Schools - why are they doing this?

[Scrooge89]

Why are the media preparing us for school closures? They simply can’t do this to us…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-59673271

Not to my children. My youngest struggled so much at home and was one of the 25% who couldn’t go to school (although I saw how much some people fudged the key worker card I may have to do it).

Yes I did, I made a point that the office worker was not moaning and saying office workers were the only profession to work in unsafe environments.

@Scrooge89

Why are the media preparing us for school closures? They simply can’t do this to us…

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-59673271

Not to my children. My youngest struggled so much at home and was one of the 25% who couldn’t go to school (although I saw how much some people fudged the key worker card I may have to do it).

22% of our teaching staff are isolating with positive covid results. What do you suggest we do?

DH is a secondary school Head. He has really struggled with staffing over the last half-term. The numbers of teenagers off has been huge.
Many of his teachers have offered to cover classes in their PPA time because of shortages of supply teachers to bring in - despite him employing two full-time in September he has needed many more each day. The staff have combined smaller classes too. It is such a moving picture too- different staff from different subjects and classes absent every few days. Different teenagers absent from different year groups and classes.
I think after Christmas there will be pressure on the government to not have GCSE and A level exams again this year. There is such a variation across schools in terms of what children have experienced it is just not fair.

Not to my children.

Why yours specifically?

And if my teacher friends are anything to go by, they're doing it because a lot of people are off with Covid and there's nobody to teach the classes. What do you suggest they do, stick them all in the sports hall as a holding pen?

What a hateful attitude. To be seen as not people who matter.
If you find spending time with your kids so hard how do you think it is for us?
When they behave so badly with little consequence sometimes it really is a babysitting situation.
A meeting last week amounted to no pay rise, here is a gift voucher for junk food instead.
So many vulnerable kids, so many crap parents. You want schools to stay open, tell your kids to do as they are told in school, follow the hygiene rules, turn up ready to learn. Some classes are feral, but I bet if there was the power to exclude them more easily, parents would finally do something about their education, rather than have to deal with them at home. Its down to respect. School staff are not always respected by some of the kids, nor their parents.

If being a teacher is completely unacceptable to some during the Pandemic, which would be cdomepeltly understandable

I did. I took early retirement. It’s gone up by 30% higher than normal this year.

If they all took that advice, there’d be no one left.

No one wants this - but surely everyone has to be prepared for the eventuality? What we have been told is that it would be a last resort. If schools are shut I would imagine we would be in a very dark place with omicron.

We can invoke key worker status. We didn't do it last time but the strain on the mental health of us all was intolerable. DD has GCSEs coming up and can not study with her over active 9 year old brother running about the place.

DS has just had covid anyway and spent 10 days at home so that's ticked off. In fact at least half his year group have had it in the last 3 weeks. I'm afraid I'll be sending him in I can't do it again I just can't. I strongly suspect that a lot of others with KW status will be using it this time and I really wish we did last time.

If they close the schools before the close the pubs etc. I'll be delivering the DCs to weather spoons at 8.45 with a view to returning for them at 3.30pm

Schools have to be prepared for it.

People can bang on about hospital admissions all they want, but the simple fact is that this strain is ripping through and teachers, and other school staff, who are ill are going to be off. Staff who are off cannot teach. When staff numbers get low enough schools have to close.

10 teachers off sick, but not in hospital, are still 10 teachers off sick and needing cover. Of which there is none - even if schools could afford it.

Ah, Molly Kingsley, of Us4Ourselves.
She thinks education so important that she took hers out of school and flew off on holiday on Monday.
Unless hers are in private schools, which have not been hit nearly so hard as the state sector.

I strongly suspect that a lot of others with KW status will be using it this time

I think the KW criteria may be massively tightened up this time purely because of staff numbers being a massive issue.

Yes, there were a lot of people swinging it last time. My Head really clamped down on it.

@Angelswithflirtyfaces

What a hateful attitude. To be seen as not people who matter. If you find spending time with your kids so hard how do you think it is for us? When they behave so badly with little consequence sometimes it really is a babysitting situation. A meeting last week amounted to no pay rise, here is a gift voucher for junk food instead. So many vulnerable kids, so many crap parents. You want schools to stay open, tell your kids to do as they are told in school, follow the hygiene rules, turn up ready to learn. Some classes are feral, but I bet if there was the power to exclude them more easily, parents would finally do something about their education, rather than have to deal with them at home. Its down to respect. School staff are not always respected by some of the kids, nor their parents.

Yikes

I would prefer schools to stay open even class sizes return to the 40+ per teacher my mother taught after WWII in NE England. We could also tighten up rules so that no pay when off sick other than SSP after day 3 and also once you have a negative PCR you go in. also teachers with covid but are in the one third with no symptoms could certainly teach classes of children in many cases if most of the children have had covid anyway.

Because people want to have a normal Christmas. Not locking down now will result in school closures in January. This government don't care about our kids education, they just care about protecting their own self-interest.

I hope they do tighten it up considerably as I would imagine it would get the other kids on a bit quicker.

I do wonder why these threads get so nasty, no parents don't want children to go to school because they cannot be bothered to look after them that's so inflammatory. Being off school has been awful for mine that miss it terribly. No one wants them shut but if the shit hits the fan most people accept that it might have to happen.

Ah Xenia you'll be volunteering to work in those conditions I'm sure.

We made it very clear last time that we couldn't take everyone who claimed keyworker status, because the huge numbers in school defeated the object and made it unsafe.

We took all vulnerable (known or suspected) and SEN children, and then had to run a priority system for keyworkers.

(Essentially a large local employer declared themselves keyworkers, meaning something over 80% of our children had a claim on 'keyworker' status.)

We did end up saying that families with one keyworker parent, where both parents were in fact at home (especially where 1 parent was not working), couldn't routinely claim a keyworker place.

@Scrooge89

I've only read the first page of replies so someone may already have pointed this out.

You said....
Not to my children. My youngest struggled so much at home and was one of the 25% who couldn’t go to school (although I saw how much some people fudged the key worker card I may have to do it).

People pretending to be key workers are despicable - cover was provided for children of key workers because it had to be and everyone else was told they had to stay at home, so what makes you so special that you and your children shouldn't have to abide by these rules if they were to be brought back in again?

Fudge it!!

Kids need to be in school and teachers need to be there to teach them. This is not Ebola. Unless you’re very old or have very serious underlying health conditions you’ll be fine. Don’t go along with the hyper

@Xenia

I would prefer schools to stay open even class sizes return to the 40+ per teacher my mother taught after WWII in NE England. We could also tighten up rules so that no pay when off sick other than SSP after day 3 and also once you have a negative PCR you go in. also teachers with covid but are in the one third with no symptoms could certainly teach classes of children in many cases if most of the children have had covid anyway.

Gosh out of touch you are. Just FYI teachers are real people too and I wouldnt want my child taught by a teacher with covid to bring it home and pass it on to vulnerable family members. Dear dear can one really not join the dots?

@CallmeHendricksGingleBells

Ah, Molly Kingsley, of Us4Ourselves. She thinks education so important that she took hers out of school and flew off on holiday on Monday. Unless hers are in private schools, which have not been hit nearly so hard as the state sector.

Private schools have been hit very hard. DS had half his year group off at one point and DD's year of 80 had 30 off at once.

Covid does not stop at the school gates just because the school is an independent.

What can you tell me about how Ebola is transmitted?