Do you think schools will return as normal in January?

[LucozadeGirl]

Just that really.

Yes, my school has already made plans for staggered start on first day to allow for LFTs for all pupils

I would like to say they’re definitely going back else us school staff would have heard by now but remembering last time I think we literally had about a days notice. Then hours and hours of zoom meetings with the head of the school and with the head of departments trying to figure how what the hell we were doing.
And then the TEAMS training - I never want to use Teams ever again in my life.

The only issue is the lack of LFTs.

Most schools are doing LFTs on the first week back and if they’re negative the pupil can stay but if they’re positive they need to go home until they’ve got a PCR test but if there’s no LFTs then I don’t know what they will do.

Maybe this is why there’s a shortage as they’re saving them for schools?

The fact anyone believes that schools are unsafe and home is safe shows how one dimensional the thought process around covid has become. Schools are essential services and are vital for education, development and safeguarding. If they don't go back when every adult has been offered 3 vaccinations and everything else is open it'll be a complete travesty

Yes I believe they will be open as usual. The only way they’ll be closed is if there’s not enough teaching staff so individual schools may have to close for a few days.

That’s it

My eldest’s class pretty much all had covid over Xmas. 20 out of 26 kids and the teacher too! So I’m hoping we’ll avoid a closure for her class seeing as they’ve all got to have some sort of immunity for a while

They will be back but I doubt it will be normal. Lots of absences amongst Staff and Students.

They will be back but it will be carnage with illness and asymptomatic isolation. It is virtually impossible to do hybrid teaching. You are pinned to the front so you can be seen and heard on camera, can't do practical lessons etc. So those in the room and those at home suffer.

Drakeford in Wales is considering it, we haven't been told yet

Yes Nicola Sturgeon has already confirmed schools will go back as normal in Scotland

Has she? Last I heard she said she “would do everything she could” to keep schools open. That doesn’t sound like a certainty to me.

England: no.
Wales: probably yes. Which will be an utter nightmare for those of us who work in England. Although at least I can use the hub. I'm already back a week before my kids, so my childcare bill is going to be pretty hefty next week.

@TheKeatingFive

They'd be closing schools to keep the kids safe not to stop the spread surely?

But that was always the rational for school closures. Objectively, covid is not a dangerous disease for children compared to other diseases/threats out there.

Oh you know I’m going to doom manger all over that one

10,000+ children with long covid symptoms lasting over a year - none of the “long covid is all anxiety/made up/in their heads” needed as that’s been disproven, and long covid includes neurological problems, organ damage and inflammatory problems.

700+ cases of PIMS in one year, compared to an average of 400 cases of bacterial meningitis in children (in a normal/non-covid year).

And on a psychological level, children losing parents/grandparents to covid and becoming young carers to parents with long covid.

I’m sure there are diseases that are more harmful to children, but are there similar levels of infection of those diseases (or have there ever been in recent history?)

Sorry meant mine the other way round.

Anyway. That rant aside, I hope schools do stay open. Staff shortages are a real worry though.

Definitely returning! No measures at my school at all - no staggered start or anything. We’re just asking children to do ltf. I don’t even think there will be much disruption since omnicron presents as a cold and you can’t get PCRs for cold symptoms. To be clear, I don’t think schools should close but in my position as a 3rd trimester lady, I wish I could wear a mask and open the windows. Hey ho.

Schools status as 'last to close first to open' is well established by now. There's a long way to go before a nationwide school shutdown is on the cards.

No way are schools closing!

I think it's too early to possibly know one way or the other yet... but if schools are to open the burning issue of test kits being freely available must be rectified.
I also think it's worth perhaps considering offering families (who are able and willing) the choice on attendance, protect CEV families, to ease pressure on school staff and those who need their children in school for work etc.
Hospital admissions for children are rising- this needs acknowledgment before an decisions can be made.

@kittensinthekitchen

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-announces-schools-scotland-25755529

I don't believe a full lockdown will ever happen again.

Beyond that it's impossible to tell. Individual circumstances will vary wildly.

I can’t see any indicators of closure at the moment since there have been no additional measures brought in and the circuit breaker lock down hasn’t materialised. It seems to me that vaccination is the mainstay at the current time. I thought it was the logistics of sending LFTs out as a single box all around the country which was the issue. Delivering them to schools (which was known about last term) shouldn’t be an issue and they could potentially send extra for distribution to the kids. I’ve managed to obtain them online you just have to keep checking!

Yes

[quote Explosivefarts]@kittensinthekitchen

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-announces-schools-scotland-25755529[/quote]
So there's been nothing beyond what she actually said, which was ""It remains our priority to re-open schools as normal after the holidays."?

Nicola Sturgeon has announced that schools in Scotland will open again as normal following the Christmas holidays.

@Explosivefarts

Nicola Sturgeon has announced that schools in Scotland will open again as normal following the Christmas holidays.

Yes, but what did she actually say?

In Ireland. If they go back, it will show exactly what we think of chn.

10,000+ children with long covid symptoms lasting over a year - none of the “long covid is all anxiety/made up/in their heads” needed as that’s been disproven, and long covid includes neurological problems, organ damage and inflammatory problems.

All that is based on self reporting and a very wide interpretation of what long covid actually entails. The data is a holy mess and it's not possible to take it seriously as it stands. Come back when there is actual useful data as the basis for debate.