about masks would be helpful, as would a huge injection of cash for supply costs and cleaning.

I’ll throw my hat in the ring and say schools stay closed until Feb half term at least. They’re not safe places when cases are so high, they drive infection rates and if the third booster doesn’t work in keeping Omicron at bay then expect even more closures over the next academic year.

Until we rethink our education system to allow it to work alongside Covid we will be repeating this same scenario for years to come.

It’s incredibly unfair and a failing of the children that our government have made no efforts to fix this enormous issue and that parents on here are happy to not demand better from BJ and chums.

@Benjispruce5

They don’t close. Keyworker’s children would go in and last time, the list of keyworkers was nearly everyone!

Exactly. It just creates this horrible divide where one set of children are allowed to attend school and the other set are not, as you say in some schools it will be the minority of the class who sit at home and watch everyone else together on zoom.

No, I don't think they will whilst shops, pubs, clubs etc....are open.

I thought the Government specifically said any school closures would be a last resort after closing non essential shops, gyms, cinemas, hairdressers etc.

And of course they'd have to offer a furlough scheme.

It's not going to happen imo

I really really really want them to stay open... but I don't see how they can whilst the worst of the Omicron wave happens?

I just keep looking at the predicted case numbers - and I don't see how they can stay open.

I am so cross the government has done nothing to keep schools open - we should have masks, air filters/ventilation, extra space and vaccines for secondary age at least. The government has done FUCK ALL for kids.