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).

They won't close schools full scale. For one they know that nearly every parent will try to claim they are a key worker / vulnerable. Tbh I will too. My son had lots of anxiety issues and we've only just got him using the toilet at school. Longer than 2 weeks off and I fear we will be back to square one with that issue.

I really don't mind schools closing to keep children and staff safe if they do online learning, but all our special secondary school does is send a tiny amount of homework for the children. I am ok as early retired teacher but I know a lot of child's friends parents who both work all day and get really annoyed Year 11 children not given more work to be going on with. During last lockdown I even had 2 parents in same Maths and Science sets as my son ask me to give their children work to do on their exam specifications as school did not set hardly anything and my son had told his friends I made him just carry on with work on his specification in Science and Maths.

@user1497207191

Our son's closes today for Xmas, 2 days early. Apparently, the staff had their Xmas party last Friday night and one of the teachers went despite having symptoms. Now most of the staff have covid. Not the brightest thing to do, to continue with the staff party when it's so well known of the Omicron variant and rapid spread. Still, presumably they thought a party was more important than protecting themselves, their students etc.

This might carry slightly more weight if all the parents were also refusing to go to their Xmas parties, on the basis that it's more important to protect themselves and their kids.

But yet again, teachers are under a greater responsibility to children than their own parents are.

I honestly have no idea why anyone would do this job, but parents should be grateful that they do, because you'd all be up shit creek without them.

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

Stating that ideas are 'stupid' is not helpful and I consider it to be aggressive. You may not and that is your opinion.

Literally posted that and school have emailed to say they are closed tomorrow lol. One day I can cope with.

I would be supportive of school closures if any time lost is made up during the summer months.

'Remote learning' is a pointless and painful waste of time for the smallest children, let's stop pretending this isn't the case.

So if they have to close, fine, but with a commitment to time made up so that children don't fall even further behind than they are already.

But while staff will get ill, they well mostly just be back at work 10 days later. Like anywhere else.
Why are they reporting it like there will be no staff on an ongoing basis?

The same can be said for all workplaces, including hospitals. Are they reporting mass closures there?!!!

“ Do you not see the problem if covid overwhelms the nhs?
I read people saying it doesn't matter as kids don't get sick from it, I'm healthy etc.
It's not getting covid you need to be scared about. It's having no ambulance when you are in a car crash, no doctor to check your child, no midwife to deliver the baby, no anesthetist, no surgeon, no beds. No cancer care, no cancer referrals, no chance to be given stroke medicine in the golden hour. That's nothing to say of the no police, supermarket workers, bank staff etc that could all be off work at once.
Lockdown isn't to stop people getting it, it's to stop everyone getting it at the same time.”

Why can’t people see and understand this ? No one wants schools to shut , the government don’t a lot of teachers don’t,
but we can’t close our eyes and ears and pretend the speed this variant is spreading is not of concern.

No the variant might not cause much harm to kids but not having the staff in hospitals to treat them from other conditions might .

@BigButtons

Of course they can do it if they have to do it. I teach. We want schools to stay open to all but if it isn’t safe then it isn’t safe. Do you have any idea how scary it is to be in a work place where covid is taking out large numbers of staff and pupils alike yet you you still have to chance your arm and go in?

THIS

@TheKeatingFive

I would be supportive of school closures if any time lost is made up during the summer months.

'Remote learning' is a pointless and painful waste of time for the smallest children, let's stop pretending this isn't the case.

So if they have to close, fine, but with a commitment to time made up so that children don't fall even further behind than they are already.

And who is to do the catch up, and fund it?

@sarah13xx

School staff are just being sent in to work until they contract covid and have to isolate. How is it fair on the staff to have to do this while also giving up their lunch to supervise the dinner hall and take on playground duty too due to a lack of staff? Not to mention the fact they’re still expected to deliver all-singing, all-dancing lessons all day long, in fear of showing a Christmas DVD in case get a parental complaint.

Many parents are genuinely scared their child is missing out but many (like those kidding on to be key workers in the last lockdown), just can’t be bothered having to deal with their own child 24/7, often because of their behaviour. Yet amazingly, teachers are having to cope with 25-33 of those children at the same time, all day long.

If schools need to shut due to physically not being able to carry on any longer then they should, they’re not a babysitting service

Don’t talk shit, those teachers with children in class are doing their job. There are plenty of us to had to do our jobs at the same time as doing a piss poor interpretation of being a teacher.

And who is to do the catch up, and fund it?

Rejig the school year

@TheKeatingFive

And who is to do the catch up, and fund it?

Rejig the school year

How on earth would that work?

Schools legally can't stay open below a certain staff - student ratio for H&S reasons. Heads up and down the country will be planning right now to try to keep as much open as possible and prioritising the same kids as before - key workers kids, 'vulnerable' kids, kids with 'exams' next year. They don't want to close, any of them, because they know how damaging it is, but if enough staff are off isolating or get pinged and supply staff are thin on the ground they may have no choice but to send some year groups home. So if your kids are not key workers kids or 'vulnerable' or in Years R, 1, 6, 11 or 13 then I would prepare for them to possibly be sent home if I were you, but it will only be done as a very last resort.

@canary1 a lot of appointments/operations aren’t happening due to lack of staff, either because they are off sick or have been deployed.

Many schools don’t have spare capacity when it comes to staff, once supply is used up you struggle.

Yes it is shit OP. Really shit.
But without staff they have no choice. A friend, a teacher is off sick with covid. She has been signed off until the end of the term. She will have been off for 4 weeks. A fairly mild case, she was not hospitalised, it was like flu for her. But you can see in her school you don't need many teachers in the same position before classes are sent home, and finally the school closes.
No one will keep a school open at unsafe levels of staffing.
I think it i shit for kids. Their schooling is really suffering. But without staff, what choice do they have?
It is why some were shouting loudly for mitigations, which never came.

Well we're trying our hardest to keep our school open into the new year. We normally gather for mince pies and mulled wine (our only staff Christmas do) every year after school. This year, we can still get the mince pies and mulled wine but it'll be outside, take it back to your desk or in your team bubbles whichever you prefer. No 'whole school' gathering inside.

Visitors have been banned for the past six weeks - meetings done on line.

The classes are having to have windows open and it's mask up in communal places (like the canteen) or eat outside - staff as well. Staff and kids are in thermals at the moment. Like everywhere I would bet. Kids are also asked to mask up if a teacher is vulnerable or has a vulnerable member in their family. And give them their due, they mask up with very little problem - my son's friend is exempt under normal circumstances but he masks up in one teacher's lesson as he said 'I can cope with little breaths for an hour - her husband has cancer' (she lets him go outside to remove the mask as needed as it was his decision to mask up - she's never asked him and is grateful that he does it). To be honest, our kids are doing us proud and could teach some adults a thing or two about caring for others by thinking ahead.

We now have regular supply teachers as our main stream teaching staff are dropping like flies but at least we have the supply teachers thank goodness. So classes continue.

Our head teacher has sent a message saying 'prepare for on line, but expect to come back' - headed up 'Hope for the best, prepare for the worst'

And that's it really - hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If the teachers just assumed they'd be back in the new year, no teaching would get going for a number of weeks. If they're ready to switch then less time is lost. So it's not a case of it's going to happen, it's a case of being ready if it does.

She will have been off for 4 weeks. A fairly mild case, she was not hospitalised, it was like flu for her.

Let's hope that omicron is milder and doesn't require 4 weeks off sick!

At least contacts don't have to isolate anymore

Surgeries around here have already texted all their patients saying no routine appointments or care will be available until at least the new year and you should only call if it is urgent. This because they have been told to prioritise vaccinations.

Hospitals will cancel non urgent surgery and care and it may get worse than that as it has at points. Some cancer patients missed out on treatment for example. A relative of mine died because an ambulance took 3 hours to arrive despite it being a critical incident.

Yet you expect schools to be able to be able to provide their normal offer without any inconvenience to you at all.

Just be realistic.

Well I can't quite see how the government can afford it. Voters won't accept schools being closed if shops, pubs and restaurants remain open. That would make no sense and we just can't afford to keep closing everything, there is no more furlough - and if Rishi does introduce it, he has to fund it by more quantitative easing, which will turbo charge inflation, and our standard of living in a year's time will bear no relation to now. We'll be totally up shit creek. But I guess that might happen anyway.

How on earth would that work?

Time spent shut now is taken out of holidays later in the year.

Omg

@TheKeatingFive

How on earth would that work?

Time spent shut now is taken out of holidays later in the year.

That's not how employment contracts work.

Voters won't accept schools being closed if shops, pubs and restaurants remain open.

Exactly.

And shops, restaurants etc will have to close anyway if working parents have to stay at home and supervise their kids and can't go into work!